Siberian Lady Macbeth
Directed by Andrzej Wajda
Written by Sveta Lukic, story by Nikolai Leskov from a play by William Shakespeare
1962/Yugoslavia
Avala Film
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] “All causes shall give way: I am in blood/ Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth[/box]
This is more like The Postman Always Rings Twice than Macbeth but doesn’t work all that well as either.
Beautiful Katerina lives on a pig farm with her cranky father-in-law who berates her constantly for having no children. Her husband is away on business. The farm is always looking for strong workers and hires serf Sergei when he shows up looking for work. He is a likely lad and soon is having an affair with Katerina. At her instigation, the couple systematically does away with anybody who gets in the way of their love or money.
I’ve loved everything I’ve seen so far by director Wajda but this left me cold. The characters aren’t well developed and it drags. He seems to have been meant for his native land and contemporary themes.
Clip (no subtitles)
