The Tragedy of Macbeth

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Eye Filmmuseum seen across the river IJ © Marcus Koppen

Eye Filmmuseum, © Marcus Koppen

poster The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, US 2021)

still from The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, US 2021)

still The Tragedy of Macbeth (Joel Coen, US 2021)

still from A Raisin in the Sun (Daniel Petrie, US 1961)

still A Raisin in the Sun (Daniel Petrie, US 1961)

still from Fences (Denzel Washington, US 2016)

still Fences (Denzel Washington, US 2016)

still from The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua, US 2014)

still The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua, US 2014)

still from In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, US 1967)

still In the Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, US 1967)

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An African American family waits for a $ 10,000 life insurance cheque to arrive, but instead of escaping poverty, the windfall causes major tensions about what to do with the money. This sometimes heart rending, sometimes funny drama is based on the first Broadway play written by an African American woman and featuring a largely African American cast.

Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun from 1959 was successfully filmed two years later. The original thespians including Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee once again play the roles of an African-American family living in a cramped Chicago apartment. They are waiting for life insurance money to come through and change their lives, but disagreement develops as to how to spend the money.
The mother (Claudia McNeil) wants to leave their apartment and buy a house in a white neighbourhood. Her headstrong son Walter Lee Younger (Sidney Poitier) hopes to open a liquor store with the money. Hansberry’s acute observations of generational conflict and housing discrimination are also in Petrie's film, which recorded the various privations of mid-century African Americans very movingly.A Raisin in the Sun also links Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington. Poitier played in both the play and the 1961 film, Washington starred in a 2014 version of the play.

A Raisin in the Sun

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Joel Coen, without his brother Ethan for the first time in 40 years, adds his version to the long list of adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A stunning solo debut in which radical style choices serve to underline the lead’s tragedy even more.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is set in a black &amp; white universe, the styling of which is reminiscent of the expressionist films from the interbellum, as is the semi-theatrical staging with Coen only shooting on studio sets. However, the most surprising choices are that of Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth who are both over 60 in contrast to most other adaptations.

Sidney Poitier was a pioneer. In 1963, he was the first African American male to win the Oscar for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field. Poitier was lauded for his style, intelligence and classical technique. He was graceful, self-aware and had immense presence on screen.

Sidney Poitier & Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington directed (and played in) his third film, a moving drama about a down-on-its-luck, working class Afro-American family in the 1950s. Troy Maxson is the bitter father who has never got over the fact that his nascent baseball career was ruined by racism.

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis star in this kitchen-sink drama set in a black neighbourhood in the 1950s. Troy Maxson works for a cleaning company in Pittsburgh, but once dreamt of a professional baseball career. However, Troy was too old by the time the major leagues finally admitted black players.

Fences

In this full-blooded action thriller Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has burnt his bridges behind him. He has even staged his own death to be able to say goodbye to his life as an undercover cop. A violent incident involving a prostitute forces him to take up his old trade as an Equalizer again.

Ex-undercover cop Robert McCall leads a modest life working at a DIY store in Boston. McCall’s quiet life is crudely disturbed when he witnesses young prostitute Teri being threatened by an ultra-violent Russian mobster. McCall can’t take it and decides to take up his former profession once more. As The Equalizer it was his task to help society’s helpless, lonely people combatting injustice and violence.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Joel Coen / US, 2021 / 105 min.

Joel Coen, without his brother Ethan for the first time in 40 years, adds his version to the long list of adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A stunning solo debut in which radical style choices serve to underline the lead’s tragedy even more.

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Special screenings

A Raisin in the Sun

Fences

The Equalizer

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Sidney Poitier & Denzel Washington