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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 50
Page viii
... ROMEO AND JULIET ( play synopsis ) .206 Romeo and Juliet , George Cukor , 1936 .207 The Lovers of Verona , André Cayatte , 1949 .211 Romeo and Juliet , Renato Castellani , 1954 213 West Side Story , Robert Wise , Jerome Robbins , 1961 215 ...
... ROMEO AND JULIET ( play synopsis ) .206 Romeo and Juliet , George Cukor , 1936 .207 The Lovers of Verona , André Cayatte , 1949 .211 Romeo and Juliet , Renato Castellani , 1954 213 West Side Story , Robert Wise , Jerome Robbins , 1961 215 ...
Page 207
Daniel Rosenthal. Romeo and Juliet US , 1936-123 mins ( B & W ) George Cukor MGM's Romeo and Juliet was Hollywood's first feature - length adaptation of a Shakespeare tragedy . Irving G. Thalberg pronounced it ' a cultural undertaking of ...
Daniel Rosenthal. Romeo and Juliet US , 1936-123 mins ( B & W ) George Cukor MGM's Romeo and Juliet was Hollywood's first feature - length adaptation of a Shakespeare tragedy . Irving G. Thalberg pronounced it ' a cultural undertaking of ...
Page 218
Daniel Rosenthal. Romeo and Juliet Italy / UK , 1968 Franco Zeffirelli 152 mins Franco Zeffirelli sowed the seeds of this box - office triumph in 1960 , when the Italian director - designer made ... Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli, 1968.
Daniel Rosenthal. Romeo and Juliet Italy / UK , 1968 Franco Zeffirelli 152 mins Franco Zeffirelli sowed the seeds of this box - office triumph in 1960 , when the Italian director - designer made ... Romeo and Juliet, Franco Zeffirelli, 1968.
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 | |
21 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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