Mikita Brottman writes:
In Advanced Literature (Tuesday 2-4pm) we watched Acts IV and V of Polanski’s adaptation of “Macbeth”. When watching the first three acts a week earlier, I’d been surprised the men had found the movie rather dull and slow. This may have been due to the fact that we were watching on a very small screen with the lights on, the door open and noises in the hallway outside, but it may also have been, as one of the men explained, they’re accustomed to watching action movies with fast editing and not much dialogue. Plus, since we’ve been reading the play for the last five weeks, everyone was familiar with the plot and knew what was going to happen. However, this week the men seemed far more engaged and involved, and after the movie was over we had a long discussion about the ethics of fighting a losing battle, as Macbeth does at the end, and about whether Macduff does the right thing in leaving his wife and children to go and defend his country.
