5th Year English students see film - 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' - at the IFI

"The Tragedy of Macbeth", directed by Joel Coen and produced by A24, is an exciting retelling of an age-old story. I thoroughly enjoyed the dramatic tone of the whole movie, and Coen brought a great darkness to every scene, using graphic violence and clever directorial techniques to create his bleak world.

The story of 'Macbeth' is about the rise to power of a Scottish noblemen, Macbeth, who, after hearing a prophecy about him becoming the king of Scotland, is driven mad by a combination of guilt and ambition. The play details his rise to kingship, as well as his reign. It is a well-known story of betrayal, but what's interesting about the movie is seeing how Coen makes the story his own. There are things added, things removed, characters changed or combined. The story is faithful, yet things are presented in a way that feels as though it is not just a senseless rehashing of Shakespeare's work.

The cast and characters of the movie are hard to fault. Denzel Washington gives the performance his all, and he begins to particularly shine after Macbeth has become king. Frances McDormand is one of the most celebrated actresses of all time, and although her role in the story is quite small, she gives a memorable portrayal of the sympathetic Lady Macbeth. Kathryn Hunter (The witches), Brendan Gleeson (Duncan), and Corey Hawkins (Macduff) all give strong supporting performances as well, however the show- stealer in terms of both character and performance in my opinion has to be Alex Hassell as Ross. While he played quite a minor role in the play, Coen decided to elevate Ross to a major instigator of several key events in the story, and Alex Hassell plays the role with a sense of complete mystery. He never looks physically imposing, and yet he never feels weak either. He is clearly intelligent, competent, and very well-connected. The decision to turn the character into what he became in the movie was a genius move on Coen's part, as Ross was one of the best parts of the movie.

I think the overall interpretation of the source material is ,while not completely faithful, a good recounting of all the major themes and story beats from the play. The themes of being controlled by ambition, broken relationships, and nature versus nurture are all portrayed just as well in the movie as they are in the play. I think the story is made to fit into the two-hour constraints of a movie very well, all the key events are retained with the parts in between filled in very well by extra lines of dialogue or by extra actions. The movie in general has a decent flow, although the middle does drag a little bit. The high points are definitely the beginning and the ending, with the middle being carried mostly by Denzel Washington's entertaining performance.

I think that "The Tragedy of Macbeth" is a very entertaining movie. It is a great standalone movie but looking at it from the point of view of a student, it is very impressive to see how they adapted the play into a movie. I would recommend the movie to anyone who may be fans of the fantasy genre (there are fantastical elements such as magic and visions) or medieval period movies. I would rate the movie a 7.5 out of 10.

Aaron Egan (5th Year)