Shaky Shakespeare adaptations

peter johnson · March 02, 2009, 02:40:39 PM

Can't think of any that I really despised, but I am a tad puzzled by the adulation Laurence Olivier got for his film adaptations of Henry V and Hamlet -- Olivier can be an outstanding actor with the right director, but he doesn't really know how to direct film. Just take the one scene from Henry V with the Welshman arguing in favor of Welsh supremacy before the Agincourt scene: It is talky, and stagy, and very non-cinematic, when it could have been.

I saw a very peculiar film adaptation of The Tempest once, with Susan Sarandon & Raul Julia as the Caliban character. Really didn't work at all. At one point, Julia eats a tube of toothpaste & puts an octopus on his head I presume to disguise himself, but even that isn't clear.

West Side Story remains the great updating of Romeo and Juliet, depending on how you feel about Leonard Bernstein's music . . .

Warner Brothers did all-star adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream in the '30's. Leslie Howard is waayy too old as Romeo, and you can tell some of the supporting cast have no idea at all as to what they're saying -- they're just reciting words. John Barrymore's Mercutio, however, almost redeems the whole strange affair, as he really DOES know his Shakespeare. As far as the Midsummer, I have one thing to say: Starring Mickey Rooney as Puck . . .

Kurosawa's Ran (King Lear) and Throne of Blood (Macbeth) are both brilliantly conceived and fully-realized works of Art. Try to catch them on a big screen.

peter johnson/denny crane

BoyScoutKevin · April 10, 2009, 04:34:40 PM

Quote from: Wag on March 02, 2009, 04:02:06 AM
Quote from: Newt on March 01, 2009, 08:30:36 AM
Do Star Trek episodes count?

In my book, yeah (but then I am slightly obsessed and would say they count for a lot)

Also, The Lion King is apparenlty "inspired by" Hamlet - I have not read Hamlet and could't sit through the version of Hamlet with Ethan Hawke in so can't confirm this myself.

Oh, yes. If anybody is familiar with their Shakespeare, "The Lion King" is clearly based upon Shakespeare's "Hamlet" among other things.

Then to top that, the straight to dvd sequel to "The Lion King" "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" is clearly based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

Mofo Rising · April 10, 2009, 09:44:31 PM

I watched a horrible, horrible version of The Tempest a few years ago. It was a video of a stage production starring such luminaries as Horschach and Sgt. Tackleberry.

Man, it was awful.

I wrote a long post about it on my blog. I won't reproduce it here since I have something of a potty mouth, but you can follow this link.

sideorderofninjas · April 10, 2009, 10:09:51 PM

1956's Jubal is a western version of "Othello."

Wag · April 11, 2009, 04:05:01 AM

Quote from: BoyScoutKevin on April 10, 2009, 04:34:40 PM
Oh, yes. If anybody is familiar with their Shakespeare, "The Lion King" is clearly based upon Shakespeare's "Hamlet" among other things.

Then to top that, the straight to dvd sequel to "The Lion King" "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" is clearly based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

Now, Romeo and Juliet, I have read, plus watched a few versions of it too, and never realised that when I watched The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Duh. Might have to rewatch it, ha ha.

zombie no.one · April 11, 2009, 02:26:39 PM

I got given this dvd a while back

http://www.bbcshop.com/Drama+Arts/Shakespeare-Re-told-DVD/invt/av9348

shakespeare plays remade in a modern setting by the BBC. it's alright but Im not a massive Shakespeare fan tbh

schmendrik · April 12, 2009, 08:31:25 AM

This is not captured on film so you'll just have to imagine it, but some years back I did the Shakespeare in the Park thing in New York. It was TWELFTH NIGHT and starred Julia Stiles, Jimmy Smits and Christopher Lloyd. It was OK but some aspects were a little strange, especially Christopher Lloyd. Even though he was supposed to be a comic character, some uncle being driven insane, I kept seeing Doc Brown (BACK TO THE FUTURE) on that stage.

BoyScoutKevin · April 16, 2009, 06:56:52 PM

I had forgotten or never knew that the western film "The Man from Laramie" w/ Jimmy Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Alex Cord, and Donald Crisp was based on the western novel of the same title by T. T. Flynn. A popular novel when it was first published in 1954, it fell out-of-print, and was only recently republished in paperback.

Why both the novel and film belong here, is because both are based on Shakespeare's "King Lear," but instead of three daughters, there are three "sons:" Jimmy Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, and Alex Cord, with Donald Crisp being the "King Lear" figure in both the film and the novel.

Which reminds me, that back in 2002, there was another western version of King Lear." This one was made for TV and starred Patrick Stewart and Roy Scheider and supposedly took place in Texas during the first half of the 19th century. And the title, "King of Texas."

skuts · April 17, 2009, 01:22:09 PM

There is a mafioso version of Macbeth called, I believe, Men of Honor.

Jim H · April 18, 2009, 05:20:03 PM

She's the Man is a version of Twelfth Night, basically does what Ten Things I Hate About You did. It's OK.

There's that TNT movie with Patrick Stewart as King Lear, only he's a cattle baron in the American West. It's called King of Texas.

Apparently the Chinese period drama/martial arts film Legend of the Black Scorpion is based on MacBeth. Haven't seen it.

There's MacBether 3000: This Time, It's Personal. I want to see it now.