There's two primary problems with The Tragedy of Macbeth. First, Denzel Washington. He doesn't sell Macbeth (sounding like a bored Morgan Freeman) and I'm not convinced he understands what he's saying most of the time, despite his alleged "formal" training. We're left wondering about Macbeth's character and, frankly, it doesn't make sense the way Denzel Washington portrays it. Second, Joel Coen needs to do a better job of setting out the plot and circumstances for those who aren't familiar with Macbeth. It's like Where are they? Why are they doing this? What's going on? It's so formal and convoluted it takes a lot of concentration to tease it all out and neither Denzel Washington nor Joel Coen make this easy.
That said, the visuals are all stunning. Like wow stunning. Cinematography and sets right out of the Seventh Seal... but reimagined. Director of Photography should win awards for this one. Frances McDormand...she 100% understands what she's saying but, once again, there's not enough setup to explain her later actions either (it's another Academy nomination nod for sure). Now, if this is the fault of Shakespeare then Joel Coen had the ability to correct and augment.
I'm glad folks are throwing out the traditional color lines concerning who gets to play what characters (despite the Miss Saigon brouhaha) but 'ya still have to understand Ye Olde English to act it and Denzel is a significant fail here (unlike Corey Hawkins who got it).
That said, the visuals are all stunning. Like wow stunning. Cinematography and sets right out of the Seventh Seal... but reimagined. Director of Photography should win awards for this one. Frances McDormand...she 100% understands what she's saying but, once again, there's not enough setup to explain her later actions either (it's another Academy nomination nod for sure). Now, if this is the fault of Shakespeare then Joel Coen had the ability to correct and augment.
I'm glad folks are throwing out the traditional color lines concerning who gets to play what characters (despite the Miss Saigon brouhaha) but 'ya still have to understand Ye Olde English to act it and Denzel is a significant fail here (unlike Corey Hawkins who got it).