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After a limited theatrical release in December of last year, the new A24 film The Tragedy of Macbeth finally made its long-awaited appearance on the Apple TV Plus streaming platform on January 14, 2022. To further promote the project from Joel Coen, the streaming platform released a new featurette in which Denzel Washington and others sat down to reflect on the process behind the film's detailed creation.
Apple TV Plus' The Tragedy of Macbeth centers around Macbeth, a Scottish lord played by Washington, convinced that his path points towards royalty. A trio of three witches, played masterfully by Kathryn Hunter, persuades the troubled lord that he will become the next King of Scotland, propelling that narrative down a dark and psychological path. His ambitions cascade into his wife, Lady Macbeth, played by Frances McDormand, who assists him in his violent and mischievous attempts to seize power. The film lives in highly defined black-and-white and is fitted within the box-like Academy ratio, creating an experience for audiences that places them entirely within the midst of the drama at play.
"The way I've always looked at the film is that it doesn't take place in any physical place. It takes place in the minds of the characters and the psychological reality," stated the film's composer, Carter Burwell, which is a sentiment felt amongst many involved with crafting Coen's artistic vision. Macbeth is an adaptation of Shakespearean literature that has seen numerous visual directions, but Coen's geometric and architectural approach sparked great enthusiasm in the cast and crew. "He's just brilliant. He's one of the most, if not the most, brilliant filmmakers I've worked with, period," expressed Washington, who later described his experience with the director as a masterclass in filmmaking.
The film's stars are undoubtedly Washington and McDormand, who play the two most prominent characters. McDormand was the first of the pairing to be cast for her classically trained experience, but the journey to find her counterpart was not easy for the film's casting director, Ellen Chenoweth. Her time with Coen provided her with insight into the directors' type of actors, but finding someone to play opposite of McDormand who had classical training and could hold their own presented problems due to the limited number of individuals who met criteria. Washington's emergence was defined as a miracle by Chenoweth because of his status as an actor and the classical training he equally carried. Their pairing was a concerto of acting proficiency, and Washington admired McDormand for the passion and ferocity instilled within her, which he indicated resides within him equally. "It's just two forces coming together for evil, but we did it well," stated Washington.
The Tragedy of MacBeth's black-and-white vision is the most iconic piece and an element that audiences notice more readily than others because of the strong command it holds over every moment visually. According to the film's director of photography, Bruno Delbonnel, there was no color except for one or two dresses worn by McDormand. Beyond that, everything was in black-and-white on the sound stages to fully immerse the actors within the film's atmosphere. Production design, photography, hair, and costume design all worked cohesively within the black-and-white atmosphere to ensure that the abstract nature of the film created the appropriate emotional response. The ambiguity exudes across the board, especially in the lighting that played with the idea of uncertainty through the tricks it would play upon the mind.
Every integral piece of the machine needed to function for this Apple TV Plus film to become the vision it sought to be. The behind-the-scenes look offers perspective and provides one with a chance to hear and comprehend the reason behind decisions made. "As an auteur, Joel surrounded himself with these other artists that wanted nothing more but to participate in his creation of this world. And I think that as an audience member, I hope you see that," expressed the film's production designer, Stefan Dechant.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is currently available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
Source: Apple TV/YouTube