Black & white filming was used in many 2021 films. Gone are the days of singular notable entries: The Artist (2011), Frances Ha (2012), Nebraska (2013), Roma (2018). This past year produced more than a handful of films shot entirely or predominately in black & white that received critical attention. Belfast, the 2021 TIFF People’s Choice winner and 94th Academy Award’s Best Picture nominee is the highest-profile. That said, of the high profile black & white films from 2021, two of them use the medium to greater effect than the others: Passing and The Tragedy of Macbeth. Passing, because the narrative centres on race (black and white) and a woman passing for white in 1920s America. Filming it in black & white heightens that narrative message. Black & white in The Tragedy of Macbeth allows for deeper contrast of shadow and light, which works well for this tale where the characters drift into the shadows of their own minds, often at war with themselves as they deal with their shadow desires.
Macbeth is a well-known play, most high schoolers get exposed to it, and theatre people fear saying its name in theatre. So why did Joel Coen want to revisit this well-trodden tale, and why did this heavy-hitting cast of players (including Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, and Brendan Gleeson) want to be a part of it? It’s not even groundbreaking to make a modern Shakespeare adaptation in black & white, a decade ago saw Much Ado About Nothing (2012) also go sans colour. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most known tragedies because it has several great roles. It’s no surprise that Denzel Washington is nominated for his performance as Macbeth in the film for numerous accolades, including Best Actor at the 94th Academy Awards. But it’s Joel Coen’s vision that will make this production of The Tragedy of Macbeth timeless.
Right from the beginning, it was transportive. From the framing, to the use of lighting and smoke in the desert setting, to having characters come into extreme focus from being previously blurred. The crisp focus the black & white provided when a character took centre frame stood out, but it was the entrances and exits that I lived for in the early part of the film. I will think of the entrance, monologue, and exit of Kathryn Hunter’s witches for a while. The sand itself was a thing I had never before associated with Macbeth (more of a Tempest thing) but one that I grew to enjoy because it also gave the witch(es) a mirage-like quality.
The film is also nominated for Best Production Design at the Academy Awards, and while there is something to be said for the entire castle with its central tower and imposing staircase, the high ceilings, and the arches that tower within the frame, there was one specific design element that stood out to me. The knife-shaped door handle as Macbeth walks down the hallway (armed with his own knife), making his fateful decision that will set him on the route to tragedy.
The actors deliver monologues, often framed as if almost speaking to the viewer/audience as a participant in the tale. It is an interesting choice, almost treating the viewer as complicit in what unfolds.
Do I want to see more original films? Yes. But if filmmakers like Joel Coen want to revisit classics like this breathe new life into them, and create epic productions, who am I to begrudge them their art?
The Tragedy of Macbeth is available of Apple TV+