‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ on Apple TV, is a visual ode to the Shakespearean drama.

Joel Coen who until now had always made films with his brother Ethan Coen has made this film as his solo project. An adaptation of Macbeth almost feels weird coming from one of the Coen brothers. The most common trait in a film by the Coen brothers is ‘America in 19th or 20th century’ This outlandishly denies every trait we have seen until now. Ethan Coen is on a break from films right now. Joel Coen in one of his interviews had admitted “If I was working with Ethan I wouldn’t have done Macbeth, it would not be interesting to him,”

The film is based on Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’ The play is nicknamed ‘The Scottish play’. Shakespeare with this play has given the world, some of the greatest passages in English Literature. And because of the influence that this holds as literature, People all around the globe, all-around pop culture have tried to adapt this play into a movie, there have been more than 20 attempts of adapting this haunting and ghoulish Shakespearean drama, and ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ is one of the most hauntingly successful attempts till now.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair” The three witches envisage this, telling how all is not as it seems. There are all reasons to believe that a Shakespeare adaptation can go wrong in many ways, but Joel Coen plays it smooth, makes it very play-like, the cuts and the gaps take time, being brutal. Everything is happening, There is an endless cycle of violence, there is an abuse of power, political conflicts are inevitable and above all there is guilt.

While watching the film, I couldn’t help myself and I kept going back to ‘Miyan Maqbool’, Our beloved Irfan is no more, and the thought of that is as painful and scary as this Shakespeare play. The brilliance that he had put in that role, He was magical, with those pensive eyes, There is no one quite like him. He was truly the last of his species

The Idea of ‘Denzel Washington’ as ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Frances McDormand’ as ‘Lady Macbeth’ in itself seems so exhilarating, that you cannot imagine it falling flat. I’ve read Macbeth, But I’m not much familiar with ‘Shakespearian language’ The Visual that Joel Coen has used are mesmerizing, I can sit and look at it the whole day, But the language, the script is hard to decipher, I understood it, I got the gist of it eventually once I was in the rhythm, but even so I loved this so much. The filmmaking is pure talent, The Black and white Cinematography, the minimalist production, The performances above all look compelling.

Denzel Washington smoothly portrays Macbeth’s vulnerability and that is very important. Because that constantly reminds us how Macbeth has a conscience and Lady Macbeth lacks one. The production design by (Stephan Decant) is really notifying because The whole film is filmed on the Los Angeles Soundstage. This is an age-old story, It’s as said in the title a tragedy, but if you look at it through the lens of the present, the symbols of power in the leader and the tyranny are still so relevant in today’s times.