Lady Macbeth does it better

The Groom always rings twice

Of unhappy and restless women the nineteenth century litterature is full.

Just think of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Emma Bovary by Flaubert,  

romantic heroines who are ready to sacrifice everything for the wrong love,

for their lust for life.

In other words, there was nothing particular to expect from this film,

except to watch it "out of a sense of duty",

at the 57th International Film Festival in Salonika!

But when I left the cinema,

it was something magisterial that I had just seen!

Since then, I have learned that William Oldroyd,

and screenwriter Alice Birch,

"both made a name for themselves at the theater in London before arriving at the cinema".

William Oldroyd has worked as a director at the Young Vic Theater in London and at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

Alice Birch, for her part, was a playwright for the Royal Court and for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

 Shakespeare? Not really ! In reality, William Oldroyd does not adapt Shakespeare, but a novel written in 1865

by the Russian writer and journalist

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov,

Lady Macbeth from the Mtsensk district.

This had already been done by Andrzej Wajda,

in 1961, with Sibirska Ledi Magbet (Siberian Lady Macbeth).

Thirty-three years later, in 1994, Valeri Todorovski did the same with his film Katia Ismailova (Podmoskovnye vechera).

Before that, there was the famous adaptation of Dmitri Shostakovich at the opera in 1934 ... also famous because

it was prohibited from representation for thirty years

by the Soviet authorities

after Stalin saw it.

This Lady Macbeth tells of the repression

and the rebellion of a young woman, Katherine (Florence Pugh)

fresh bride to a man older than her.

When her husband has to leave to take care of his estate,

Katherine finally discovers the pleasures of the flesh with the handsome groom Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). From then on

she will do everything

to eliminate anyone trying to hinder her new,

searing love.

Katherine wants to become independent,

wants to love who she wants

- since her husband abandons her

after treating her like an icon, not as a woman,

in a sexless marriage.  

She wants to take charge of her destiny,

to manage it, to plan it until, at times, death ensues.

Lady Macbeth is a film about loneliness,

interminable waits

and constrictive clothing.

 A mirror of a British victorian rural society,

certainly unwilling to understand the female soul,

her desires and anxieties.

No wonder that in the country mansion

in which we find the young Katherine,

the cat has far greater range of motion

than the mistress….

not to mention her poor servant Anna (Naomi Ackie).

The visual style is fabulously elegant.

Oldroyd declines the story of the film in a large number of fixed panels,  

focuses on painstaking shots

devoted to the hero seated on the domestic sofa, anxiously awaiting

the return of her husband

or the evil stepfather.

Oldroyd probably draws inspiration

from the composure of a certain tradition

of the English portraiture,

such as “Conversation pieces” by the painter of the 1700, Joshua Reynolds.

Except that here,

the heroine does not even have someone to talk to,

or a hunting dog crouched at her feet.

The house is austere yet grand,

with lovely wild views out the big windows.

The big Victorian furniture fits the cruelty and distance of young Katherine's husband,

whose sex habits are creepy and dried up.

Katherine is pressed to stay indoors,

but constantly lured to walks in the meadows and hillsides.

There's a pull between the solid,

symmetrical framing of indoor shots,

and the fluid, shaky camera on the external wilds.

Despite the sophisticated static atmosphere, Oldroyd’ film proceeds with energy

on the path of its heroine self-awareness.

But while it is true that a seizure of power,

as well as any revolution,

can only go through bloodshed,

we must say that at some point the revolt of Katherine's loses its noble connotations.  

It becomes all about her amour fou

(in “Osessione” style,

or in the style of “The Postman always rings twice”), which frustrates

any proto-feminist inspiration...

In fact it is hard to believe

that Katherine feels love for her groom.

The two, apart from sex,

do not share anything,

any interests,

tastes or expectations

or plans for the future.

The murderous escalation that Lady Macbeth reserves to its protagonist

takes demented tones.

Katherine's relationship with her maid Anna

works only on the basis

of a sadomasochistic dynamic

between the servant and the mistress.

Lady Macbeth is a film that invites uncomfortable laughter

from the audience

as scenes of the concrete reality of period film

drift into the realm of absurdity.

So, is what she does justified?

That is the fascinating debate

that Lady Macbeth fosters.

In an age where feminist voices

are getting their deserved attention in cinema,

this strange tale

that unfolds in shocking and unexpected ways

is something of a miracle to behold.

If Florence Pugh is a revelation,

so is Oldroyd.

This is a striking debut film

that spells a genuinely talented filmmaker,

as he handles his camera in breathtakingly

and formidable fashion.

He creates an indelible character in Lady Katherine,

a woman that is not easily understood,

but dares to break the conventions of the times

by doing unspeakable things.

Oldroyd captures our gaze with every frame

and doesn’t hesitate

at the story’s more shocking sections.

He means to shake us

and he does.

Lady Macbeth made my personal feast

and won the FIPRESCI AWARD

at the 57^th Thessaloniki International Film Festival!

Giulia Ghica Dobre