Review: ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ is gripping screen Shakespeare, with Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand and one hell of a witch

The early 17th century potboiler “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is the shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. Director and adapter Joel Coen, working here without brother Ethan, took on this film version with his wife, Frances McDormand, committed — fully, as if that needed saying — to Lady Macbeth, opposite Denzel Washington as the ruthless warrior who lusts for the crown and goes blood simple in the process.

Stripping “Macbeth” for parts, keeping the focus on the main narrative lines of political assassination and what Macbeth himself refers to as “supernatural soliciting,” Coen turns out to be ideally suited to a straight-ahead, let’s-get-on-with-it rendition. He has likened “Macbeth” to James M. Cain and other 20th century crime novelists. Shot on an L.A. soundstage, in tight, boxy 4:3 and black and white, this 105-minute trot through a charismatic power couple’s rise and fall is ripping stuff — largely because it dwells in a shadow realm where theatrical methods meet cinematic expression. In the best way, we never quite know where we are here.

It’d be a mistake to go another word without mentioning Kathryn Hunter’s extraordinary portrayal of the three witches. Hunter, a highlight of several seriously magical Complicite stage productions, brings a dazzling contortionist’s range of physicality to bear along with her uniquely penetrating vocal quality. At one point, the witch who promises greatness to Macbeth if he follows orders, casts three separate reflections in a pool of water. That simple, eerie image is reason enough to be glad Coen made this film.

Victorious in war against the Irish and the Norwegian invaders, Macbeth is a relatively simple man, at least compared to most tragic Shakespearean figures. He thirsts to be king, and Lady Macbeth leans into making that dream a blood-drenched reality. The marriage we see in Coen’s film is in many ways a healthy and close one, matching wits and will, Macbeth’s doubts tempered by Lady Macbeth’s goading machinations. When Macbeth executes good King Duncan (Brendan Gleeson) early on, Coen’s version is off and running into hell.

The Scotland we see in this “Macbeth” is a misty world of historically indeterminate architecture, mainly hallways and archways and skulking places. The exterior scenes utterly lack the oxygen of the open air. Like the 1948 Orson Welles “Macbeth,” it’s unapologetically a soundstage creation; like the 1971 Roman Polanski version, menacing birds (crows here) crows perpetually monitor the sinister doings below. In Coen’s film the French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel captures production designer Stefan Dechant’s stark storybook suggestions of Inverness Castle, Birnam Wood and the witching hangouts brilliantly.

But it’s the faces that matter most. Washington’s dramatic interpretation may be on the conventional side, but it has true authority and enough clarity of meaning to anchor the ensemble. McDormand’s emotional immediacy and rattling momentum serve the play every second she’s on screen. The supporting cast has some excellent ringers, chief among them Corey Hawkins and especially Moses Ingram as Macduff and Lady Macduff, respectively. Harry Melling brings a sly suggestion of intrigue to the slain king’s son, Malcolm. Coen loves to isolate many of these strategists, royals and pawns in their own direct-address compositions, so that the players in this bloody pageant of insurrection (topical! what do you know!) rarely share the screen with one another, at least peacefully.

Besides the earlier “Macbeths,” many more cinematic influences inform Coen’s picture, notably the striking modernity of Carl Dreyer’s “Passion of Joan of Arc.” From “Blood Simple” onward, Coen learned a lot about the visual language of pulp, which is hardly absent here. But there’s a new, relative seriousness of approach at work in this project. Without spoiling anything, I wouldn’t have suspected a Coen-directed Shakespearean tragedy to shoot for a happier ending than Shakespeare himself wrote, outside the text’s restoration of political order. Still, the gore and the dashes of dread are everywhere.

Coen plays riddles with the viewer, just as witches play guessing games with Macbeth. As depicted here, that dagger, floating in midair, vexing Macbeth’s sanity? Is it a vision? A door handle? Are the witches three? Or one? Whatever the number, they’re a kingdom apart, invisible and unknown to all except their next human vessel for something wicked. Coen’s “Macbeth” doesn’t constitute a radical rethink of a popular but rarely successfully revived work. On stage its difficulty, at least in America, is weird, considering its all-star lineup of Famous Scenes and Speeches, from sleepwalking Lady Macbeth to the shocking assault on the Macduff lair to “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.” This film may just change a few modern perceptions about the play’s brute effectiveness, and the value of not “opening up” in the expected way.

Speed, clarity, drive and some first-rate actors make for pretty good compensations.

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‘THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH’

3.5 stars (out of 4)

MPAA rating: R (for violence)

Running time: 1:45

Where to watch: In theaters Saturday; streaming on Apple TV+ Jan. 14.

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