The session: "Despicable Despots Month! Don't Go in the Dungeon!"
This month we creep through castles and find the skeletons hidden in the closets
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.
Week 2: Macbeth (1971)
Directed by Roman Polanski
My Impressions Going In:
I'd never heard of this. I mean, sure I'd heard of the Shakespeare play on which it is based. But I'd never heard of this motion picture adaptation.
An ambitious lord siezes Scotland's throne. But can he keep it?
Reaction and Other Folderol:
I've never really been able to enjoy Shakespeare*. The language gets in the way. And, as Keith explained to us, this adaptation was very true to the original play. So, out of the gate, I was at a disadvantage. On top of that, Macbeth is not one of the Shakespearean plays with which I have any familiarity.** So it's not as if I could watch it and get by based on my prior knowledge.
Given those reasons to not enjoy this movie, I was able to enjoy it much better than I expected. The vivid imagery was wonderful to watch, and I was able to get most of the gist of what was going on, even if I couldn't follow the details.
On another note, there was a specific reason that it was good to see this at Keith's. There were a lot of vivid images of C-sections which seemed needlessly graphic. Keith explained that these related to Polanski's experiences with the Manson murders. This gave me an appreciation of those scenes which I wouldn;t have had otherwise.
Oh yeah...there was a really cool beheading.
Ratings
Me: 8.5
Dave: 9.5
Ethan: 10
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*With the possible exception of the time that the castaways on Gilligan's island put on a musical version of Hamlet:
**Truth be told, Romeo and Juliet is the only one of Shakespeare's plays that I'm familiar with (beyond a few simple references).
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