A One Mann’s Movies review of “Lady Macbeth” (2016).
How have I lasted 8 years without seeing this wonderful film? Currently available to UK licence holders on iPlayer is William Oldroyd’s “Lady Macbeth”. A gripping, dark and engrossing movie starring Florence Pugh in only her second feature film. At the end of his video review, Mark Kermode commented that Pugh was “on her way to being a huge star”. A very perceptive comment!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Katherine (Florence Pugh) is living a posh but miserable life as the trophy-wife to a colliery owner’s heir Alexander (Paul Hilton). Without power she endures abuse and a sexless existance before finding comfort, Lady Chatterley-style, with the rough stable-man Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). But the union, if discovered, is a path to ruin.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Very strong language, strong sex, violence”. I would have personally added “upsetting scenes” to that list as well!)
Talent:
Starring: Florence Pugh, Paul Hilton, Cosmo Jarvis, Naomi Ackie, Christopher Fairbank, Golda Rosheuvel, Anton Palmer.
Directed by: William Oldroyd.
Written by: Alice Birch. (From the novel by Nikolai Leskov.)
Running Time: 1h 29m.
“Lady Macbeth” Summary:
Positives:
- Drop-dead gorgeous cinematography.
- A brilliant performance by Florence Pugh leads a great ensemble cast.
- A story that makes you guilty for siding with a monster!
Negatives:
- Sebastian’s compliance?
Review of “Lady Macbeth”:
I normally keep my reviews spoiler free, but as this one is nearly 8 years old, I will be departing from that rule for this one… it’s really difficult to talk about the film without dropping major spoilers. So if you are reading this without having seen the film, go and watch it and then come back!
BEWARE – SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
A Monster Hatches.
William Oldroyd, a theatre director by training, doesn’t make many films (only two to date), but when he does they are damned interesting ones. (He followed “Lady Macbeth” up with the very interesting “Eileen” last year which I also – mostly – loved.) Here he cleverly weaves a tale that takes you as the viewer on a rollercoaster of a journey. You start by feeling so sorry for the poor wretched Katherine (Florence Pugh). “Turn around and take off your nightgown” barks her brutal husband Alexander (Paul Hilton) as Katherine stands naked against the wall as Alexander masterbates in a chair. Unloved, unfucked, Katherine is forced to spend her days indoors, sitting upright and decorating the furniture. You burn with anger at her treatment by Alexander and his equally monstrous father (Christopher Fairbank). You are also filled with pride as she stands up for the sexual and racial taunting, by the stable-lads, of her maid Anna (Naomi Ackie, who I didn’t recognise, in her screen debut). But this is again turned on its head when she is equally taunted and physically assaulted by Sebastian. Such disrespect! Such powerlessness!
A Monster Runs Amok.
But Katherine clearly likes a bit of rough. Since, from that point, she and Sebastian start their illicit and (outside of Alexander’s gaze) very public affair. And you go “OK… so she’s committing adultery… good for her”. Because you are on her side.
Only progressively does the clever script by Alice Birch start to display the darker side of Katherine’s character. A streak of selfishness that implicates not only her maid Anna but then Sebastian himself as – in a wonderfully dramatic scene in front of her husband – Katherine drags Sebastian to the bed, releases his equipment and mounts him cowgirl-style.
From there, we obviously go from bad to worse as the film gets darker (the horse, no, surely n… oh!) and then pitch black (poor innocent Teddy (Anton Palmer)… w..w…w…what? NO!). She emerges, like an alien from John Hurt’s chest, as one of cinemas most unapologetically evil bitches. Yet you as the viewer are implicated in it all! Simply brilliant!
Florence Pugh is astounding.
Holding all of this drama together is a towering performance by Florence Pugh, who won the British Independant Film Award for Best Actress, but that should really have been a BAFTA. This was her second feature film (her debut was in Carol Morley’s “The Falling” which I can’t remember if I’ve seen, but either way must watch/again). It’s a brave performance (which is critic-speak for “she gets naked and has a lot of rampant sex”) but it’s brilliantly nuanced as she changes tack from ‘being the put-upon’ to ‘doing the putting’.
The supporting cast (who, other than Ackie, haven’t really risen to the same dizzy heights as Pugh) also deliver fine performances.
Who did the brilliant cinematography?
The cinematography is exquisite. As with the very best, you feel like you could take a number of the shots and put them on the wall of an art gallery. The one of Katherine in all her finery sitting bolt upright and deathly still on the lounge sofa could have been painted in oils. No surprise then that the cinematographer was the great Ari Wegner, more recently nominated for an Oscar for “The Power of the Dog“.
But would Sebastian do it?
My one and only hesitation with the story was the complicity of Sebastian in the death of Teddy. He clearly nearly succombed to a murderous intent at the waterfall. But would he really have assisted Katherine in the attack? Wouldn’t his late attack of concience not have come earlier, during the attack itself? It’s the one aspect of the story that didn’t ring true for me.
Trigger warning.
This film has scenes of marital and sexual abuse that might be triggering. It also has scenes of death involving a horse and a child which might very much upset horsey mothers everywhere!
Summary Thoughts on “Lady Macbeth”
This is a wonderful, if disturbing film. A taut hour and a half of near cinema perfection in my book.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Lady Macbeth”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TubDRQQA3-k .
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