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 70
... forward by fanfares and timpani , does Bradley's tiny budget become obvious . He can deploy only a dozen extras , their ' Roman ' helmets remodelled from GI surplus , yet the horrors are more visceral than in many epics , with brief ...
... forward by fanfares and timpani , does Bradley's tiny budget become obvious . He can deploy only a dozen extras , their ' Roman ' helmets remodelled from GI surplus , yet the horrors are more visceral than in many epics , with brief ...
Page 99
... forward by Jacques Ibert's martial score and carry staffs topped with a Celtic cross . The forces of darkness achieve a partial victory when Macbeth kills the Father with a well - aimed spear . The meaning of this half - baked addition ...
... forward by Jacques Ibert's martial score and carry staffs topped with a Celtic cross . The forces of darkness achieve a partial victory when Macbeth kills the Father with a well - aimed spear . The meaning of this half - baked addition ...
Page 144
... forward as mirror images , with Barry Lynch as Philostrate and Puck , and Starveling , Quince and Flute confusingly returning as Cobweb , Mustardseed and Peasblossom to feed Bottom , as though Puck had transformed them , too . Alongside ...
... forward as mirror images , with Barry Lynch as Philostrate and Puck , and Starveling , Quince and Flute confusingly returning as Cobweb , Mustardseed and Peasblossom to feed Bottom , as though Puck had transformed them , too . Alongside ...
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