The Tragedy of Macbeth

Year of Release:  2021

Director:  Joel Coen

Screenplay: Joel Coen, based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Brendan Gleeson, Kathryn Hunter

Running Time: 105 minutes

Genre:  Drama, thriller, horror

After distinguishing himself in battle, the Scottish Lord Macbeth (Washington) encounters three witches (Hunter) who inform him that he is destined to become King of Scotland.  With the help of his ambitious wife (McDormand), Macbeth embarks on a treacherous and violent campaign to fulfil his destiny.

Directed by Joel Coen, working for the first time without his brother Ethan, this is a striking adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays.  Sticking closely to the text, the film is shot entirely on soundstages in crisp black-and-white, with stylised sets, turning it into a surreal nightmare.  Denzel Washington turns in a fantastic performance as Macbeth, charismatic and noble to begin with, before descending into murderous paranoia, while also conveying his guilt, self-torment and world-weariness.  Frances McDormand turns in a brittle, icy Lady Macbeth, who seems too turn into a living ghost as she falls apart.  Coen directs with assurance and imagination, making this version of the oft-told tale genuinely distinctive, particularly casting Kathryn Hunter as all three of the witches, she turns on a remarkable physical performance, sometimes seeming to portray the three characters in one body, while at other times, the other two witches appear as shadows or reflections beside her.  This is a superb addition to Shakespearean cinema.

 Macbeth (Denzel Washington) and Banquo (Bertie Carvel) in The Tragedy of Macbeth

The Magnificent Seven

Year of Release:  2016
Director:  Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay:  Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk, based on Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni
Starring:  Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, Peter Sarsgaard
Running Time:  133 minutes
Genre:  Western, action

The year is 1879, and the small mining town of Rose Creek is plagued by ruthless industrialist Bart Bogue (Sarsgaard), who wants control of the entire town.  After Bogue turns a town meeting in the local church into a massacre, young widow Emma Cullen (Bennett), whose husband was killed by Bogue, and her friend Teddy (Luke Grimes) ride out to find gunfighters to help protect the town.  They find bounty hunter Sam Chisholm (Washington), who has a personal grievance against Bogue, gunfighter and gambler Josh Faraday (Pratt), sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheux (Hawke), and his associate and expert knife fighter Billy Rocks (Lee), wanted outlaw Vasquez (Garcia-Rulfo), grizzled frontiersman Jack Horne (D'Onofrio) and Comanche warrior Red Harvest (Sensmeier).  These seven have to protect a town of farmers against a ruthless army.

This is a remake of the classic 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven, which in turn was a remake of the 1954 film Seven Samurai.  This is a hugely entertaining, classical Western, full of the traditional tropes of the genre, there is even a scene where the piano stops playing when a  character shoulders into the saloon.  I have to confess, I am a huge fan of Westerns, and this film left me with a big smile on my face.  It's a good old-fashioned romp, in the best sense, full of action, and daring-do, with a dash of humour and emotion (the final moments have real emotional weight).  Washington and Pratt provide real movie-star charisma.  Aside form a more diverse cast, this is very much a traditional Western, and doesn't really do much that hasn't been done before, but for old-school Saturday matinee fun, it certainly delivers.

Vincent D'Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Ethan Hawke, Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Byung-hun Lee are The Magnificent Seven