Shakespeare on Film - Suggestions?

[Ferox13]

[bwind22]

Originally Posted by neverending

Certainly one of the greatest Shakespeare films has to be Zeffirelli's production of Romeo & Juliet. He made waves by casting actors that were actually the ages the characters were supposed to be. It made Olivia Hussey a star.

Best breasts I ever saw in my freshman English class, that's for damn sure.

Return, I assume you've seen the Baz Luhrman adapttation of Romeo + Juliet with Claire Danes & Leonardo DiCaprio. If not, I'd recommend that one. Very updated and stylish while remaining true to the source material.

[La Chat Noire]

You should also check out the Twelfth Night version starring Helena Bonham Carter.

[Papillon Noir]

There is also Titus (1999), which is Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus about a Roman General played by Anthony Hopkins and also stars Jessica Lang. It's on the gruesome side and is a tragedy. Very well done with the original text, though they have updated the costume and sets to make them a little more stylized.

Richard III (1995) is my other favorite with Ian McKellan (in the villainous title role), Robert Downey, Jr and Kristen Scott. This tragedy is also very well done, and is set kind in a Nazi Germany setting instead of medieval times, but still has the original text.

Both films break the fourth wall during the film for their soliloquys to great effect.

Another film based on a Shakespearean play and that was very well done was O (2001), which was based on Othello and set in high school with Josh Harnett and Julia Styles.

[ChronoGrl]

Originally Posted by La Chat Noire

You should also check out the Twelfth Night version starring Helena Bonham Carter.

That's actually a really interesting interpretation of the play. I definitely recommend it as well.

Branagh has been brought up and I believe that his Hamlet is pure genius and (at times) painfully faithful to the original play. And I haven't seen it, but I've heard that his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is pretty damn good (and one of my favorite plays!)

Titus (1999) is absolutely fascinating and I think a must-see if you are studying this play. Another interesting take on Titus (less faithful, but absolutely compelling) is The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. Hard to get your hands on it, but worth the struggle.

[hammerfan]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Branagh has been brought up and I believe that his Hamlet is pure genius and (at times) painfully faithful to the original play. And I haven't seen it, but I've heard that his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is pretty damn good (and one of my favorite plays!)

Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favorite films. If you can ignore Keanu Reeves, I think you'll really like it.