Nikolai
Laskov’s novella, Lady Macbeth of the
Mtsensk District was originally Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s literary magazine Epoch, which was a really snappy name
for a publication, don’t you think? Despite its progressive and even
revolutionary elements, it remained in varying states of official disapproval
throughout the Czarist and Communist years. In fact, Dmitri Shostakovich first
ran afoul of Joseph Stalin with his operatic adaptation. Years later, legendary
free-thinking Polish auteur Andrzej Wajda brought it to the big screen as Siberian Lady Macbeth. Those are intimidating
footsteps to follow in, but theater director William Oldroyd pulls off a
first-rate anglicized version with Lady
Macbeth (trailer
here),
which opens this Friday in New York.
Boris,
a wealthy old mine owner, essentially buys Katherine as a wife for his charisma-challenged
son Alexander. On their wedding night, Katherine learns her new husband is
either impotent or extremely dysfunctional when it comes to marital business.
Yet, that will not prevent Boris from berating her in the following months for
her failure to produce an heir.
Of
course, she is not the one at fault, as her torrid affair with Sebastian, the
rough-mannered stable hand will attest. Rather conveniently, both Boris and
Alexander will depart on business, leaving Katherine free to openly conduct her
affair in front of her scandalized servant Anna. However, word of her
adulterous behavior eventually reaches Boris, who returns to restore discipline
to his household. Instead, it will be Katherine who lives up to the title’s
Shakespearean reference. It will not be the last murder either, nor will it be
the end of complications for the mistress of the house, who will be quite
surprised when her husband’s alleged love child is delivered to her for safe
keeping.
The
feminist implications of Katherine’s marriage, a cold affair that was
definitely not of her choosing, wax and wane in the various dramatic
interpretations. This time around, Oldroyd is not without sympathy, but really
emphasizes the murderous skulduggery, which makes the film jolly fun, in a
sinister kind of way.
Whether
she be a true anti-heroine or a villainess whom we perversely cheer on,
Florence Pugh makes quite an impression as the non-Scottish, non-Russian Lady
Macbeth. Deceptively sleight of frame, she truly dominates the screen as she
schemes and seduces. Among the men, only the seasoned veteran Christopher
Fairbank manages not to wilt when in the proximity of her heat. Yet, Naomie Ackie
captures viewer sympathy with her poignantly tragic portrayal of the poor, overwhelmed
Anna.
