Power-hungry Scott walks down an aisle, murdered on his mind. Is this another Macbeth adaptation that I see before me? Undoubtedly, yes, but Joel Coen’s take on Shakespeare’s centuries-old story seems different from any other.
It doesn’t hurt to have acting powerhouse Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand on board as Lord and Lady Macbeth, but the setting Coen has them in mind as well. Shot in black-and-white at boxy academy proportions, we are transported into a unique world of castles sculpted by light and shadow in angles enough to draw blood.
With audiences displaced by time and modern cinematic tradition, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” looks like it may be 100 years old—closer to a stage play and, at times, a dream (or more) than real life. nightmare). For example, if you proceed to touch it, your hand will pass right there.
Using the latest technologies, the film’s backward-looking, forward-thinking production design comes courtesy of Stephen Dechant, whose eclectic CV includes “Avatar,” “True Grit” and “Jurassic Park.”
Dechant joined the film after nearly a year bonded over the ideas of Coen, cinematographer Bruno DeBonel and McDormand (producer and Coen’s wife). “I didn’t go into this project by any means and say, ‘I have two words for you: ‘German Expressionism,'” he recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t go up to Bruno and say, ‘Black and white, baby, what do you think?
“From the very beginning, (Coen) mentioned that he did not want to deny that the text was created as a play[and]theatrical production,” he said. “We weren’t interested in making it as a naturalist film. He wasn’t interested in going down that route (Roman) Polanski,” citing the director’s 1971 film, shot around the British Isles Was.
Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth in a scene from “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+ and A24
simplify the frame
“It became a benchmark for me to understand how much abstraction we were going to get,” Dechant said.
Collaborators looked to the films of Carl Dreyer, Robert Mitchum, F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and D.W. Griffith for inspiration, as well as sketches by avant-garde theater designer Edward Gordon Craig.
Left–right: A film as Ross in FW Murnau’s “Sunrise” (1927) and a still from Alex Hassel’s Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. Credit: Alamy/Stephen Dichant/Apple TV+
“The through line was simplifying the frame,” he explained. “It was almost like creating a haiku of imagery. It was, ‘How can we reduce this to the bare minimum of elements and still be suggestive and immediate?'”
Macbeth’s ascension to the throne takes him from a war camp to his palace in Inverness and eventually to a castle in Dunsinane. Coen tells Dechant not to think of a castle, but “the idea of a castle.” How this unfolds moves the film into the realm of the metatextual.
The rough edges and sparse set decorations are a nod to stage design, but the imperfection of these spaces also becomes an extension of Lord and Lady Macbeth. These are characters who have imagined themselves to be placed on the throne, but have never revealed the details of their reign. The lack of imagination is reflected in the bare walls, cold floors and high ceilings, these characters dwarfed by their station – a hollow palace for a hollow crown.
“There’s a haunting, empty quality to it,” Dechant said. “I think Joel was probably working on that level,[Inverness is]not home, because they can’t have heirs. And then you go (Duncinane) and it’s not okay. Still an emptiness.” There is only one man who wants power, and his wife.”
make old new again
A montage of illustrations and 3-D virtual models of the sets created for “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. Credit: Courtesy Stephen Dechant/Apple TV+ and A24
The set was designed using 3-D computer modeling, allowing Coen and DeBonel to create virtual walk-throughs of scenes and camera angles and movements before they worked. Some sets were largely marked on a soundstage or built with foam blocks and augmented to serve the lesson.
Dechant remembers MacDormand pacing down a mock corridor in preparation for the scene of an important murder, reciting Macbeth’s respective solitude to make sure the space was long enough. Presenting that scene—and one of Shakespeare’s most famous pieces—was important, especially as the production designer and director conspired on a new interpretation.
Macbeth’s vision of a dagger appears in front of him as a door handle in his hunting chamber in most interpretations of the play, before he picks up his blade. Dechant said that Coen showed him a 1903 portrait of banker J.P. Morgan, who sat holding the arm of a chair—except for the light, it looked like Morgan was actually holding a dagger. The production designer played with carving the metal door handles to achieve a similar effect. (Dechant eventually left the set with a piece of the door as the final product and a souvenir.)
Left: Portrait of JP Morgan. Right: A film still from “Tragedy of Macbeth.” Credit: Alamy/Stephen Dichant/Apple TV+
“(The room) has no historical relevance,” Dechant said. “It was designed for one purpose: to be a skillet.”
Catherine Hunter as the three witches in “The Tragedy of Macbeth”. Credit: Courtesy of Apple TV+ and A24
Dechant said that two versions of the Phantom Room were built, one full height for stunt performers, and one with just the rafters for Hunter’s close-ups. Credit: Jason T Clark/Apple TV+ and A24
There were other touches as well: When Macbeth sees his friend’s ghost in a hallway, Dechant designs each arch to be “off balance, because Macbeth is in his madness.” The enemy’s deadly arrival at Dunsinane is foreshadowed by the decant in the throne room, where columns were placed with the same proportions as a colony of trees as the invading army would later pass. The set’s texture—highlighted by an absence of color—was designed to harmonize with the work of costume designer Mary Zoffres.
Dechant describes his work in purely collaborative terms, despite his proven track record. He’s quick to give credit, whether Coen, DeBonel, the set decorators who painted the shadows on his sets to make the lighting pop, or the matte artists who painted the landscapes in post-production.
“Imagine if you came to work and when you went to it everything looked like a piece of art?” He asked with a smile, it seemed that he still could not believe his luck.
The Crossroads set – the largest in film – occupied Studio 16 in the Warner Bros. lot. Credit: Jason T Clark/Apple TV+ and A24
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” is available on Apple TV+ on January 14.
Add to the queue: Five Brilliant Interpretations of Shakespeare
“Throne of Blood” (1957)
Akira Kurosawa transports “Macbeth” to feudal Japan for an epic on the rise and fall of the warrior. Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada star as the lead and dial down the emotions perfectly. (See also: “Run” [1985]Kurosawa’s Take on “King Lear,” and “The Bad Sleep Well” [1960], his Noirish adaptation of “Hamlet”)
“10 Things I Hate About You” (1999)
Heath Ledger singing from the bleachers. Reading the tearful poem by Julia Stiles. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stunned everyone on sight. Gil Junger’s take on “The Taming of the Crew,” with an American high school setting, had it all.
“Richard III” (1995)
Richard Loncrane’s adaptation takes the rise of a bad king and views it as a fascist coup in 1930s Britain. It’s worth watching as Ian McKellen rips it off as one of Shakespeare’s most dastardly characters and makes brilliant use of the location (Battersea Power Station stands in for the Battle of Bosworth).
“Maqbool” (2003)
Another “Macbeth,” another original take. Vishal Bhardwaj sets the play in Mumbai’s underground world of crime, while the late Irrfan Khan brings a great world-weariness to the troubled leader. Comparison with “The Godfather” would not be wrong.
“Chimes at Midnight” (1965)
Orson Welles diverts attention from the royals in “Henry IV” and highlights Sir John Falstaff. Wells certainly saw the role as a knight and troublemaker, but it also gave him a cunning edge. And it wasn’t the last film to rise to character prominence (see: David Michoud’s 2019 film, “The King”).
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