What is the best Shakespeare cinematization?

[SpencerH]

Romeo and Juliet with DiCaprio in't. Very watchable, and it allows those who dont easily grasp 400 year old english jargon to understand whats going on. I know a lot of people think its heresy but I found it to be a brilliant adaptation.

[Provost Harrison]

Rambo II

[Zkribbler]

"Taming of the Shrew" with Burton & Taylor Burton's acting is maybe the best I've ever seen.

"Romeo & Juliet" with Olivia Hussey. My favorite part is the love scenes when she breaks into nervous giggles -- just what a teenage girl would do.

[Boris Godunov]

I'm very fond of Ian McKellan's take on Richard III, which is set in a mythical fascist England. Works quite well.

Branaugh's Henry V is also very good, but I don't understand any praises of his Hamlet. It was not only tedious (sorry, some plays just scream to be cut), but Branaugh's performance was so pompous and hammy I couldn't help but laugh. Mel Gibson's version was even superior, which is pretty damning. Although Gibson's supporting cast was remarkable--particularly a surprisingly wonderful Glenn Close.

There's a BBC production of King Lear with Olivier that is excellent. A later, rather surrealist production with Ian Holm doesn't hold up as well, though.

But all in all, West Side Story has to be the champ.

[Agathon]

Haha yeah....Kinda embarrasing...

* points... laughs....

[Pekka]

life sucks but shakespeare sucks it harder.

[laurentius]

I thought it was just a very dramatic japanaese story...

I guess I got to train my "Ha! What a feeble localisation of King Lear"- attitude a bit more

[boann]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
"Taming of the Shrew" with Burton & Taylor Burton's acting is maybe the best I've ever seen.

"Romeo & Juliet" with Olivia Hussey. My favorite part is the love scenes when she breaks into nervous giggles -- just what a teenage girl would do.

these were my choices too...

[Wernazuma III]

Originally posted by molly bloom
There's an excellent adaptation of 'Othello' by Orson Welles, which was released on dvd a few years ago. It faced some financial difficulties, so was shot pretty much 'on the run' which is why it has a kind of French 'nouvelle vague' feel.

If you can see past the blackface make-up, Welle's performance is magnificent, as is that of his Iago, the Irish actor Michael MacLiammoir:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004R6QE

The murder in the hammam is a cinematic tour de force.

I'd also recommend Kurosawa's 'Throne of Blood' and Roman Polanski's 'Macbeth'.

Polanski's 'Macbeth' is perhaps the bloodiest 'Macbeth' available, reflecting a play which is full of images and language pertaining to blood, murder, death and killing.

Kurosawa's version is an eerier version incorporating elements of Japanese ghost stories and drama, although Polanski's witches' sabbath is worth seeing too. The landscape in Polanski's version gives a genuinely unsettling and otherworldly feel to the film.

There are two Russian versions of two great Shakespearean tragedies, 'Hamlet' and 'King Lear', which were available on the Castle Hendring' video label in Great Britain. You might already be familiar with these- I think the Russians have a very sympathetic approach to Shakespeare, either in performance on stage, or on film.

For a left field approach, it would be hard to beat Derek Jarman's film of 'The Tempest' with genuine twins in the cast, and the American singer Elizabeth Welch playing the goddess who rounds out the film with a performance of 'Stormy Weather' accompanied by a chorus of sailors. Heathcote Williams is magnificent as an eccentric Prospero, and the blind actor Jack Birkett is a convincing Caliban.

Another 'left field' approach to Shakespeare is in Claudio Coronado's version of 'Hamlet', which has, if I recall, Helen Mirren as a luscious ripe Gertrude, and Quentin Crisp as a Polonius in drag.

There is a version of 'Hamlet' filmed at the Roundhouse in London with Antony Hopkins as Claudius, and Marianne Faithfull as Ophelia. Nicol Williamson plays a rather more acerbic and bitter Hamlet than is usually seen.

