Another reason for me not being up at the protest yesterday was that I had plans to go to the BFI. Dom suggested going up there during the week: they are currently having a Shakespeare on Film season, and he thought it might be cool to go check it out. I heartily agreed, so yesterday he and I made our way up to the Southbank (another part of the capital I just love) to watch Roman Polanski’s classic, Macbeth.

I studied Macbeth for GCSE English, and this film had been mentioned then, but until last night I had never seen it in it’s entirety. It struck me as a masterpiece: while I think Polanski changes the scene sequence a little, it is a very faithful adaptation. I found myself reciting many lines as the actors were saying them, and was surprised how much I remembered. Then again, it is a very memorable text with a lot of dark imagery, which Polanski translated well to screen. There is quite a bit of gory violence, and zombified witches shown in the nude. In fact, it struck me that it went well with having seen Lyn’s new video earlier in the day; there were a lot of similarities in terms of aesthetic, and they seemed to complement each other in my mind. Yesterday for me was a very goth sort of day, it seems.

I had not been sure what Dom would make of it. He’s from Poland, and I was worried he would struggle with the Elizabethan english. However, he seemed to cope, and in fact said he recognised many things from Polish literature in the film. That would make sense, given Polanski is Polish. For me, it felt good to both reacquaint myself with a text I got to know as a teenager, and to see a classic piece of cinema. We both came out of the BFI having liked what we’d seen, then, and after a quick drink at the bar, were making our way home, resolving to go there again soon.