Shakespeare

[foxley]

Wow, thanks for the reccomendations, guys! We're only doing a movie a month, so this could go on for the rest of our lives, during which time there will be more adaptations!

Unfortunately you made the mistake of asking a lit geek who is also a movie a question about an area where two of his obsessions overlap.

One of the highlights of my trip to the UK back in 2013 was seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theatre.

[Catlady in training]

Don't forget the amazing Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990).

[Scott Taylor]

Well no one seems to have said it so I'm just going to mention Theatre of Blood (1973). It features a lot of Shakespeare, in the context of a horror film starring Vincent Price. Not for the squeamish, but Price's performance is excellent and the film features scenes from several plays, including very obscure ones like Troilus & Cressida and Cymbeline.

I especially enjoy the opening, which features clips from several "lost" Shakespeare films of the silent era:

[The Darknight Detective]

I've recently made the commitment to finish reading all of the Bard's 37 plays by the end of the year. So far, I've completed 11.

1. Hamlet
2. Romeo and Juliet
3. Macbeth
4. Othello
5. Julius Caesar
6. Much Ado About Nothing
7. A Midsummer Night's Dream
8. The Tempest
9. Henry V
10. Twelfth Night
11. Titus Andronicus

And now I'm reading The Taming of the Shrew.

I read everything (with the exceptions of Edward III and The Two Noble Kinsman) of Bill's last year myself. Definitely worth it, too.

[Slimybug]

What ones did you like best?

[The Darknight Detective]

What ones did you like best?

Julius Caesar. The Brando film is my favorite Shakespeare film, too.

From the Histories, it would be Richard III, while A Midsummer Night's Dream among the Comedies.

[Slimybug]

Julius Caesar. The Brando film is my favorite Shakespeare film, too.

From the Histories, it would be Richard III, while A Midsummer Night's Dream among the Comedies.

Oh man. You must see things very differently than I! Not to pick a fight or anything, but those are some that I don't care for! I just finished Julius Caesar and I was like "...okay." Like, they kill Caesar, and then get creamed in the subsequent war. I really didn't think there was much to it, but to be fair, I've never seen it performed! Maybe that will change my mind. I kind of felt the same way about Macbeth, for similar reasons, but again, have never seen a production of it.

In a Midsummer Night's Dream, and maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I didn't care for the fact that everyone gets their happy ending because they're under the influence of a love potion. Like "Oh yay, we're so happy!" And I'm like "No you're not, you're under mind control!"

Haven't read Richard III yet, but if you gave me some more insight into Caesar, maybe that would help!

[The Darknight Detective]

Oh man. You must see things very differently than I! Not to pick a fight or anything, but those are some that I don't care for! I just finished Julius Caesar and I was like "...okay." Like, they kill Caesar, and then get creamed in the subsequent war. I really didn't think there was much to it, but to be fair, I've never seen it performed! Maybe that will change my mind. I kind of felt the same way about Macbeth, for similar reasons, but again, have never seen a production of it.

Check out the Marlon Brando movie from the early '50s. I would be shocked if you didn't like the play after seeing that. BTW, Macbeth is my second-favorite Shakespeare play.

In a Midsummer Night's Dream, and maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I didn't care for the fact that everyone gets their happy ending because they're under the influence of a love potion. Like "Oh yay, we're so happy!" And I'm like "No you're not, you're under mind control!"

Yeah, without spoiling it for others here, you're not exactly recalling it correctly.

[seismic-2]

In a Midsummer Night's Dream, and maybe I'm remembering it wrong, but I didn't care for the fact that everyone gets their happy ending because they're under the influence of a love potion.

No, when they wake up from their midsummer night's "dream", then everything is restored, but for the better on account of their experience. The royal wedding now goes off without complications, the tradesmen put on their silly little play, the fairies go back happy about their mischief, and life goes on as it should. All the problems that were introduced in the first act have now been resolved. What's wrong with a happy ending? It's a comedy!

The play that made me ask afterwards "Yeah, so what?" was King John. I must confess, however, that it's been half a century since I read it, so maybe I should go back and give it a second chance.

[Iron Maiden]

Well no one seems to have said it so I'm just going to mention Theatre of Blood (1973). It features a lot of Shakespeare, in the context of a horror film starring Vincent Price. Not for the squeamish, but Price's performance is excellent and the film features scenes from several plays, including very obscure ones like Troilus & Cressida and Cymbeline.

I especially enjoy the opening, which features clips from several "lost" Shakespeare films of the silent era:

I've seen that and it also features Diana Rigg as Vincent Prices's daughter. Critics at the time thought it was one of Vincent Price's best films.

[The Darknight Detective]

I've seen that and it also features Diana Rigg as Vincent Prices's daughter. Critics at the time thought it was one of Vincent Price's best films.

It has to be his best from the '70s, with the possible exception of The Abominable Dr. Phibes.

[Slimybug]

Well, I just finished reading Taming of the Shrew. And it's definitely my least favorite so far. I couldn't even understand it. There's so many characters! And everybody someone else's servant you have to keep straight, and everybody somebody else's servant, it's maddening! I finally had to give up on understanding it and just finish reading it!

Methinks King Lear is next.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

My favorite Indian Movie Director Vishal Bhardwaj did a Shakespeare Trilogy.



Haider (2014) based of Hamlet.

I'd recommend it as well as the other two entries "Omkara" and "Maqbool".

[seismic-2]

Well, I just finished reading Taming of the Shrew. And it's definitely my least favorite so far. I couldn't even understand it. There's so many characters! And everybody someone else's servant you have to keep straight, and everybody somebody else's servant, it's maddening! I finally had to give up on understanding it and just finish reading it!

What's perhaps confusing is that it's a play within a play, and the outer play (the "frame") is pretty much unnecessary. Shakespeare never returns to it, maybe because some of the same actors who are in the inner play are also in the outer one, and there's not enough time for them to change back into their original costumes. Anyway, a lot of productions simply leave the "frame" out of it entirely and stage just the inner play. As for screen versions,there are a lot of versions of the musical "Kiss Me Kate" based on it, but I would recommend instead the 1967 Franco Zeffirelli movie starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

[Slimybug]

What's perhaps confusing is that it's a play within a play, and the outer play (the "frame") is pretty much unnecessary. Shakespeare never returns to it, maybe because some of the same actors who are in the inner play are also in the outer one, and there's not enough time for them to change back into their original costumes. Anyway, a lot of productions simply leave the "frame" out of it entirely and stage just the inner play. .

The frame didn't confuse me. As I said, it's all the characters in the play proper, everybody someone's servant, and switching places with each other.

And yes, I have on my list both the 1929 and 1967 film versions.