'Lady Macbeth' (2016) Review (Sight and Sound)

(A review of 'Lady Macbeth' written in the house style of Sight and Sound, written Spring 2017)

Lady Macbeth

United Kingdom, 2016

Director: William Oldroyd

Certificate 15 89m

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".

The words of playwright William Congreve perfectly encapsulates the blazing debut of Florence Pugh and director William Oldroyd in this viciously raw revenge tale, which is not based on the Shakespeare classic, but instead on an obscure Russian novella by Nikolai Leskov (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District,1865).

In 19th Century rural Engalnd, Katherine (Pugh) is sold off with her farm into an abusive and demoralising marriage to emasculated son Alexander (Paul Hilton). In the opening 15 minutes Oldroyd turns the screen into a vacuum, slowly building an unsettling and lifeless atmosphere that is expressed by static framing, with Dan Jones providing a haunting soundscape that is defined by wind and silence. It is within this atmosphere of stasis that the female characters operate, like spectres on the screen moving robotically with no purpose or meaning. This style of composition where the actors move for the frame not the other way around, has its roots in Oldroyd's previous work in the Theatre, directing plays by Sartre and Beckett. Framing the action as if it were a Theatre stage accentuates the soundscape even further, as the sounds of nature outside the frame ruthlessly reminds them of their cage-like existence.

However, it is not too long before Katherine begins her mission to gloriously obliterate patriarchy. First her father-in-law (Christopher Fairbank) by poison, then the husband by bludgeon, his horse by gun and - most distressingly - her ward (a young child) by suffocation. It is perhaps the raw intensity by which they are presented that elevates the sense of catharsis for all the mistreated women of literature (Lady Chatterly, Anna Karrenina etc.), but also emphasises the truly horrifying acts Katherine must commit in order to be free. Naturally guilt corrodes hers and her lover's soul, whom is played by Cosmo Jarvis with a well-fitted naivety. In a state of trauma, Sebastian (Jarvis) admits to committing the gruesome murders with Katherine. At this point, the expectation is that they will both be punished by the law, and the woman seeking freedom is chained back down no sooner than she escapes. However, in a wonderfully scornful subversion, Katherine pins the murders on her lover and the mute maid Anna (Naomi Ackie). Presumably they are taken away to hang, and Katherine realises her freedom, but at a price nonetheless.

It is the darkly comic moments of the film in which we see Pugh at her best. The indifference she expresses when her authoritarian father-in-law is poisoned, calmly buttering toast and asking her maid about where she grew up whilst we hear the moans and groans of Boris in the other room, is a well-executed moment of sadistic humour. There is no doubt that Pugh's performance has propelled her into the starlight as Britain's newest talent to watch out for. Also worthy of a mention is the performance from Ackie whom accurately, and tragically, portrays the subservience and dehumanisation of black servants in 19th century Britain.

So far, this is the most impressive British film to be released this year, and with the hype now surrounding Pugh and Oldroyd, one can only see why.

Credits and Synopsis

Producer - Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly Screenplay - Alice Birch Director of Photography - Ari Wegner Editor - Nick Emerson Production Design - Jacqueline Abrahams Sound Design - Dan Jones Costumes - Holly Waddington

In 1865, a young woman is forced into a loveless marriage with an abusive husband, and forced to live in doors. When he is sent away by her father-in-law, she begins an intimate relationship with a peasant stable-boy. The discovery of their relationship by the father-in-law prompts her to murder him, and then her own husband to after he also discovers them together. All is well, until Katherine is handed the duties of looking after her deceased husband's son. In a state of fear and panic, the lovers murder the child. Katherine blames the murder on her former lover, and her maid, and she acquires the house for herself.