Review by Choice Review
MacKinnon, a British scholar who specializes in both film and classical studies, contributes significantly to both fields in this book. He summarizes how major film theorists generally consider film a realistic medium, a view that poses problems for the transformation of theater into film-especially the highly formalized, yet sometimes mimetic, Greek drama of 5th century BCE. MacKinnon examines how 16 films have dealt with these problems since a 1927 film recorded the first modern theatrical production of a Greek drama, Prometheus in Chains MacKinnon, in correcting generally held but erroneous beliefs about pre-Hellenistic Greek theater (e.g., that tragic boots and oversized masks were worn), shows that ``transparently'' filmed recordings of staged performances in Greek theaters have, in various ways, lacked authenticity, while extreme departures from the original texts may be essentially true to the classical spirit. This study (similar in approach to Jack J. Jorgens's Shakespeare on Film, CH, Nov '77) should be added to all film and Greek drama collections.-L.M. Reynolds, Winthrop College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
