The Tragedy of Macbeth

American director Joel Coen has made many famous films in his long career, which goes back to 1984, but he always did it together with his brother Ethan. Now, for the first time, he has made a film alone, an adaptation of Shakespeare's famous tragedy Macbeth, a story about loyalty, betrayal, remorse and madness. He did so in beautiful black-and-white images, recalling the German expressionism of the 1920s and 1930s. The leading roles are played by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.

On the retreat from a successful military campaign, Scottish general Macbeth meets three witches who predict that he will one day be the king of Scotland. Blinded by ambition and spurred on by his fanatical wife Lady Macbeth, he decides to fulfil the prophecy himself: he kills the sitting king Duncan. But soon Macbeth repents his deed, while his wife too is driven to madness by the blood on her hands; Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair.