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KPCW sends its most discerning moviegoers to the movies each week to let you know which films are worth going to and which are a pass. The Friday Film Review airs at 7:20 a.m., during the Noon News and in The Local View. KPCW Friday Film Reviewers are: Barb Bretz, Rick Brough, Mark Harrington and Linda Jager.

Friday Film Review--"The Tragedy of MacBeth"

Did you know that one of William Shakespeare’s best-known plays is reportedly jinxed?

Superstitious actors call it “the Scottish play” rather than say the title out loud. Previous film versions of the story are not well-remembered. And by the way, when the Park City Shakespeare Festival staged it back in the mid-1980’s, the premiere night was marked by—a state-wide power blackout. Hmm.

Despite the curses and hoodoos, director Joel Coen, working for once without brother Ethan, has created a compelling, visually impressive film—centered on the Scottish lord, MacBeth, seduced and corrupted by the prediction of three witches that he will rise to the throne. Unfortunately, he also can’t evade their prophecies of his doom.

The two stars of the film are well-matched for Shakespeare, and for each other. Denzel Washington’s slow-boiling intensity is effective and he’s smart to stay in a lower key for some of the more famous bombastic passages.

Frances McDormand, known for her willful characters (she’s also Joel’s wife by the way) turns fully malevolent here. But in the classic mad scene, she’s both pathetic and creepy.

“The Tragedy of MacBeth” is filmed almost entirely on sound stages, against a background of white, restless fog—whether you’re watching heavenly clouds or the smoke of carnage is undetermined. The story takes place around cold castle hallways, courtyards and battlements cast in bleached-out stark black and white.

Screenwriters Coen has tweaked the play. Some of the violence that is usually off stage is now up front. The three weird sisters appear as crows, and in human form, they’re played by Kathryn Hunter, who is not only a classically-trained actress but a contortionist. What you see is not a special effect.

Yes, there are the occasional thickets of Shakespearean verbiage to wade through. But, surprisingl, the film clocks in at a lean hour and 45 minutes.

Only time will tell if we can hail Coen’s work for breaking the curse. Let’s just say that “the Scottish film” gets four stars out of five.

Known for getting all the facts right, as well as his distinctive sign-off, Rick covered Summit County meetings and issues for 35 years on KPCW. He now heads the Friday Film Review team.