On THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

 The Scottish play. If it was assigned a classic film category, it would be in film noir. It's one of two current films with Oscar nominations that's based on the work of William Shakespeare. There's WEST SIDE STORY, inspired by ROMEO AND JULIET. Ad there's this one written and directed by Joel Coen, one of the celebrated directing duo, the Coen Brothers. In terms of casting Black actors, there's been very little diversity in Coen Brothers films. Think of RAISING ARIZONA, BARTON FINK, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, FARGO, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS and HAIL, CAESAR! as examples. I hated their stereotypical images of Black people in the characters for 2004's THE LADYKILLERS, the Coen Brothers remake of the delightful 1955 British film of the same name. In their remake, the Coen Brothers gave us dimwitted Black homeboys and Black senior citizen church ladies in a story now set in the Deep South. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS was set in New York City's Greenwich Village. It focuses on the folk singing scene of the early 1960s. Did we see renowned singers like Odetta and Richie Havens portrayed? No. We hardly even saw Black people as background actors in street, subway and nightclub scenes. 

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, with Denzel Washington starring in the lead role, certainly makes up for the lack of inclusion of Black actors in the majority of previous films directed by Ethan and Joel Coen. This tale of murder, the obsession with power and how the thirst for power can warp one's mind, and the inescapable passage of time gets an excellent treatment from Joel Coen. His wife, Oscar winner Frances McDormand, is one of the film's producers and she has the lead female role as Lady Macbeth. 

One of three witches predicts to the middle-aged Macbeth that he will become the next King of Scotland. This whets his appetite for power especially since he's, as portrayed in this adaptation, middle-aged and aware that time is relentlessly marching on. This also whets the appetite of the frighteningly ambitious Lady Macbeth. He will kill in order to make the witch's prediction come true.

The film is shot in gorgeous black and white cinematography. With its austere and minimalist sets, which add to giving the movie a film noir flavor, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH has a look reminiscent of German expressionist films of the 1920s/early 30s. Films such as Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS and M, Murnau's SUNRISE and Joe May's ASPHALT. And the movie is foggier than London in the fall. It opens with Washington as Macbeth emerging out of the fog at a distance and walking into a close-up shot.

As for the performances in THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand secure their positions as modern-day cinema royalty. They are riveting. They command the screen.

Macbeth commits murder in the story. The victim is in bed. Joel Coen seems to have taken a director's tip from Alfred Hitchcock in that stunning scene -- Shoot the murders like love scenes and the love scenes like murders.

Denzel Washington is a Best Actor Oscar nominee for this film. The 2-time Oscar winner now has 10 acting nominations to his credit, making him the most Oscar-nominated Black actor in Hollywood history.

Strong performances also come from Corey Hawkins (previously seen in STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON and the musical INTO THE HEIGHTS) as Macduff, Moses Ingram as Lady Macduff and Kathryn Hunter is fantastic as the three witches. That's an astounding triple-play performance.

This bloody, good film runs 1 hour and 45 minutes.