Let It Come Down: Joel Coens The Tragedy of Macbeth may well be the best horror movie of 2021 – East Bay Express

The Coen Brothers films are noted for their sardonic sense of humor, in the service of stressful scenarios that often feature copious amounts of bloodletting. The Tragedy of Macbeth, Joel Coens grim new version of William Shakespeares 1606 melodramaon which the elder Coen serves as producer, adapting screenwriter and director, minus his brother Ethandiscards the sardonic sense of humor of the above formula in no uncertain terms. Its a dark, forbidding piece of work in high-contrast black and white, a maelstrom of murder that may justify the centuries-old superstition that requires anyone involved in a production of it to strictly refer to the Scottish play, never using its actual name for fear of misfortune.

In addition to being an extraordinarily poetic film noir, The Tragedy of Macbeth is a strong contender as finest horror movie of the year. In common with any ordinary gangster, disloyal war lord Macbethplayed in a controlled fever by Denzel Washingtonlusts for power. If he can contrive to kill his way to the top, not only will he become King of Scotland, his ruthless wife Lady Macbeth Frances McDormand, spouse of the filmmakerwill take the throne as queen. In Coens conception, both Macbeths are senior citizens. This is their last chance to seize the reins.

The willfully accursed couple conspires together like a pair of nervous shopkeepers, compulsively plotting their own demise as if guided by an unseen hand, and all the while being surveilled by a noisy, omniscient murder of crows. Shakespeares metaphor-drenched dialogue, brought to a boil with Elizabethan iambic pentameter, remains a marvel of the English language.

Coens Macbeth makes a splendid ghost story. Washingtons haunted expression and line readings reinforce the idea that Macbeth is more a victim of intangible hubris, tangled in a web of his own design, than a forceful, dynamic ruler brought to heel by his peers. Opposite him, McDormands grasping, scheming Lady M grows more disheveled as Birnam Wood closes in on her castle. This version soft-pedals the femme-fatale aspect of Lady Macbeths character in favor of full-blown insanityin one profile camera shot, McDormand bears a disconcerting resemblance to Judith Andersons Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca. Theyre bound to each other with hoops of steel, these two doomed social climbers.

Shakespeare scholars are free to debate the worthiness of Coens faithfulness to the original play. But the impression remains: the physical mood of this Macbeth is almost oppressively ominous. That is reflected not only in the guilty married couples tortured soliloquiesShakespeares scariestbut in the films prodigious production values.

Inside the murky, boxy, geometric sets, with the drip-drip-drip of their victims blood keeping time, the spinning spiders and their putative flies emerge and recede with rhythmic regularity. The acrobatic three weird sisters, prophesying witches portrayed by a single actor (Kathryn Hunter), merely stir a pot of treachery already simmering inside the Macbeths heads. Shrink from the bloody assassination of Duncan (Brendan Gleeson). Beware the reflection of an evil soul in a vessel of still water. Stare long at the restless ghost of Banquo (Bertie Carvel). Recoil from the ferocity of Macduffs (Corey Hawkins) revenge and his sword duel with Macbeth. The line forms on the right, babe, now that Mac the Knife is cleaning house. But first he has to sort out his own personal demons, forever gnawing at him in the night.

Special kudos to Bruno Delbonnels expressive cinematography, Stefan Dechants production design, Craig Berkeys sound design and Carter Burwells eerie music score. If Coens Macbeth feels more sinister and upsetting than its predecessors, chalk that up to the actors, the various effects, the filmmakers obsessive attention to detail and the resulting oppressive atmosphere of destruction. Together, Coen and his cabal create the story of an exhausted, demoralized, truly damned political coupa Macbeth to stand with Kurosawas or Polanskis or Welles in the gathering darkness.

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Let It Come Down: Joel Coens The Tragedy of Macbeth may well be the best horror movie of 2021 - East Bay Express