This screen adaptation of Nikolay Leskov’s Russian reworking of the Shakespearian tragedy is one of Wajda’s most psychologically astute dramatic works. As the title suggests, the film focuses on a headstrong, Lady Macbeth-like figure: Katerina (Markovic), the unhappily married wife of a prosperous merchant in a backwoods Russian village. Childless and neglected, she seduces a rakish peasant (Tadic), and the affair which ensues has fatal consequences. Produced with an uncharacteristic spareness and focus, Siberian Lady Macbeth marks one of Wajda’s most complex depictions of women and of the destructive force of love.