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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Daniel Rosenthal. 100 Shakespeare Films Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (play synopsis) Antony Front Cover.
Daniel Rosenthal. 100 Shakespeare Films Contents Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (play synopsis) Antony Front Cover.
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... (play synopsis) As You Like It, Paul Czinner, 1936 As You Like It, Christine Edzard, 1992 As You Like It, Kenneth Branagh, 2006 THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (play synopsis) The Boys from Syracuse, A. Edward Sutherland, 1940 HAMLET (play synopsis) ...
... (play synopsis) As You Like It, Paul Czinner, 1936 As You Like It, Christine Edzard, 1992 As You Like It, Kenneth Branagh, 2006 THE COMEDY OF ERRORS (play synopsis) The Boys from Syracuse, A. Edward Sutherland, 1940 HAMLET (play synopsis) ...
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... (play synopsis) Chimes at Midnight, Orson Welles, 1966 My Own Private Idaho, Gus van Sant, 1991 HENRY V (play synopsis) Henry V, Laurence Olivier, 1944 Henry V, Kenneth Branagh, 1989 JULIUS CAESAR (play synopsis) Julius Caesar, David ...
... (play synopsis) Chimes at Midnight, Orson Welles, 1966 My Own Private Idaho, Gus van Sant, 1991 HENRY V (play synopsis) Henry V, Laurence Olivier, 1944 Henry V, Kenneth Branagh, 1989 JULIUS CAESAR (play synopsis) Julius Caesar, David ...
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Daniel Rosenthal. MACBETH (play synopsis) Macbeth, Orson Welles, 1948 Joe Macbeth, Ken Hughes, 1955 Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa, 1957 Macbeth, Roman Polanski, 1971 Men of Respect, William Reilly ... (play synopsis) Much Ado About Nothing,
Daniel Rosenthal. MACBETH (play synopsis) Macbeth, Orson Welles, 1948 Joe Macbeth, Ken Hughes, 1955 Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa, 1957 Macbeth, Roman Polanski, 1971 Men of Respect, William Reilly ... (play synopsis) Much Ado About Nothing,
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Daniel Rosenthal. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (play synopsis) Much Ado About Nothing, Kenneth Branagh, 1993 Much Ado About Nothing, Brian Percival, 2005 OTHELLO (play synopsis) Othello, Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1922 A Double Life, George Cukor ...
Daniel Rosenthal. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (play synopsis) Much Ado About Nothing, Kenneth Branagh, 1993 Much Ado About Nothing, Brian Percival, 2005 OTHELLO (play synopsis) Othello, Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1922 A Double Life, George Cukor ...
Contents
Bleeder Leonardo Henriquez 2000 | |
Macbeth Geoffrey Wright 2006 | |
A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM play synopsis | |
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING play synopsis | |
A Double Life George Cukor 1947 | |
Otello Franco Zeffirelli 1986 | |
Omkara Vishal Bhardwaj 2006 | |
Richard III Richard Loncraine 1995 | |
JULIUS CAESAR play synopsis | |
KING LEAR play synopsis | |
LOVES LABOURS LOST play synopsis | |
MACBETH play synopsis | |
Joe Macbeth Ken Hughes 1955 | |
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW play synopsis | |
THE TEMPEST play synopsis | |
The Tempest Percy Stow 1908 | |
TWELFTH NIGHT play synopsis | |
Shakespeare The Animated Tales | |
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actors Akira Kurosawa Antipholus Antony audience Bianca camera Capulet Cassio castle Celia characters cinema Claude Claudius Cleopatra comedy daughter David death Demetrius Desdemona dialogue Dir/Scr director Duke DVD and VHS Editor father film’s Franco Zeffirelli genre adaptations Gertrude Grigori Kozintsev Guildenstern Hamlet Henry here–here hero Heston Hollywood Horatio Iago Iwabuchi John Johnny Julius Caesar Kenneth Branagh kills King Lear Kozintsev Laertes Laurence Olivier Macbeth Main Cast Makibefo marry Michael Midsummer Night’s Dream mins B&W Miranda movie murder NTSC Oberon Oliver Olivier’s Omkara Ophelia original-text Shakespeare Orlando Orson Othello Paul performance Peter play synopsis play’s plot Polonius Prince Prod production Prospero R2 DVD Richard Roderigo Romeo and Juliet Rosalind Rosencrantz scene Score screen Sebastian Shakespeare films shot Shrew soliloquies Souli stage studio Tempest theatre theatrical throne Throne of Blood Titania Titus Twelfth Night Venice VHS NTSC VHS Pal Video Welles’s wife William Shakespeare’s young