To celebrate the release of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing on DVD and a new version of Romeo and Juliet coming our way, today at I’m With Geek, we’re looking at some of cinema’s great adaptations of the Bard. From Kenneth Branagh’s true-to-the-text renditions of pretty much every Shakespeare play going, to musical re-imaginings, to Disney animation, Shakespeare’s work continues to thrill audiences in some often-unlikely ways. Here are a few of the best.
NOTE: I would have liked to have included Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus, but I still haven’t seen it. I know, I’m awful.
We begin this article with the film that inspired it, Joss Whedon’s low budget adaptation of Shakespeare’s funniest play, filmed in twelve days, in black and white, in his own house, with his buddies from the Whedonverse. It’s basically the ultimate home movie, and it’s excellent. Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker recreate the fantastic chemistry they shared in Angelas Benedick and Beatrice, while Fran Kratz and Jillian Morgese shine as the altogether more tragic pairing of Claudio and Hero. The supporting cast are equally excellent, with Agent Coulson himself playing Leonato, and Nathan Fillion and Tom Lenk bringing the greatest laughs as Dogberry and Verges. It’s a real shame Fillion and Lenk didn’t get much interaction during their Buffy appearances, because they are both excellent, but hopefully Whedon will see fit to pair them again in the future.
Whedon compensates for his low budget by extracting masterful performances from his actors, honed by regular Shakespeare readings held in his home featuring a variety of Whedonverse cast. The action is relocated to the present day, but the words remain the Bard’s, in a move that works without trying to make Shakespeare too “edgy” for modern audiences. (I still shudder over a student production of Hamlet where he was in an East London gang.)
This recording of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed production of Hamlet, starring David Tennant in the titular role and the always incredible Sir Patrick Stewart in the dual roles of King Claudius and the Ghost, aired on Christmas Day a few years ago, and I delayed my family Christmas dinner just to watch it. The whole production was utterly gripping. While I always enjoyed Tennant in Doctor Who, Blackpool and other programmes, Hamlet is by far his most involving, complex, and ultimately brilliant performance to date. He captures Hamlet’s growing madness and quest for vengeance with a subtlety missing from other adaptations starring, for example, Mel Gibson, and the understanding of the text is exceptional in the way that only the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I guess Branagh and Olivier, can be. While Sir Patrick is the only other recognisable name on the bill (and you don’t need me to tell you that he was excellent at it), the entire supporting cast are wonderful. Ophelia isn’t annoying, which delights me, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern perfectly encapsulate the “Those Two Guys” trope, and I’m kind of in love with this adaptations Horatio. But I always love Horatio.
Although this is ostensibly a modern-day adaptation, like Whedon, the production doesn’t get too bogged down in that. It merely applies to costume and staging, which is usually a subtle application. The entire staging has the feel of a theatre experience, but is still as cinematic as film. The most radical bit of modernising is the use of CCTV cameras to film certain moments, but this only adds to Hamlet’s growing paranoia. A more all-encompassing re-imagining would be found in RSC’s Julius Caesar, which was also filmed and aired on the BBC, but is only left off my list because I can’t find a DVD release of it. Starring Paterson Joseph, the action is relocated to an Africa in unrest. It is also brilliant, and if you can find it online, watch it.
THE adaptation of Shakespeare for people growing up in the 90s (aka me), Baz Luhrmann’s flashy version of the tragedy remains his best work, which is in no small part down to the excellent performances of a young Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes. Relocating to “Verona Beach”, this modern (for the time) version is full of gun fights, bombastic camera work and pop songs of the 90s. (Small note, unlike My Heart Will Go On from DiCaprio’s Titanic, Desiree’s Kissing You is still a great song.) The production is full of recognisable faces, from Paul Sorvino, to Miriam Margolyes, John Leguizamo’s Tybalt to Paul Rudd’s Paris. My favourite is Harold Perrineau Jr (you may recognise him as Augustus Hill from Oz, or Michael from Lost) as my all-time favourite Shakespeare character, Mercutio, in probably my favourite performances. So much do I love Perrineau’s Mercutio, I’ve been known to switch the film off after he dies. And of course, there’s the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as Father Laurence.
While I praise the previous two choices for their subtle productions, Romeo + Juliet is the complete opposite. It’s just as loud, lurid and flashy as you’d expect from a director like Luhrmann, but it’s performances and impeccable source material is what sets it on a higher level than, say, Australia. (But Australia was rubbish.)
