Arthouse Drive-In Ep. 4: Orson Welles' 'Macbeth'

Spooky season might be over, but we're bringing it back for Orson Welles' interpretation of a Shakespeare classic. In this episode of Arthouse Drive-In focusing on MacBeth (1948) by Orson Welles, Robert and T are joined by their first guest, the one and only Matt Cohen, a horror connoisseur from Robert’s grad school days at NYU. Matt uses his extensive knowledge on all things Orson Welles to offset T’s initial skepticism, while Robert sits on the sidelines eating popcorn. Robert dives into the history of one of the most famous American artists of all time, and explores how a production on a shoe-string budget managed to create a technical masterpiece. Matt details Welles’ obsession with the classics and describes how he was able to put his distinct signature on an already famous piece of English literature. T describes why Welles comes off as a bit of an arrogant blowhard, but is open to learning more about the man and his style. If you learned about Shakespeare and MacBeth in school and feel like watching this adaptation would be a waste of time, you’re in for a treat, bucko! Welles went off script while incubating this Shakespearean egg into a free-range, theatre-to-theater, cinematic chicken. Pull up, park your car, and get comfy for this next installment of our avant-garde journey.