Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

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bottled spider
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#76 Post by bottled spider » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:10 pm

There's this Globe on Screen Twelfth Night, with an all-male cast. It bills itself as an Original Practices performance. I'm embarrassed to admit it didn't occur to me, until my mother later pointed it out, that this is not, of course, original practice at all: female roles were played by boys, not adult men. I liked it all the same. There are some gains and some losses in the cross-dressing.

The Branagh one for Thames Television, the BBC one with Felicity Kendall, and the one with Joan Plowright were all fine, as I remember. The one with the Anglo-Indian cast is terrible.

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domino harvey
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#77 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:20 pm

That Globe perf was the other one I was weighing, but it just looked like a collection of powdered fops who wandered over from the set of Amadeus. The all male cast thing is one of those (almost, as you point out re:age) period-accurate aspects that is too distracting now because it is too far from our performance norm and not in a productive way. Men playing the women does not add textual value to Shakespeare’s works since performances in this manner would not have been digested differently by an audience in the way all male perfs inescapably are now— it’s just a gimmick. Note they don’t do this with one of the tragedies...

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knives
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#78 Post by knives » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:06 pm

I actually think doing it with one of the tragedies would be interesting. I've seen a number of showings that futz around with the casting in that or another manner, but for the reasons you say (most likely) the comedies are always chosen. Admittedly that may be because many of the tragedies and the histories don't have the most expansive roles for women. Even something like Othello doesn't have Desdemona as prominently as Rosalind.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#79 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:29 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:05 pm
Anyone besides me and therewillbeblus doing a read-along with this project? Currently suffering through Shakespeare’s edgelord play, Titus Andronicus, which is worse (!) than I remembered: next to no interesting uses of language, thematically thin with characters to match, and absurd and gratuitous violence being the only thing going for it. I’ve never seen it on the stage, but I imagine things like Lavinia writhing around on the ground in a puddle of blood like Sofie Fatale with her hands cut off could be weirdly entertaining when performed live, in theory. A Grand Guignol approach is the only way to do this, since the violence is all that’s here. On paper it’s all just too 4Chan-ish. There’s a reason most people use this play as one of the default “Even Shakespeare wasn’t always Shakespeare” examples...
I think Titus Andronicus is fantastic and full of elements that resonate into so many of the other plays. Titus Andronicus himself is perhaps the contrast against King Lear, as someone with power and authority who has decided not to abdicate responsibility but instead felt too much responsibility to his country, even over the lives of his sons that he proudly sent to die in war, leading to killing one son even by his own hand when he talks of plotting against the corrupt Emperor.

Have you seen the Julie Taymor version domino? That definitely does the grand guignol approach with a hefty dose of Mussolini period decadance thrown in for good measure. Anthony Hopkins is basically doing Hannibal Lecter in Shakespeare (which makes sense given the culinary climax!), though he's quite moving in a couple of scenes where everyone is not sure whether he has lost his mind or is playacting, and Jessica Lange as Tamora goes all out especially when she is playing dress up in the final scenes to in quite a strangely moving way reductively embody the monstrous concept of 'revenge'. Though Harry Lennix as Aaron the Moor is the standout performance and role, of the production (especially in his final speech) as the nihilist set against everyone else's more 'human' motives for their violent acts (duty in war, honour killing, revenge for the murder of their family, being insulted, being turned into slaves) all overwhelmed by someone who just enjoying seeing people kill each other for the hell of it (making Aaron a bit like Iago in Othello, though the racial tables are somewhat turned).

Everyone is a monster: even the 'pure' Lavinia has, the scene before she is raped and has her tongue and hands cut off, enjoyed gloatingly teasing Tamora and Aaron over discovering their sexual relationship for the way that these Visigoth barbarians have transgressed both class and race barriers (similar to the good and noble characters who tease Shylock in the Merchant of Venice, that causes him to harden his plot of revenge). Which motivates Tamora 'giving' Lavinia to her sons to defile, even if that really does not particularly justify the extreme nature of Lavinia's fate! Really the only characters who get 'saved' are Lucius, Titus's eldest son, who has the uneviable task of trying to be the 'voice of authority' trying to bring some order to the chaos at the end of the play, despite performing the ultimate act of violence on the Emperor, and 'Young Lucius' the grandson, who is hugely built up in the present day bookending scenes of the Taymor film.

