This is part of PBS's Great Performances series, a film adaptation of a Tony-nominated run of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Fated by three witches to become king of Scotland, Macbeth (Patrick Stewart) decides to speed the process by killing the current king (Paul Shelley) with the help of his wife (Kate Fleetwood). The couple seem to get away with the murder but the resulting paranoia leads to a despotic rule that practically begs for a rebellion.
The setting has been updated to WWII-era weapons and costumes, hammering home the totalitarianism of Macbeth's rule with photos of mass graves and rows of hangman's nooses for dissidents and malcontents, real and perceived. The three Weird Sisters are garbed as nurses with surgical masks that make for a truly effective sense of menace, while the set pieces recall dungeons and bunkers alike. The dialogue has not been altered, however, so I would suggest throwing on the subtitles/closed caption in order to keep up if you aren't as familiar with this play. Even though they are furnished with only the bare minimum of props, there is a clawing sense of claustrophobia in every frame. The direction feels almost milquetoast in its avoidance of the gobs of violence being portrayed, cutting away from scenes of wholesale slaughter in order to show more evocative images. The performances are what matter and they are delivered with the kind of gusto you'd imagine from the main cast.
This is my favorite of Shakespeare's tragedies and I still maintain that Lord and Lady Macbeth are #relationshipgoals. It's available on Amazon Prime if you're interested.
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