Brief thoughts on Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth

I don’t have a lot to say about Joel Coen’s film adaptation of Macbeth, but I’m going to jot down some brief thoughts anyway. 

The first thing that must be said is that the mise-en-scène is fantastic. It is so rare for a modern B&W film to look good, and the B&W of The Tragedy of Macbeth is very, very good. (Almost) all the shots are striking—Joel Coen and his cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel play with light and shadow, play with shape, as they should. Those of you who have praised the cinematography of Roma or Mank (philistines!) should look at Joel Coen’s film and note the difference. But it’s not only the cinematography and lighting, I also love the production design, the semi-abstract sets, and the staging.

Another good thing about the film is Kathryn Hunter as the witches. She steals the show.

That is my roundabout way of saying that I don’t have a high opinion of the two leads, Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. Frances McDormand’s performance is, I think, passable, but once you have seen Trevor Nunn’s production, Judi Dench spoils you for other performances. Put it this way, Frances McDormand’s Lady Macbeth is the Lady Macbeth in popular culture, a villainous woman who manipulates her husband into killing the king; Judi Dench’s is the Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s text, an ambitious woman who urges her husband to kill the king and thinks of it in abstract terms but isn’t as strong as she thinks she is, and who falls apart as she realises what she has done. Judi Dench’s acting has more complexity, more depth. 

I think Denzel Washington as Macbeth is a weak performance—not just in comparison to Ian McKellen, who is phenomenal—but weak. Why? I don’t feel anything in his performance; I don’t see any struggle, any conflict for a large part of the film, except for a few moments; I don’t think he truly feels what he’s saying, especially in the key soliloquies “Is this a dagger which I see before me” and “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”. 

Here is a clip. 

He glosses over many lines. Let’s look at Ian McKellen. 

See the difference?  

Denzel Washington is probably better than Michael Fassbender as Macbeth—I haven’t seen the 2015 film as a whole but I have seen many clips, and neither Michael Fassbender nor Marion Cotillard knows how to speak the lines. Here’s the same speech:

That clip gives me the impression that the 2015 film (dir. Justin Kurzel) has the disease of many modern films: a fear of text, of dialogue. This is an important soliloquy in Macbeth and isn’t so long, but Justin Kurzel has to break it into pieces, mixing in epic battle scenes and flashbacks and special effects and drowning music. The 2021 film, even though there are cuts (which is understandable and judicious), at least shows respect for the text.

Another thing I don’t like about Joel Coen’s film, which is perhaps personal, is the American accents. I suppose what I really don’t like is the mixing of accents—if the entire thing were American, I wouldn’t care, and one of my favourite Shakespeare productions is the 1976 ACT The Taming of the Shrew—but there is a mixing of accents in this film, and Denzel Washington and Corey Hawkins (as Macduff) especially stand out as very American. 

So what’s the verdict? I’d probably say 3 out of 5. That’s probably fair. 

Twelfth Night: Kenneth Branagh vs Trevor Nunn

I have just watched Trevor Nunn’s 1996 film adaptation of Twelfth Night. I don’t like it. 

As I was watching, I thought something was missing, something wasn’t working—but what was it? I suppose there are three main reasons. 

My fear about Twelfth Night productions or adaptations is that they may perform the play as broad comedy and ignore the melancholic and dark elements in it, which is the problem with Tim Carroll’s production (the popularity of which shows that lots of people don’t really understand Shakespeare). The problem with Trevor Nunn’s film, as it turns out, is the opposite: he emphasises too much on the dark elements and there isn’t much comedy. Twelfth Night is a play where Shakespeare balances very well comedy and melancholy (and cruelty). I don’t think the film gets it right. 

Shakespeare’s Feste is melancholic but still funny and witty. He does join in the partying at the beginning. He does take part in the prank. He does go along with Sir Toby and Fabian, until he realises that they have gone too far, and refuses to give Fabian the letter. Ben Kingsley’s Feste is serious, almost miserable, and the way he and Nigel Hawthorne’s Malvolio stare with hatred at each other in the first scene they’re together makes it too serious too early.

