Lady MacBeth (2016)

[Scarlett45]

Quote

Lady Macbeth is a 2016 British drama film directed by William Oldroyd and written by Alice Birch, based on the short story Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov. It stars Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, Paul Hilton, Naomi Ackie and Christopher Fairbank. The plot follows a young woman who is stifled by her loveless marriage to a bitter man twice her age.

I watched this on HBO GO at the suggestion of a friend and it was NOT what I was expecting. Has anyone seen this?

[Steph J]

Raises hand!

I saw it when it was in theaters, knowing very little about it going in, and thought it was great, with brilliant performances from Florence Pugh and Naomi Ackie. What I liked about it was that it takes the narrative beats that superficially feminist movies rely on and gives them an intersectional twist, so that instead of going for the easy win of having a female character stand up/rebel against the patriarchy and having that be the end of it, it complicates things by showing her as improving her own situation at the cost of the black people around her, who end up being punished in her place.

At the time that I saw it there was a lot of discussion happening regarding the ways that mainstream feminism has prioritized the needs/voices of white women over women of color, so I found the film very thought provoking because it touches on some of those issues.

[Scarlett45]

7 hours ago, Steph J said:

Raises hand!

I saw it when it was in theaters, knowing very little about it going in, and thought it was great, with brilliant performances from Florence Pugh and Naomi Ackie. What I liked about it was that it takes the narrative beats that superficially feminist movies rely on and gives them an intersectional twist, so that instead of going for the easy win of having a female character stand up/rebel against the patriarchy and having that be the end of it, it complicates things by showing her as improving her own situation at the cost of the black people around her, who end up being punished in her place.

At the time that I saw it there was a lot of discussion happening regarding the ways that mainstream feminism has prioritized the needs/voices of white women over women of color, so I found the film very thought provoking because it touches on some of those issues.

It also complicates the narrative that the protagonist isn’t a “nice” person. Anytime a movie kills a horse and a little boy you’re like “woah”. 

[Steph J]

Yes, it was not at all afraid of making Katherine unlikable and, ultimately, quite evil.

And good lord was that little boy ever adorable in his period attire.