Prior to the London 2012 Olympics, the BBC commissioned the production of Shakespeare’s entire Henriad, consisting of the plays Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V Parts 1 and 2. While all four films were exceptional, with wonderful staging, cast, and production values, it is the first, Richard II, which really shines. This is because of the performance of Ben Whishaw, who, despite sharing the trilogy with actors such as Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston, completely steals the show in the titular role. Quite deservedly, he won a BAFTA for the role, and I only wish he’d been eligible for more awards. Whishaw manages to make Richard a sympathetic, tragic figure, but without compromising on the pompous, self-righteous behaviour that leads to his being overthrown in the first place. He is backed up admirably by talented actors such as Rory Kinnear, Clemence Posey (who shines in a relatively small role), David Morrissey, and yes, again, Sir Patrick Stewart, who all bring their A-game to a demanding and often forgotten work.
Although almost all of them are deserving, I resolved to only choose one Kenneth Branagh film for this article, and immediately my thoughts went to Henry V. While Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet was the first Shakespeare adaptation (using the Bard’s original text, that is) that I fell in love with, Branagh’s film was the first that I loved while having an understanding of Shakespeare. Although the entire film was brilliant, this was down to one great scene, the St Swithen’s Day speech. So powerful is Branagh’s performance, it has now become my favourite Shakespeare speech of all time. Ahead of “To be or not to be”, ahead of Macbeth’s dagger scene, this particular speech never fails to leave me with a lump in my throat and a tremendous sense of joy.
Were the World Mine is a strange, but utterly joyous independent film, with lovely performances and even better songs. It’s not strictly speaking an adaptation, but it is based heavily on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s the story of Timothy, an out gay kid in a homophobic all-boys school and an equally homophobic town. When the strange drama teacher announces that the school will stage a musical production of Midsummer and casts Timothy in the part of Puck, she gives him a special copy of the text. In it, Timothy discovers the recipe for Puck’s love potion, and first uses it to make his crush, Jonathan, fall in love with him, then later uses it to turn the rest of his town gay. He messes up quite a bit, leaving his mother and his best friend Frankie (played by Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin) as the only sane people in a town full of love-zombies, but it also gives the townfolk, when they’re back to normal, perspective to disregard their previous homophobia. The storyline is cheesy as all hell, and the production is very low-budget, but the young cast’s performances are fun and engaging. It succeeds largely in the songs, pairing the Bard’s own words with music to produce a pretty cracking result.
I don’t need to be convincing you of the greatness of The Lion King, do I? Let’s just talk about the comparisons with Hamlet, then, for The Lion King is basically just Hamlet with animals and a happy ending. Simba is the Hamlet of our story, his father murdered by his devious uncle, who then takes control of the pride. Encouraged by the ghost of his father, Simba returns to Pride Rock to reclaim the kingdom as his own. Only this time, nobody dies. Except Scar. Timon and Pumbaa are quite obviously the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the story, but with the loyalty to Simba that’s reminiscent of Horatio, while Nala is the completely sane version of Ophelia. Yes, there’s no Laertes, but Laertes is a bit of a dick.
It’s Romeo and Juliet with rival gangs, racism and songs! What’s not to love? The legendary, Oscar-winning production, with music from Bernstein and lyrics by Sondheim is beautiful, exciting, and, in my mind, timeless. The performances are all top notch, but particularly of note is Rita Moreno as Anita (also winning an Oscar for the part) in a role that is more challenging than that of Maria (not that Natalie Wood wasn’t perfectly good in the role) and performing the iconic number America. It captures the tragedy of the original for a contemporary fashion, and one that, with tense race relations still present in our society, still cuts deep.
Ahh, the moment an entire generation of women, and perhaps some men, fell in love with Heath Ledger. A 90s teen comedy reimagining of The Taming of the Shrew, it’s a funny, inventive, defining moment of teen cinema led admirably by Julia Stiles. So many Generation Y cultural moments come from this film, from Heath Ledger’s singing on the bleachers to the iconic poem, it takes Shakespeare’s tale and makes it utterly relatable to adolescents. And it also has Joseph Gordon-Levitt in, so there’s that.
Bill
This film doesn’t exist yet, but the Horrible Histories team are making a comedy film about the life of a young William Shakespeare, and if that doesn’t excite you enough to allow it on this list, then you are dead to me.
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