In Kenneth Branagh’s production, Feste is played by Anton Lesser*, and he plays him as someone who is at home in both houses, someone who is both part of the group, and outside it. The production is the closest to my interpretation of the play, especially in its handling of Malvolio. The prank should be funny—at the beginning—it should look like something harmless, turning the pompous killjoy Malvolio into a laughingstock. Shakespeare does what Jane Austen later does with the character of Miss Bates in Emma: we join in the fun and laugh at the character, until we realise it’s not right and feel ashamed of ourselves. That is the way it should be, and Kenneth Branagh achieves that effect in his production. The prank in Trevor Nunn’s film doesn’t seem particularly funny. Perhaps it’s just me, humour is subjective, but the looks that Sir Toby and Feste both give Malvolio before the prank look more like hatred than mere dislike and annoyance, and the prank therefore appears much more serious from the start.

I don’t have anything to say about Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio. Regarding the cast, Kenneth Branagh’s production gets everything right, everyone is perfect in the role, especially Richard Briers as Malvolio. Malvolio is at the beginning austere and pompous, but by the end, Richard Briers gives him tragic stature—he shows us what could be done with the role of Malvolio. 

The cast is another problem with the 1996 film, though I can’t pinpoint exactly where the problem is. The only person I like is Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia—she is my favourite part of the film—but everyone else doesn’t seem quite right.

For example, Imogen Stubbs** is generally quite good as Viola/ Cesario, especially in the scene with Olivia, but there are two things she gets wrong. The first time is about these lines: 

“VIOLA Make me a willow cabin at your gate

And call upon my soul within the house; 

Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love

And sing them loud even in the dead of night; 

Hallo your name to the reverberate hills 

And make the babbling gossip of the air

Cry out “Olivia!” O, you should not rest 

Between the elements of air and earth 

But you should pity me.” 

(Act 1 scene 5) 

Perhaps there are different ways of interpreting the speech, I personally prefer Frances Barber, who treats these lines as lyrical and moving, so you can see Olivia (Caroline Langrishe) fall in love with Cesario. Imogen Stubbs instead raises her voice and even cries out “OLIVIAAAA”, turning it into a performance like she’s mocking the lines she’s saying (and mocking Orsino’s love), but Olivia then falls for her and it doesn’t seem convincing (or is it the point?).

The other thing is about the duel, but I think it’s Trevor Nunn’s fault rather than Imogen Stubbs’s. We see Viola/ Cesario doing fencing earlier in the film, and in this scene, she seems to be doing all right fighting Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Viola in Shakespeare’s play is no fighter. 

“VIOLA [Aside] Pray God defend me! A little thing would make me tell them how much I lack of a man.” 

(Act 3 scene 4)  

Because Viola in Shakespeare’s play and in Kenneth Branagh’s production seems hesitant and even scared, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby can confidently see Cesario as no threat and attack only to be surprised and beaten up by Sebastian. Imogen Stubbs’s Viola may not a very skilled fencer, but she does attack and seem “enthusiastic”. 

The rest of the cast, except for the brilliant Helena Bonham Carter, is not awful but forgettable, and sometimes something doesn’t feel quite right.

The biggest problem with the film, however, is what Trevor Nunn does with the text. As the play is about 3 hours or so, and the film is a bit more than 2 hours, you can tell that lots of lines are removed and lots of speeches are shortened. That is understandable—I personally prefer to have all of Shakespeare’s text and therefore watch filmed plays—but this is a film adaptation. The more egregious thing he does is that he moves lines and sometimes scenes around, and some are questionable choices, especially the ending. 

Trevor Nunn also adds a scene at the beginning, on the ship, and adds some narration. It’s understandable that he wants to add some context and depict the shipwreck, but I can’t see why he also adds the bit of Viola and Sebastian performing something in front of an audience, with both of them wearing women’s clothes and veils, and underneath the veils, both having moustaches. 

Look at the reunion scene. 

“SEBASTIAN Do I stand there? I never had a brother…” 

(Act 5 scene 1) 

Judging by the amazement and confusion in the entire exchange, I don’t think Sebastian would have already seen Viola with a moustache. 

There are many other things that seem wrong, especially the ending, but I’ve said enough. It is such a disappointment, because I’m obsessed with his Macbeth (Ian McKellen and Judi Dench). Kenneth Branagh’s production, on the other hand, is not only my favourite version of Twelfth Night but one of my favourite Shakespeare productions. It is wonderful, everyone is perfect for the role, and Richard Briers in particular is exceptional. I watched it for the first time at University of Oslo, and watched it again a few months ago. Love it even more. 

