Hah, well I can't identify with your hatred of the film, but I certainly can relate to your reasons for hating it. School ruins a lot of great (and less great) art for millions of students.
I had classics like the novels of Thomas Hardy, plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, even more contemporary works like The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye shoved down my (metaphorical) throat and I emerged from high school English with an abiding dislike of most "literature" -- at least the literature I had been forced to study. I still read in excess of 300 books a year, but they were in varying genres and not, thankfully, taught in school.
I was flabbergasted to attend a professional production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale and realize what great dramas these really were (I've subsequently seen several others). Likewise, a roommate in grad school challenged me to read Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native and I found it compelling (and tragic). It really is not aimed at teen-agers and it's no wonder I didn't relate to it at the time, school notwithstanding.
From what I hear from high school kids now, the "journey" motif is often taught in conjunction with Krakauer's book (and Penn's film), Into the Wild, so that will be the recipient of well-deserved hatred on the part of the students.
Witness really is a good film, but you may never recover from your experience. Harrison Ford gave exemplary performances in a couple of others: The Mosquito Coast and Regarding Henry come to mind, and maybe Presumed Innocent as well. Give those a try.
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