What’s a book, movie, or TV show that you wish you could experience again for the first time?
This image shows Jon Finch playing the title role in Roman Polanski’s 1971 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
The film I would most like to experience again for the first time is Roman Polanski’s Macbeth.
It hit me at several levels. It drew me into a lasting adoration and fascination with Shakespeare. It was filmed across a landscape I felt I already knew intimately: the north-east coast of England, Northumberland, Lindisfarne, Bamburgh, and those wide, windswept beaches of my childhood.
The witches beguiled me. Banquo’s ghost haunted me. The premeditated murder gripped me. Lady Macbeth haunted me. Blood on my hands troubled me. It made Shakespeare feel physical, dangerous, muddy, coastal and real — not something trapped in the past. It brought history and story telling to life.
For years afterwards I dreamt of performing in Macbeth. I saw many Shakespeare productions when the RSC visited Newcastle, and for a long time I wanted to be an actor. At university, I performed in two Shakespeare plays and has wanted to out on an all female Macbeth.
So it was not simply a film. It was a door opening.
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