I'm a little less sure about structuring the entire film as inside an ampitheatre being watched by civilians of the then current Yugoslavian war. But is has a striking beginning with a boy playing with his action figures being bombed out of his house and carried into the ampitheatre to play his role as the grandson. Its a bit Time Bandits-y, although instead of a kindly Sean Connery playing the Greek father figure Agamemnon you get Hopkins as the honour-bound Roman goofy grandpa Titus Andronicus instead! (And I love that seemingly endless final shot of the film of Young Lucius being carried out of the ampitheatre)
Last edited by colinr0380 on Fri Aug 16, 2019 3:14 am, edited 7 times in total.

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knives
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#80 Post by knives » Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:48 pm

The Angelic Conversation & The Tempest (dir. Jarman)
There is a lot here and all of it amazing. One small example is how this works as a counter to Pink Narcissus' ideas of gay fantasy by bringing forth a more interpersonal idea of sex. Anti-Narcissus could have easily been the title. The early use of video and 8mm as a precursor to every music video is also interesting. There's this lovely sense connecting Marker's photofilm style to a blurred sense of body as if the heat of the moment only allows for one instant to be remembered or in existence depending on how you want to look at certain techniques.

For the purposes of this project though I'll focus in on the Shakespeare component. This is about the closest the sonnets will get to an adaptation, but I wonder if that's really the film's purpose. It works well under the idea that Jarman read these poems of love and imagined this film as a result. I think it works better in the opposite regard though where the sonnets were brought in as a commentary onto the film. You have this story of seeing someone you could love. Walking down the street and just the mere act of seeing each other's eyes makes it possible to gain a kingly intimacy. Only that must be torn away when the eyes break contact and you are forced to render your beloved a memory. The images hold that as a perfect story. Where Dench's recitation comes in is to expand on that story and those images to relay other thoughts Jarman as a third voice is having. The author's voice is represented by Shakespeare's words. That definitely works better for me.

The Tempest works in converse to The Angelic Conversation by being a fairly straight forward adaptation of the material through all but the last few minutes of its run time. It practically is a piece of theater and does well to showcase the good and the bad of the original play. Unfortunately the bad is tremendously bad with the most annoying performances I've ever encountered, even more than Russell Brand, for the comedic trio. The actor here playing Caliban is so grating I nearly could not finish the film. I'm glad I did though as Jarman takes his queer symbolism up and beyond for a final musical number with a pack of sailors. Before that there's a bit of queer symbolism as well that recalibrates the meaning of the play. Prospero has often been taken as the artist figure here, but Jarman's mis-en-scene seems to largely reject that. Instead he seems an artistic muse of violence and repression like some BDSM for the tragically straight Ferdinand. That gives a bit of sadness to the ending which while upbeat isn't free.

Richard II (dir. Giles)
I'm already at the point with adaptations where the meta textual elements are more compelling then the films. Admittedly this BBC version, which is my first filmed encounter with the play, aims mostly to give a traditional interpretation and so isn't that compelling except as Shakespeare. My main point of interest is with how Richard comes across. He's a bit like a young King Lear stuck in the story of Richard III. I was actually surprised how much overlap there was between the story of the two Richards with only the nature of their character providing significant difference over the course of the film. You could look at the film from two perspectives. Henry's or Richard's. If the former then this becomes the story of another mad king who must be disposed of in order to ensure a good kingdom. That's frankly boring and repetitive to the superior Third.

What worked better for me was to take whole hog Richard as the protagonist. A man wanting to be the best King he could, but unable to control some impulses and not having the political smarts to maintain his crown and safety. This adds further tragedy to the story of his wife who is as effective at making Richard seem worth caring for as Cordelia. Jacobi kind of fights this interpretation though with his hamming tendencies. He's in the background a lot at first and only with Gielgud's exit from the play does he come forth primarily shouting and acting as if he where playing Richard Dreyfuss as Richard III. This actually makes me quite curious for The Crown as Ben Winshaw's acting tendencies suggest a performance closer to what I would want.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#81 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Aug 14, 2019 9:50 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:05 pm
Anyone besides me and therewillbeblus doing a read-along with this project?
Did we ever land on a decision regarding the proposition of tallying a list of favorite plays in addition to adaptations? I’d be interested in participating, and it’ll definitely get me to read plenty that I probably wouldn’t otherwise.