*: I love Anton Lesser as Hamlet in the audio recording of the play, to which I listened recently. Fantastic performance. His Hamlet sometimes turns demonic. 

**: She is my favourite Desdemona and I have seen 3 versions of Othello so far. 

Othello(1981), ft. Anthony Hopkins

This is the third Othello production I’ve seen. See my reviews of the Stratford Festival one from 2019 and the Trevor Nunn one from 1990. 

This is a BBC film directed by Jonathan Miller, with Anthony Hopkins as Othello, Bob Hoskins as Iago, Penelope Wilton as Desdemona, Rosemary Leach as Emilia, and so on. 

The interesting thing about watching multiple Shakespeare productions is to see how differently directors and actors may approach the same text, and the BBC one is very different from the one by Trevor Nunn. I have said that Ian McKellen is to me the ultimate Iago, as he’s just like the Iago I had in my head whilst reading Shakespeare’s play: he is soft-spoken and adopts a self-effacing persona; in front of others, he always cleans up or fixes people’s clothes, listens attentively and sympathetically, and appears trustworthy; alone, he is cold and calculating, consumed with inexplicable hatred for Othello.

Bob Hoskins is a very different Iago, and it also works very well: in front of others, he has a matey persona, friendly and familiar with everyone; alone, he is always smiling and chuckling to himself, he looks unhinged. The way he chuckles and mimics the trumpet, unmoved by the pain he has caused Desdemona, the way he laughs after he gets Cassio and Roderigo to fight and potentially kill each other, and especially the way he chuckles at the end, having seen the work he’s done, is terrifying. Bob Hoskins’s Iago is a sociopath. 

As Iago, Bob Hoskins is matey, but not loud and pushy like Gordon S. Miller in the Stratford Festival production. That Iago is a terrible failure and, in my opinion, destroys the entire production. Ian McKellen and Bob Hoskins have demonstrated that there are different ways of playing Iago, but what they have in common is that they both are subtle, slowly poisoning Othello’s mind and feeding him lies without making him suspicious. Gordon S. Miller is too aggressive and pushy.

Penelope Wilton is all right as Desdemona, but I think the character is meant to be younger, almost like a child. Imogen Stubbs is perfect in the role—she has the innocence, the naïveté, and the childlike quality of Desdemona.

David Yelland as Cassio is very different from Sean Baker in the Trevor Nunn production: Sean Baker plays the character as a ladies’ man, who does have a thing for Desdemona; David Yelland’s Cassio doesn’t do anything remotely inappropriate with Desdemona. 

But what about Othello? you ask. Anthony Hopkins, again, has a very different approach, compared to Willard White. He plays the role in a more naturalistic, less theatrical way. The interpretations are also very different: Willard White’s Othello is not easily moved, and at the beginning doesn’t seem to care much about Iago’s insinuations but is slowly poisoned by him; whereas Anthony Hopkins’s Othello is already insecure, and doesn’t have much nobility and grandeur. Readers may have different ways of looking at Shakespeare’s character: he may be seen as a noble character who falls from great heights, because of a man’s manipulation, and it is so tragic because of how far he has fallen through the course of the play; or he may be seen as a good general but an empty, insecure man in private life, who isn’t worthy of Desdemona.  

Some people might not like the lack of grandeur—Anthony Hopkins’s Othello becomes smaller and hollower—but his performance works well and the play doesn’t become any less tragic because of it. In a way, perhaps it works even better: the insecurities are already in him and Iago only has to lead him towards the wrong direction, but Iago also transforms him from a calm, steady, and respectable general at the beginning of the play into a beast—for Anthony Hopkins’s Othello does turn into a beast. 

Placing side by side the 2 productions, I think both are excellent, both Iagos are brilliant, and the Trevor Nunn one has a perfect Desdemona and a more interesting Cassio, but overall I may lean a bit towards the BBC one by Jonathan Miller. Firstly, it focuses on Othello whereas the other one seems to tilt towards Iago—much as I love Ian McKellen, Shakespeare’s play is about Othello.  

