Joel Coen opens up about making a film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, without his brother Ethan for the first time in over 35 years. The beloved directing duo jumpstarted their careers in the mid-1980s with films like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. Eventually, the fraternal collaboration produced the cult-classic comedy The Big Lebowski and Oscar-winning hits like Fargo and the Best Picture-winning film, No Country For Old Men. The Coen brothers' most recent film, the western anthology titled The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, was released on Netflix in 2018.
Now, Joel Coen is gearing up for the release of his Macbeth adaptation, which he wrote and directed without his brother and longtime collaborator, Ethan. The film had its world premiere at this year's New York Film Festival and will see a limited theatrical release from A24 on Christmas Day before streaming on Apple TV+. Like Shakespeare's ubiquitous play upon which it is based, The Tragedy of Macbeth follows the titular Scottish Lord (Denzel Washington) who is convinced by three witches to murder the King (Brendan Gleeson) and usurp his throne. The film also stars Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth and a supporting cast the includes Alex Hassell, Bertie Carvel, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, and Ralph Ineson.
During a recent discussion with The Guardian, Joel Coen opened up about what it was like directing a film without his brother for the first time in over 35 years. The experience was "very strange," Coen said. He added that he missed his brother while on the set of The Tragedy of Macbeth, as Ethan was the one he always looked to whenever there was a problem that needed solving. Although, Joel says this film was a passion project of his that wouldn't have interested Ethan. Read what he had to say below:
Very strange. I missed him. That’s the bottom line. Of course I missed him. I’ve worked with him for over 35 years, and if ever there was a problem on set we would look at each other first. But this isn’t a movie that would have interested him. I had a personal interest in it and he didn’t. Look, here’s the thing. When we started working together, we never asked ourselves if this was permanent, and we don’t think about this in that way, either. We just thought we should do some different things for a while. But I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. I’m in my late 60s. Hopefully, I can do this for a while – but who the fuck knows?
The Tragedy of Macbeth is the first major motion picture to be directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other's involvement. The last time Joel worked professionally without Ethan was in 1980 on Soundings, though that was a short film that was not released widely in any capacity. Now that the filmmaking duo has split up for the first time in nearly 40 years, the question on everyone's minds is if it's permanent or just temporary.
Earlier this year, a source close to the Coen brothers said that Ethan will no longer be making movies in order to focus on his work as a playwright. While it is certainly sad that the duo may have made their last film together after decades of producing various influential works, Joel Coen is more than capable of handling writing and directing duties on his own. He will more than likely prove that with his reimagining of the famous Shakespeare play, The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Source: The Guardian
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