MOVIES
BY RICK LEVIN
FAIR IS FOUL, AND FOUL IS FAIR
Florence Pugh delivers a powerhouse performance
in the period psycho-thriller Lady Macbeth
F
or my money, Lady Macbeth is second only to Iago
among Shakespeare’s depictions of pure Machia-
vellian evil. She is delicious — a monster of insidi-
ous intent and malevolent manipulation, fueled to
bloody purpose by an ambition that turns obstacles
to mincemeat. “Art thou afeard,” she whispers in her hus-
band’s ear, “to be the same in thine own act and valour as
thou art in desire?”
Translation: Kill ’em all, and take the throne.
Knowing what is conjured by the name of the unfair
Lady in the Bard’s classic potboiler, you might be a bit
disoriented by the opening scenes of Lady Macbeth, a new
film directed by William Oldroyd, based on the novel by
Nikolai Leskov. From the get-go, Katharine (Florence
Pugh) — our Lady Macbeth — is in a real pickle: It’s 1865
England, and she’s newly wed to a mean, bitter man-child
(Paul Hilton) whose idea of conjugal completion is to have
her stand naked in a corner while he grunts like a swine,
joylessly masturbating.
Making matters worse is Katherine’s father-in-law Bo-
EVERGREEN
NUTRITION
15-20% OFF*
CBD OIL
PRODUCTS
IN SEPTEMBER
Studies show that CBD oil can
be helpful for anxiety & stress.
The most affordable CBD on
the market, CV Sciences’ CBD
oil is non-psychoactive.
• Chemical-free CO2 Extracted
• Non-GMO • Gluten free
SEVERAL NEW OPTIONS
ARE NOW AVAILABLE
*15% OFF CV SCIENCES & 20% OFF MB SCALAR CBD
1653 Willamette Street
M-F 9-6 • Sat 10-5 • Sun 11-5
FREE OFF-STREET PARKING
541-485-5100
www.evergreennutrition.com
ris (Christopher Fairbank), who also lives on the estate; a
wizened old Calvinist creep, Boris demands that Katherine
stay locked up indoors like an anaerobic piece of matrimo-
nial veal whose only purpose to wait hand-and-foot on her
miserable, sexless husband.
This is misogyny on steroids, synched perfectly to the
drear gothic moors and amplified by the staid propriety of
pinched Brits keeping up imperial appearances. The blood
just boils, calling for justifiable homicide.
But, in a sense, all of this is a bit of a pig in a poke (no
pun intended). Of course, homicide arrives, after Katherine
couples up with a hunky groomsman (Cosmo Jarvis) in a
desire-awakening encounter ripped right from Lady Chat-
terley’s Lover.
When the men of the house discover their forbidden
affair, all hell breaks loose, and the violence that ensues
appears, at first, to be an act of liberation for Katherine.
Indeed it is, but it doesn’t end there. In fact, this is where
things really take off, completely upending the expecta-
tions so devilishly set in the film’s first act. From here on
SEPTEMBER 29-OCTOBER 5
9/29-10/5
492 E. 13th Ave
541-357-0375
MOVIES
THAT
bijou-cinemas.com
MATTER
Serving the Eugene Community for Over 35 Years!
BRAD’S STATUS (R)
1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00
VICEROY’S HOUSE (NR)
Friday - Tuesday 1:00, 8:15
Wednesday 2:00 pm
Thursday 1:00 pm
POLINA (NR) In French & Russian with English Subtitles
Friday - Tuesday 3:30 pm
Wednesday 9:30 pm
Thursday 8:30 pm
LADY MACBETH (R)
Friday - Tuesday 6:00 pm
Wednesday 4:30 pm
Thursday 3:45 pm
UO Wayne Morse Center & Romance Languages Dept present
HARVEST OF EMPIRE Free Public Screening!
Wednesday 7:00 pm
Seating is first come, first served
Encircle Film Series presents
BIG PHARMA: MARKET FAILURE
Thursday 6:00 pm
Audience discussion after the film
Local beer, wine and cider... & now kombucha on tap!
TICKET PRICES: MATINEE before 5pm $6
ADULT $8 | STUDENT $7 | SENIOR 62+ $6 CHILD age 12 & under $6
out, the movie earns its title, in a manner that is at once
disarming and disturbing.
Like the play from which it earns its title, Lady Macbeth
is nasty, brutish and short, a kind of grotesque melodra-
matic thriller that revels in the unexpected depths of evil it
reveals. The film is at once cartoonish and stark, a Hitch-
cockian collision of mythology and pulp fiction. It doesn’t
just confound our expectations; it demolishes them, by
pushing past the place where desire awakens love, and
moving straight through to lust, and to bloodlust.
At the center of it all stands Pugh, a fantastic actress rela-
tively unknown to American audiences — until now. Her
performance here is a master class in sociopathic seduction,
reminiscent of the great Joan Crawford at her murderous
best (oh, if looks could kill!). Pugh’s transformation — or,
perhaps, regression — on screen is riveting, and it leaves
you wondering if you were fooled from the moment she ap-
peared on screen. Is she a hero, an anti-hero or the living
19th century’s anti-Christ? Sometimes, rebellion and dam-
nation look a hell of a lot alike. (Bijou Art Cinemas)
43 W. BROADWAY
(541) 686-2458
REGULAR
ADMISSION
$9 ADULTS
$8 STUDENTS
$6 SENIORS
$6 BEFORE 5 PM
OPEN EVERY DAY
REBEL IN THE RYE
FRI
2:35 5:00
SAT
12:10 2:35 5:00
SUN
12:10 2:35 5:00
MON
2:35 5:00
TUE
2:35 5:00
WED-THU
2:35 5:00
WOODSHOCK
FRI
2:50 5:10
SAT
12:30 2:50 5:10
SUN
12:30 2:50 5:10
MON
2:50 5:10
TUE
2:50 5:10
WED-THU
2:50 5:10
MOTHER!
FRI-SAT 2:40 7:45 9:40
SUN-THU 2:40 7:45
NEITHER WOLF NOR DOG
FRI-SAT
2:30 5:00
SUN
12:00 2:30 5:00
MON
2:30 5:00
TUE
2:30 5:00
WED
2:30 5:00
THU
2:30 5:00
COLUMBUS
FRI
5:25 10:10
SAT
12:20 5:25 10:10
SUN
12:20 5:25
MON-THU
5:25
PEARL JAM: LET'S PLAY TWO
TIX $5 SUNDAYS
$7 $3 TUESDAYS
7:25 9:30
7:25 9:30
7:25
7:25
7:25 9:30
7:25
ALL AGES
762-1700 | 180 E. 5TH AVE
DAVIDMINORTHEATER.COM
$3 TUESDAYS
7:30 9:30
7:30 9:30
7:30
7:30
7:30 9:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
7:30
STUDENT
& SENIOR
DISCOUNT
FRI SEPT 29TH - THUR OCT 5TH
LITTLE HOURS
5:05
DESPICABLE
ME 3
5:15
BABY DRIVER
6:45
THE BIG SICK
6:55
WONDER
WOMAN
8:45
ANNABELLE:
CREATION
9:05
NO PASSES OR DISCOUNTS
TUE
7:30 8:00
10:00
METROarts: NATIONAL THEATRE: YERMA
PREMIUM EVENT ADMISSION
SAT
11:00
THU
7:00
BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT
BROADWAYMETRO.COM
eugeneweekly.com • September 28, 2017
29