|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
03-25-2006, 02:59 PM
|
#1 of 32 
|
|
John Rice
Member
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2000
Local Time: 10:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,466
|
Once or twice a year I get on a Shakespeare kick. I like to watch multiple adaptations, often watching difference adaptations of the same play consecutively. I enjoy seeing how the material is handled differently while they are fresh in my mind. I think I'd like to find some new ones though.
To explain a bit, I believe that they fall into three different categories...
Literal - These are almost always edited (Branagh's Hamlet and a few BBC productions being the main exceptions) but are not tampered with significantly in any other way.
Adaptations - Usually edited, but with original dialog. Otherwise, they are transfromed in some way, usually to another time or a non existing time.
Loose Adaptations - Dialog and setting are changed, but the essence of the story is the same. An important note, probably half the romances ever made could be considered loose adaptations of Romeo & Juliet, so let's keep things reasonable here. I don't think there's need for anyone to waste time explaining how Valley Girl is a loose adaptation of R&J.
Here is the list of my usual suspects...
Literal
Romeo and Juliet - 1968, Franco Zeffirelli
Hamlet - 1990, Franco Zeffirelli
Henry V - 1989, Kenneth Branagh
Adpaptations
Hamlet - 2000, Michael Almereyda
Titus - 1999, Julie Taymor
Richard III - 1995, Richard Loncraine
Romeo + Juliet - 1996, Baz Luhrmann
Loose Adaptations
O - 2001, Tim Blake Nelson
10 Things I Hate About You - 1999, Gil Junger
Not on DVD
Hamlet - 1996, Kenneth Branagh
Romeo and Juliet - 1936, George Cukor
So, I'm looking for some good additions. Please list any you suggest and give some info, including what type of adaptation it is. BTW, I'm not really interested in filmed stage productions, such as BBC has often done. Try to keep suggestions to actual theatrical films. Also, I'm mainly interested in the Tragedies, but go ahead and list others if you like.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 03:30 PM
|
#2 of 32
|
|
Member
Location: Hamilton, ON Canada
Join Date: Oct 2000
Local Time: 12:49 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 5,512
|
Literal
The Tragedy of Macbeth - 1971, Roman Polanski
Richard III - 1955, Laurence Olivier
Loose Adaptations
Tempest - 1982, Paul Mazurzky. Not on DVD
Ran (King Lear) - 1985, Akira Kurosawa
Throne of Blood (Macbeth) - 1957, Akira Kurosawa
Theatre of Blood (various Shakespeare death scenes) - 1973, Douglas Hickox
The Tempest - 1979, Derek Jarman (this might not be to your liking, John  )
Forbidden Planet (Tempest) - 1956, Fred M. Wilcox
and
Prospero's Books - 1991, Peter Greenaway. This one falls somewhere between an adaptation and a loose adaptation. Not on DVD 
My DVD Collection Film Lists: 2001 (416), 2002 (412), 2003 (374), 2004 (346), 2005 (302), 2006 (221) Film Tracking 2005 (862), 2006 (852) Last 15 Watched: Pulse (2006,Jim Sonzero) 2/5, In the Realm of the Senses (1976,Nagisa Oshima) 4/5, Sing a Song of Sex (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 2/5, The Passionate Friends (1949,David Lean) 3/5, Band of Ninja (1967,Nagisa Oshima) 1/5, Saw V (2008,David Hackl) 3/5, Quantum of Solace (2008,Marc Forster) 2/5, Role Models (2008,David Wain) 3/5, Dorm (2006,Songyos Sugmakanan) 3/5, Candy (2006,Neil Armfield) 3/5, Shutter (2004,Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom) 1/5, Skinwalkers (2006,Jim Isaac) 2/5, Out of Season (1998,Jeanette L. Buck) 2/5, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983,Nagisa Oshima) 5/5, The Catch (1961,Nagisa Oshima) 3/5
|
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 03:31 PM
|
#3 of 32
|
|
Member
Location: North Central Texas
Join Date: May 2001
Local Time: 11:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 11,045
|
She's The Man - Loose adaptation of Twelfth Night. I wouldn't see it myself, but. . . .
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 04:29 PM
|
#4 of 32
|
|
Thomas
Member
Location: Columbus, OH
Join Date: Dec 2001
Local Time: 12:49 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 6,361
|
Probably literal - Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). It's terrific. 
The man I loved - the man who vanished - he never came back at all. But maybe he's still out there, somewhere. Maybe some day, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I'll see him again.
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 04:37 PM
|
#5 of 32
|
|
John Rice
Member
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2000
Local Time: 10:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,466
|
Excellent. Some I forgot to include, mainly the Kurosawas. I guess I should check out Much Ado.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 05:15 PM
|
#6 of 32
|
|
Jason
Member
Join Date: May 2000
Local Time: 01:49 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 4,439
|
Literal: Twelfth Night (1996) Dir: Trevor Nunn.
Jason
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 05:16 PM
|
#7 of 32
|
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Local Time: 09:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 44
|
Branagh's Much Ado is definitely worth viewing.
Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well is another of his Shakespearean adaptations, this time with an eye towards Hamlet. It is quite a bit looser with the original material than Ran or Throne of Blood, but excellent nonetheless.
Patrick
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 05:51 PM
|
#8 of 32
|
|
John Rice
Member
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2000
Local Time: 10:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,466
|
I'd never even heard of The Bad Sleep Well, which sounds like a mix of Hamlet and Solaris.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 06:01 PM
|
#9 of 32
|
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Local Time: 09:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 44
|
Ha, it's more like Hamlet in a post-war Japanese corporation played as a Film Noir. Toshiro Mifune is, as always, fantastic. There is a wonderful Criterion release of the title that I would highly recommend.
Patrick
|
|
|
|
|
03-25-2006, 06:04 PM
|
#10 of 32
|
|
John Rice
Member
Location: Colorado
Join Date: Jun 2000
Local Time: 10:49 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,466
|
It's in my queue. If not this week, then probably next week. The reason I mentioned Solaris was the factor I read about where the characters are forced to relive their sins. Sounded pretty Solaris to me.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
|
|
| |