More importantly, as I wrote in the other blog post, the killing scene in the Trevor Nunn production doesn’t really work. The scene in Shakespeare’s text becomes more and more intense, and when it gets to the peak, Othello smothers Desdemona—there must not be any lingering, any pause, or any interruption. The lingering in the Trevor Nunn production ruins the scene and almost destroys the tragedy, if not for the following scene with Emilia. Anthony Hopkins’s Othello kills Desdemona at the peak of hysteria. 

The BBC film also handles the final scene better: Zoë Wanamaker is also good, but Rosemary Leach is brilliant and more effective as Emilia. In the Trevor Nunn production, perhaps because of Willard White’s mannered, theatrical delivery, the final moments after Othello has learnt the truth feel a bit too long, but in the BBC one, the last moments don’t seem at all to drag when the number of lines is exactly the same.

But then in the Trevor Nunn film, Ian McKellen’s face, as he says “What you know, you know”, is striking and unforgettable. Good as Bob Hoskins is in the role of Iago, his delivery of the same line wouldn’t stay with me like Ian McKellen’s does. 

What do you think? Which is your favourite Othello production? 

Othello (1990), ft. Ian McKellen

This is a Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Trevor Nunn, who also directed the Macbeth production with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench. The cast are Willard White as Othello, Ian McKellen as Iago, Imogen Stubbs as Desdemona, Zoë Wanamaker as Emilia, and so on. 

The success of the production lies chiefly in Ian McKellen’s performance as Iago. If we compare this one and the Stratford Festival (Canada) production that I saw 2 months ago, Gordon S. Miller plays Iago as jovial, outgoing and ends up appearing too loud, too pushy, not at all subtle, whereas Ian McKellen’s approach comes closer to my idea of the villain: he is quiet, soft-spoken, adopting a self-effacing persona; in front of others, he’s always cleaning up, fixing clothes for people, looking sympathetic and attentive and trustworthy; alone, his face darkens, he’s consumed with an immense and inexplicable hatred for Othello.

Let’s contrast 2 scenes. The first scene is when Desdemona asks Iago how he would praise her and he throws back some sexist jokes—Ian McKellen’s Iago is funny, he comes across as an entertainer and everyone laughs and gets away with it as a harmless joke; Gordon S. Miller’s Iago, on the other hand, has no charm that he comes across as hateful and misogynistic, especially when Laura Condlln as Emilia looks visibly upset, so it’s hard to see how others see him as likable or trustworthy. 

The other scene is when Iago asks about Desdemona and Cassio and starts poisoning Othello’s mind—Gordon S. Miller’s Iago is too loud, too pushy and aggressive in the way he approaches the subject and suggests the ideas to Othello; Ian McKellen’s Iago, in contrast, is to me more like Iago in Shakespeare’s text. Shakespeare’s psychological insight and power of characterisation can be seen here: Iago plays Othello by starting some insinuations then pretending to hesitate, hinting something then withholding it and making him curious, dropping an idea here and an image there without appearing pushy, attacking Othello’s weakest points whilst pretending to care about his marriage… Shakespeare’s Iago is subtle and manipulative, and so is Ian McKellen’s portrayal, unlike Gordon S. Miller’s.

I have regarded Ian McKellen as the perfect Macbeth, now I see him as the ultimate Iago.

Everyone else in the production is good and well-cast. Cassio can be approached in different ways, Sean Baker plays him as a ladies’ man who does like Desdemona, and it works. Roderigo is played by Michael Grandage, and whilst I’m not quite sure about the scene of him hitting and kicking on the floor, he does look pathetic and gullible. Zoë Wanamaker is good as Emilia, especially in the final scene. And I think Imogen Stubbs plays Desdemona perfectly—she is naïve and childlike, especially in the scene where Othello is busy with work and she keeps pestering him about when Cassio may come for a meal, like a child used to getting things her way and not understanding how the world works. This childlikeness is essential to Desdemona, I didn’t really see it in Amelia Sargisson’s performance in the Stratford Festival production.

To my surprise, however, the killing scene works better in the Stratford Festival production. 

Let’s look at Shakespeare’s text, the moment right before the murder: 

“DESDEMONA Alas, he is betrayed, and I undone!

OTHELLO Out, strumpet! Weep’st thou for him to my face? 

DESDEMONA O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not! 

OTHELLO Down, strumpet! 

DESDEMONA Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight! 

OTHELLO Nay, if you strive—

DESDEMONA But half an hour! 

