The Tragedy of Macbeth is such a critical darling that it would seemingly be a strong contender for widespread recognition. With a powerhouse director like Joel Coen and widely-regarded talents like Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand bringing the classic Shakespeare work to life, it has every reason to be a lead Best Picture contender for the 94th Academy Awards.
And yet, the Oscars left the film with just a trio of nominations, and the Best Picture category was not one of the nods it received. Despite possibly being the actual best film of the year, The Tragedy of Macbeth did not receive a nomination in the category. So, what is it that could possibly be working against the film, and what contenders in the category won a spot the film deserved?
Portrayed in black-and-white with a stripped-down aesthetic that sacrifices nothing in efficacy, The Tragedy of Macbeth proves from its very first scene the boldness with which it approaches its material. The works of Shakespeare have been adapted hundreds of times before over the course of the centuries that established the Bard as an unprecedented talent in the Western canon, yet the creative talents of Coen, Washington and McDormand breathe life into the work like never before. The tale of a man who believed he is destined to be king scheming and killing his way to the throne had every reason to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
When the nominees were announced, The Tragedy of Macbeth did not make the cut. Though it did receive nominations in the categories of Best Actor, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography, the film was not included among the 10 nominees that contend for the Best Picture award in the coming ceremony. Instead, the nominees were Belfast, CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog and West Side Story. Though each film is deserving in its own way, there is perhaps none among that list that stands out as an exemplary work beyond The Tragedy of Macbeth.
It is hard to point to a weakness in the film that could keep it from the competition. Indeed, the areas in which it was nominated point to core strengths of the film, with Washington’s lead performance driving many of the scenes and Bruno Delbonnel’s expert eye framing every shot with a mastery of cinematography that deserves recognition. However, McDormand’s performance as Lady Macbeth, every bit as instrumental to the film as Washington’s, similarly went without recognition, despite her past success at the Oscars. Just last year, McDormand saw recognition for her lead performance in Nomadland, but her Lady Macbeth proves even more nuanced and emotionally stirring than her more grounded and pensive role for which she won.
If anything, it may be a wealth of past success that works against the sometimes political process of Oscars nominations. With the director and lead actors proving critical darlings often showered in Oscars, the move to elbow The Tragedy of Macbeth out may just be a move made to make room for talents less recognized. Yet, it is hard to honestly say that picks like Nightmare Alley, which currently holds a 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes compared to Macbeth‘s 93 percent, is truly the better film.
Macbeth is certainly less ostentatious, featuring a smaller cast with a more intimately-conveyed story. If it weren’t for just how recognizable the names attached to the project were, or the veteran approach everyone involved took toward its craftsmanship, it could almost pass as an under-the-radar indie flick. Yet, many of the other nominees seem to tend toward the grand and epic and ambitious. Dune and West Side Story, for instance, certainly made for masterfully-conveyed sweeping tales in their own right, but it is a shame to see such large productions leave Macbeth in their shadow.
It is, of course, always important to keep in mind that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not the arbiter of objectivity, nor indeed that any kind of objectively “best film” could be identified in any year. But The Tragedy of Macbeth deserves all of the recognition it could receive, and movie buff completionists looking to watch the best film of each year would do well not to leave the Shakespeare adaptation out simply because it did not make the cut.
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