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Siberian Lady Macbeth(1962) Director: Andrzej Wajda;Siberian Lady MacBeth is loosely based on Shakespeare's play, but much more so on a novella by Nikolai Leskov called Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. Although I may be stating the obvious, the story is set in Russia. The lady of this macrebe tale is ambitious, but in a murderous way. I can also confirm your suspicions that this movie is going to be dark. However, being shot in black and white brings out the beauty of the wooden buildings where most of the story takes place. Being both well shot and visually appealing brings out the beauty in this otherwise sad story. The troubles begin when the lady of the house, Katerina (Olivera Markovic), is left for too long with her father-in-law while her husband is away. And things get pushed over the edge when a peasant named Sergei starts to work for the family. Katerina and Sergei both take a liking to each other; furthermore, they both see they can gain something from each other. Katerina wants to leave the life she finds so dull and Sergei sees Katerina as a way to a better life. Instead of being a farm hand tending to the pigs, Sergei could be the one in charge of the whole farm. Siberian Lady MacBeth has drama in the theatrical sense that keeps the suspense tight as we anticipate who will be murdered next. Although Andrzej Wajda is best know for directing Polish films, he has also made films in other languages. Siberian Lady MacBeth is his first work in something other than Polish. Siberian Lady MacBeth is a Yugoslavian film and is spoken in Serbo-Croatian. For me it was interesting to see that a number of Serbo-Croatian words are similar to Polish. Siberian Lady MacBeth has an Eastern European side to it that is unmistakable and beautiful.
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