OTHELLO Being done, there is no pause. 

DESDEMONA But while I say one prayer! 

OTHELLO It is too late. 

Smothers her.” 

(Act 5 scene 2) 

This is an unbearable scene and there cannot be a pause or lingering of any kind—as Desdemona is struggling and begging, the scene becomes more and more intense and when it gets to the peak, he smothers her. Then Emilia knocks on the door and that knocks Othello out of the heat of the moment and he realises what he has done. 

In Trevor Nunn’s production, Desdemona runs around and tries to get away from Othello, which works perfectly fine, but the mistake is that she is on the floor begging for life and the intensity gets to the peak there, but she goes quiet, as though stunned, when he gives out his hand and she takes it, and there’s a gap between “But while I say one prayer!” and “It is too late”—the timing is wrong, and as Othello kills Desdemona afterwards, the emotion is lost, the impact is all gone. 

The peak of the play is in the final scene, after the killing: Emilia is the one element Iago hasn’t anticipated in his scheme. Whereas Desdemona is naïve and sees everyone in the best light, Iago sees everyone in the worst light—he is not the great psychologist many people say he is, he sees everyone’s weaknesses but no more, he doesn’t expect Othello’s strong reaction and doesn’t anticipate Emilia’s passion and courage. The scene works well in the production. I think it slightly drags on in the final bit, but Ian McKellen’s face, when Iago says to Othello “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.”, is chilling. 

Williard White is quite good as Othello, especially his voice, probably because he’s an opera singer. I think he is overshadowed by Ian McKellen, however, and Trevor Nunn also seems to focus more on Iago than Othello—Ian McKellen’s name comes first on the cover, there are more close-ups of him, and the production ends on his face, not Othello’s. 

Overall, it’s an excellent production, especially Ian McKellen.

Macbeth and Ian McKellen - Judi Dench

Last night I watched a theatrical performance of Macbeth, featuring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench. The production was directed by Trevor Nunn, and the TV version was directed by Philip Casson. 

It was incredible and made me love the play even more.

Everyone is excellent but the two main actors naturally dominate the play, and Ian McKellen and Judi Dench both convey very well the complexity, the conflict in their characters: Macbeth, unlike Othello, knows perfectly well what he’s doing and what the consequences would be, and has in his mind a million different reasons not to kill Duncan, but still does it; Lady Macbeth is the one who comes up with the plan and urges Macbeth to act like a man but isn’t as strong as she convinces herself to be; both of them fall apart, both of them face their damnation, in different ways. 

(If you want a great literary work about the guilt, the struggle of a couple after killing someone, Shakespeare’s play is it, not a certain novel I shall not name).

Lady Macbeth at the beginning seems to think of killing Duncan as something abstract, something simple and easy that could be washed away with water, and only afterwards realises the enormity of what they have done. But Macbeth cannot stop there—once he kills Duncan, he has to kill Banquo; once Banquo’s dead, he has to kill Macduff… I like the way Judi Dench cries “You must leave this.” (Act 3 scene 2) when Ian McKellen’s Macbeth talks about killing Banquo, but I especially love the way she says these 2 similar lines: 

“What’s done is done.” (ibid.) 

And later, when she has gone mad and is talking to herself in front of the doctor and the gentlewoman: 

“What’s done cannot be undone.” (Act 5 scene 1) 

When reading the play, I didn’t quite think about the way the second line seems to mirror/repeat the first but is very different.

The tragedy of Macbeth is the tragedy of one who knows full well the evil of his actions but cannot stop and must continue, who has to convince himself that it doesn’t matter because nothing matters. There isn’t much I can say about Ian McKellen—he is perfect as Macbeth. The peak is in the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” soliloquy—I have always liked the soliloquy, it became much better when I read it in the play, in the full context, and it became even better when I watched it performed by Ian McKellen, especially the last few lines: 

“…It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.” (Act 5 scene 5)

I haven’t seen any other production so can’t compare, but I do like the way this one conveys some uncertainty in the ending, as the ending in Shakespeare’s play seems to mirror the beginning: the play begins in blood and ends in blood, both have a hero killing a traitor, the old king (Duncan) was seen as virtuous but was naïve, will the new king (Malcolm) be fit to govern? 

If you haven’t seen this production, here it is.