You might also be able to find a classic production of 'Macbeth' dating from the Seventies, which I was fortunate enough to see on British television back then. Ian McKellen is Macbeth and Judi Dench is Lady Macbeth. It has a minimal amount of props with much of the focus being on the faces, bodies and words of the cast. I know it's available in Great Britain on tape/dvd, and it's the best 'filmed play' as opposed to film adaptation of a play, I know.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Ian McKellen's other great contribution to the Shakespearean canon, his version of 'Richard III', which is actually 'Richard III' with bits from other history plays added, and the more tiresome bits of Richard III left out.

The film is an extremely convincing modernization of the play, transposing it to a quasi-fascist England of the Twenties/Thirties, thus alleviating it of any lingering historical mustiness, as lengthy repetitions of obscure English nobles' names and titles can pall on modern audiences.

All in all, as the Czech critic Jan Kott said, it makes Shakespeare our contemporary.

Molly, sometimes you scare me. You wrote that from memory? Wow.

[ajbera]

I'd like to add to the love for McKellan's "Richard III" and Polanski's "MacBeth." Nice and bloody interpretations.

The teen flick "10 Things I Hate About You" is an adaptation of "Taming of the Shrew", and it's pretty decent. I always enjoyed it.

The best Shakespeare, though, is always done on stage, and best I ever saw was "the Tempest" in Central Park with Patrick Stewart as Prospero. I sat in that f*cking park for 2 days in a 100+ degree heat wave to get tickets (they were sold out the first day), but it was worth it - it was outstanding.

[Pekka]

"I sat in that f*cking park"

I've been to NY, few times in fact, seen some parks, but I never seen fu***ing park. Could you give me the address, I'd like to visit that one the next time.

Plus I think the next time you go you should be f*ckign instead of sitting, I mean, what's the poitn going in there if you're just going to sit?

[laurentius]

Molly, All, thanks for your recommendations. I see a large DVD rent bill

[The Emperor Fabulous]

My personal favorites are:

"Romeo + Juliet" - Leonard DiCaprio, Clare Danes, dir. Baz Luhrman
"Titus" - Anthony Hopkins, dir. Julie Tambore
"Scotland, PA" (Macbeth) - Christopher Walken
"Hamlet" - Kevin Branaugh (also director), Kate Winslet
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - James Cagney, Mickey Rooney

[ajbera]

Originally posted by Pekka
"I sat in that f*cking park"

I've been to NY, few times in fact, seen some parks, but I never seen fu***ing park. Could you give me the address, I'd like to visit that one the next time.

Plus I think the next time you go you should be f*ckign instead of sitting, I mean, what's the poitn going in there if you're just going to sit?

It's the big green thing in the middle of New York City, with all the tall brown and green things that function as high-rise luxury apartments for bushy-tailed rodents. Just walk around with a blank expression on your face and you'll eventually find it, or you'll find some cheerful urbanites who'll gladly assist you.

I was sitting instead of f*cking because I really needed to stay in line for the tickets, and I'm pretty sure there's a 'No f*cking in public' rule at the park. I'll have to look that up, though, because if I could have been f*cking while I was waiting in line, well, that would have made the time pass a bit easier.

Regarding the f*cking, If that 'No f*cking' rule exists, I'm fairly certain it's park-wide, though I'm positive plenty of f*cking goes on anyway. Though, to be fair, I'd bet a good portion of that f*cking is actually rape or molestation. But the next time you come to NY, I advise you to go to the park (remember, big green thing in the middle of the city), find a public restroom, drop your pants and close your eyes and loudly announce "I'm ready for a good f*cking." Pretty soon a beautiful woman will come in and perform fellatio. Just keep your eyes closed and ignore that scratchy thing that feels like a beard.

And, to keep this post OT, I also recommend "Scotland, PA." Clever and funny, and I love Maura Tierney.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous
"Titus" - Anthony Hopkins, dir. Julie Tambore
"Scotland, PA" (Macbeth) - Christopher Walken
"Hamlet" - Kevin Branaugh (also director), Kate Winslet

And another tip of the hat to McKellan's Richard III. Brilliant film.