Siberian Lady Macbeth
Directed by Andrzej Wajda
Shakespearean tragedy collides with film noir in a remote Russian village in
this dark fable from celebrated Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda (Danton,
Ashes and Diamonds).
Siberian Lady Macbeth observes the cruel machinations of Katarina, a
ruthless woman (Olivera Markovic) who will let nothing threaten her affair
with a mysterious drifter (Ljuba Tadic). When her father-in-law (Bojan
Stupica) discovers the indiscretion, she dispatches him with a dose of rat
poison. But soon others, including her husband, sister-in-law and young
nephew, develop suspicions of their own... and test the limits to which
Katarina's lethal passion will carry her.
The film's barbaric setting (photographed in beautiful black-and-white by
Aleksandar Sekulovic) emphasizes the primordial desires that propel its
heroine toward destruction, while Wajda's carefully composed images (backed
by a score drawn from the works of Shostakovich) endow the film with a
visual impact and formal grace that make Siberian Lady Macbeth an unsung
classic of Eastern European Cinema.
Awards
Golden Arena Pula Film Festival
Official Selection New York Film Festival