100 Shakespeare FilmsFrom Oscar-winning British classics to Hollywood musicals and Westerns, from Soviet epics to Bollywood thrillers, Shakespeare has inspired an almost infinite variety of films. Directors as diverse as Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth Branagh, Baz Luhrmann and Julie Taymor have transferred Shakespeare's plays from stage to screen with unforgettable results. Spanning a century of cinema, from a silent short of "The Tempest" (1907) to Kenneth Branagh's "As You Like It" (2006), Daniel Rosenthal's up-to-date selection takes in the most important, inventive and unusual Shakespeare films ever made. Half are British and American productions that retain Shakespeare's language, including key works such as Olivier's "Henry V" and "Hamlet", Welles' "Othello" and "Chimes at Midnight", Branagh's "Henry V" and "Hamlet", Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" and Taymor's "Titus". Alongside these original-text films are more than 30 genre adaptations: titles that aim for a wider audience by using modernized dialogue and settings and customizing Shakespeare's plots and characters, transforming "Macbeth" into a pistol-packing gangster ("Joe Macbeth" and "Maqbool") or reimagining "Othello" as a jazz musician ("All Night Long"). There are Shakesepeare-based Westerns ("Broken Lance", "King of Texas"), musicals ("West Side Story", "Kiss Me Kate"), high-school comedies ("10 Things I Hate About You", "She's the Man"), even a sci-fi adventure ("Forbidden Planet"). There are also films dominated by the performance of a Shakespearean play ("In the Bleak Midwinter", "Shakespeare in Love"). Rosenthal emphasises the global nature of Shakespearean cinema, with entries on more than 20 foreign-language titles, including Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood and Ran", Grigori Kozintsev's "Russian Hamlet" and "King Lear", and little-known features from as far afield as "Madagascar" and "Venezuela", some never released in Britain or the US. He considers the films' production and box-office history and examines the film-makers' key interpretive decisions in comparison to their Shakespearean sources, focusing on cinematography, landscape, music, performance, production design, textual alterations and omissions. As cinema plays an increasingly important role in the study of Shakespeare at schools and universities, this is a wide-ranging, entertaining and accessible guide for Shakespeare teachers, students and enthusiasts. |
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Page 32
... partially cleanses rotten Denmark / Russia . How ironic , therefore , that this version was released in the year that Leonid Brezhnev's harsher regime took hold . Director and lead actor neatly balance the politics with a mixture of ...
... partially cleanses rotten Denmark / Russia . How ironic , therefore , that this version was released in the year that Leonid Brezhnev's harsher regime took hold . Director and lead actor neatly balance the politics with a mixture of ...
Page 166
... partially concealed by shadow and at his death we see only a black face surrounded by darkness as the image fades back into the double funeral . The pronounced visual contrasts match the physical and vocal gulf 166 BFI SCREEN GUIDES.
... partially concealed by shadow and at his death we see only a black face surrounded by darkness as the image fades back into the double funeral . The pronounced visual contrasts match the physical and vocal gulf 166 BFI SCREEN GUIDES.
Page 178
... partially justified by verse that dwells at explicit length on physical betrayal . His script severely restricts the dialogue entrusted to Desdemona , which is both a blessing , since Swiss - born Jacob struggles with verse in what was ...
... partially justified by verse that dwells at explicit length on physical betrayal . His script severely restricts the dialogue entrusted to Desdemona , which is both a blessing , since Swiss - born Jacob struggles with verse in what was ...
Contents
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA play synopsis | 1 |
The Boys from Syracuse A Edward Sutherland 1940 | 14 |
The Bad Sleep Well Akira Kurosawa 1960 | 27 |
Copyright | |
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actors Akira Kurosawa Antony Ariel audience Bianca Brian Blessed Capulet Cassio castle characters cinema Claudius comedy costumes daughter David death Demetrius Desdemona dialogue Dir/Scr director Duke DVD and VHS Editor father film's Franco Zeffirelli genre adaptations Gertrude Gielgud Guildenstern Hamlet Henry hero Heston Hidetora Hollywood Illyria John Julie Taymor Kenneth Branagh kills King Lear Kozintsev Laertes lago Laurence Olivier lovers Macbeth Main Cast Makibefo marry Mercutio Michael Midsummer Night's Dream mins B&W Miranda movie murder NTSC Oberon Olivier's Omkara Ophelia original-text Shakespeare Orsino Orson Othello Paul performance Peter Petruchio play synopsis play's plot Polonius Prince Prod production Prospero Puck R2 DVD Richard Richard III Roderigo Romeo and Juliet Rosencrantz scene Score screen screenplay Sebastian Shakespeare film shot Shrew soliloquies Souli stage studio Tempest theatre theatrical Throne of Blood Titania Titus Toby Twelfth Night Venice VHS NTSC VHS Pal Video Viola Welles's wife young