The Tragedy of Macbeth

2021 1h 45m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 906

Drama

Synopsis

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Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Denzel Washington
Macbeth
Frances McDormand
Lady Macbeth
Alex Hassell
Ross
Bertie Carvel
Banquo
Brendan Gleeson
Duncan
Corey Hawkins
Macduff
Harry Melling
Malcolm
Miles Anderson
Lennox

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joel Coen
Writers: Joel Coen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joel Coen, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lucian Johnston shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand and Alex Hassell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt10095582 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joel Coen directs. Bruno Delbonnel behind the camera. Carter Burwell scores. Lucian Johnston cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 5 years ago.
2Directed by Joel Coen, shot by Bruno Delbonnel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Carter Burwell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Lucian Johnston shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand and Alex Hassell carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt10095582 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Classified under 9 themes, including "witch", "husband wife relationship", "scotland", "ambition".

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel
Original score: Carter Burwell
Editing: Lucian Johnston
Production design: Stefan Dechant
Costume design: Mary Zophres
Makeup / hair: Josh Foster
VFX supervisor: Michael Huber
Sound: Paul Urmson
Runtime: 105 min · 1h 45m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $176,248
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

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Joel Coen

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Manuel São Bento2022-01-17
★ 8/10
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/the-tragedy-of-macbeth-spoiler-free-review "The Tragedy of Macbeth is a mesmerizing technical masterpiece that could have benefited from a distinct take on the well-known Shakespearean tale. Denzel Washington demonstrates his insane talent, as does Frances McDormand, but the former clearly stands out in a more energetic, captivating performance, powering through intricate, long monologues, which may very well result in yet another successful awards season. Joel Coen offers his bold direction to an unsurprising, too familiar narrative, but the rest of the technical crew transforms a streaming flick into an authentic cinematic experience. With some of the most exquisite cinematography of the century, Bruno Delbonnel staggeringly elevates every other filmmaking component (sound, costumes, sets, production design), making this a must-watch movie, whether at home or, better yet, at the theater." Rating: B+
r96sk2022-02-16
★ 8/10
Not quite to my personal taste, though I still enjoyed <em>'The Tragedy of Macbeth'</em> enough. The performances of Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand are superb, I always expect that from them both so I was delighted to see that be the case here. The rest of the cast are good too, including Brendan Gleeson and Corey Hawkins - get that guy back in <em>'<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)" rel="nofollow">The Walking Dead</a>'</em> universe a.s.a.p.! I know it was by design and fully intentional, but I didn't love - not that I disliked them - the fake backdrops and theatre-esque staging, which doesn't help bring the world alive - for me, anyway. The black-and-white is neat, mind. It is, even with the aforementioned, a nicely made production. 8/10 from me, with this 2021 release having the two leads to thank for that extra 1/10.
tmdb280390232022-08-30
★ 8/10
The Tragedy of Macbeth is so damn good I’m not even going to question the logic, or lack thereof, of an African-American eleventh-century Scottish nobleman. Then again, Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles both played Othello, and if Denzel Washington isn’t in the same league as those two, he’s as close as any living actor could be. Like Welles, Washington projects an authoritative screen presence that successfully challenges our expectations and perceptions of the character’s appearance, while satisfying its psychological requirements. The actor, a master of juggling physical power with mental instability (cf. Training Day; impeccably illustrated here in a scene where, emboldened by the prophecy that “none born of woman shall harm Macbeth,” he confronts, unarmed, a sword-wielding soldier and gets the best of him), inhabits, or rather is inhabited by Macbeth’s madness so completely that the question of skin color becomes irrelevant. And Frances McDormand, who has as of late become something of a cross between Forrest Gump and a pit bull, was simply born for the role of Lady Macbeth; when she asks the “spirits that attend mortal thoughts” to de-sexualize her, it’s not hard to believe that the request has been immediately granted. Arguably no other actress could credibly impose her will on Washington, as when she tells him that “My hands are your color [i.e., red with King Duncan’s blood], but I would be ashamed to wear such a white heart” (a phrase which, given the circumstances, takes on a whole new dimension). At the same time, McDormand can summon a world of fragile vulnerability with a single look. Director Joel Coen, who adapted Shakespeare’s play himself, knows the words and the music. The filmmaker deserves a lot of credit for not modernizing the material (which may or may not have anything or everything to do with his brother’s conspicuous absence); he and Ethan have made a career of being iconoclasts, but Macbeth demands reverence, and this is exactly what Coen brings it. His fidelity to the text (speaks volumes of his artistic integrity that he left the line “liver of blaspheming Jew” intact), Bruno Delbonnel’s superb black and white cinematography, the lighting, the compositions, the costumes by Mary Zophres, the production design by Stefan Dechant, absolutely everything denotes an absolute devotion to the Bard’s vision. Even its accessible 105-minute length — to put it in perspective, Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet is 242 minutes long (and worth every minute) — is not a commercial concession (Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays). Coen does not settle for standing on the shoulders of giants, though (the cyclopean set seems inspired by Welles’s 1948 version, and Dunsinane looks every bit the impregnable fortress it’s meant to be); the universal and timeless words of the original author are matched by the director’s singular visual sensibility — of which one of my favorite examples is the “Is this a dagger I see before me?” soliloquy, cleverly shot as Macbeth traverses a corridor leading to Duncan’s room, the door handle shaped like a dagger. The Three Witches are another stylistic triumph, but then I could say that of the entire film, which has the potential to challenge Polanski’s version as the ultimate cinematic Macbeth.