The Tragedy of Macbeth is a new adaptation of the Shakespeare play that’s available on Apple TV+. It’s written and directed by a Coen Brother (but not both) and stars Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand. Excellent credentials only marred by my limited experience with the play (and maybe some filming and acting choices).

The real tragedy of Macbeth is that I didn’t study this in high school (by which I mean awkwardly read it out loud in a classroom full of bored, confused teens before watching a film version the teacher rolled in on a tv cart). I haven’t seen a film version in decades either… saw the 1948 and 1970 version in high school and college and remember liking them. But my retention is low and I pretty much only know the major beats… the witches, the dagger of the mind, spots (mostly damned), etc.

I babble about that as explanation and defense of not loving this adaptation. The actors seem to be doing a convincing job but I have little to compare their performances against. I did appreciate – and even dig – the harsh, stark, almost brutal set decoration and it’s commitment to an amalgam this is both the artifice of a stage play and the editing and angles of a film.

But I’ll fess up to the fact I get lost in the details and the dialog. I’ve never been the sharpest when it comes to Shakespearean language but I can more easily work through Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet having studied them in class (and seen more adaptions). So there were the usual levels of confusion when the mind wanders through various scenes of this film… that’s on me and my dunce-cap wearing head but it could also be the style of acting and presentation. This is a stark film with less interest in emoting in such a way as to explain the dialog. Or at least that’s how my low-forehead sees it.

I did really enjoy the end (Act V) and some of the sets, like the battlements sequence looking so artificial and nightmarish at once. I really dug the depiction of the witches especially the reflections in the water. Some of the casting and costuming was particularly inventive. Definitely some vivid portrayals that peaked my interest. Enough to notch the adaptation a half star.

So not a big win for me but I appreciate the effort and artistic vision of this adaptation. My opinion is skewed by my unfamiliarity with the finer points of the story though.

Just thinking though maybe battle strategy that involves shrubbery should be relegated to Monty Python though.

Score: 84