How We Made The Tragedy of Macbeth

For his first solo mission away from his brother and creative partner in crime, Ethan, Joel Coen has decided to offer up his version of the most scared text in the history of drama: Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’. This expressionist monochrome fever dream has Denzel Washington as the Thane of Cawdor and Frances McDormand as his violently manipulative other half. Here, Coen and a clutch of below-theline collaborators explain how they were able to pump new blood into this canoncical tale.

INTERVIEWEES

JOEL COEN WRITER/DIRECTOR JC

BRUNO DELBONNEL CINEMATOGRAPHER BD

STEFAN DECHANT PRODUCTION DESIGNER SD

MARY ZOPHRES COSTUME DESIGNER MZ

 I’m not a Shakespeare guy. I’ve seen lots of Shakespeare over the years. I’ve seen lots of productions of ‘Macbeth’. I’ve read a lot of Shakespeare, but it’s not really my background. One of the most interesting things about was the idea of taking a very deep dive into a particular work. I spent a lot of time with friends of mine who do know a lot about Shakespeare, asking them about the production history of the play and