On a side note, I’m not sure I’ve read a single Shakespeare comedy that I loved. I find his humor within his tragedies (i.e. King Lear) darkly comic and at times laugh out loud funny, but haven’t been too excited by his comedies beyond some witty sections. I admittedly am attracted to the existential jokes inherent in people’s pathos, but situational over-plotted misunderstandings and communication breakdowns are great too, so I’m probably missing something. I plan to read As You Like It soon, but am willing to take other recs.

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domino harvey
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#82 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 14, 2019 10:23 pm

Much Ado About Nothing is also pretty conventionally funny, but as I’m sure you know, Comedy as a Shakespeare play category doesn’t necessarily mean a laff riot (let’s bring back the Romances, right? Right?). As You Like It and Twelfth Night are perfect though, so

I’m all for tallying the plays, but you’re the first to even bring it up after I put it on the table

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#83 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Aug 14, 2019 10:33 pm

Beatrice and Benedick are pretty wonderful in Much Ado (Berlioz wrote a nice opera focused primarily on them) -- the rest of the play is variable. I'd rate Twelfth Night as close to perfect.

I wish this version of Much Ado was generally available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articl ... y-restored (I never SAW this -- only heard the RCA LP recording -- and loved Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens in this).

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#84 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:16 pm

Image

The Bad Sleep Well

Shakespeare meets film noir doesn’t sound like a complementary dish but Kurosawa makes it work, using the idea of Hamlet’s will as an existentially destructive force navigating unknown systems to reach a goal emanating from mood emphasized over specific action. The forward momentum propelled by this human drive is behavior focused and reasons are cloudy beyond the familial ideological value systems we hold onto but lose meaning as Mifune gets deeper into the trenches. A fascinating film that takes its time establishing its intent, and once it does, takes its time exposing that intent as less substantial than expected, especially during a particularly conflicted speech where Mifune spells out his rationality and reveals the emptiness of his purpose while transferring his devotion from one familial allegiance in his father to another in his wife. He practically seals his fate for the audience with this statement of perceived truth sold as such but underneath begetting complete naiveté.

Everything is behavioral here, which may be cultural but also points to Shakespeare’s own poking at the vulnerability and charade of these institutional values. Another great examination of the meaninglessness in socially ingrained value systems through diminished returns of catharsis with each action corresponding to these failing values. Shakespeare’s joke of life. Kurosawa plays as validating to Mifune’s aims and then flips on us, the surface-level ‘cool’ hero with apparent autonomy and self-actualization losing traction and altering his placed value until the stumble results in face plant, unmasking the lack of orientation to the self. That Kurosawa chooses to abruptly alter our surrogate handle on the narrative in the last chapter divulges a vision beyond the vengeance tale we initially thought this was for a time. As we let the tragedy seep in, emotions quickly revert to apathy, and we are left only with desolate spaces that used to be occupied with false merit; not cinéma vérité at all, but in the vein of bitter truth in the absence of value, all with stylized moments of intensity in the nihilistic tailspin to which the drama builds. Just as we believe we will watch the rest of the world burn, the drama returns to a simmer, a business call tempered mildly with socially constructed manners, a return to order. Now devoid of any stakes in the narrative, and in a state of complete apathy to greet the mood, a full embrace of the grey commences for the worldview Kurosawa, and Shakespeare, hold true.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#85 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:22 am

I tend to think Bad Sleep Well is seriously under-appreciated.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#86 Post by bottled spider » Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:51 am

Tempest (Des McAnuff, 2010).
Another recording of a live performance from The Stratford Shakespeare Festival (the Canadian Stratford, that is). Beautiful costumes, lots of clever, inventive staging ideas, and "simple" yet virtuoso effects. The circular stage lends itself to filming with multiple, mobile cameras, and the performance is recorded with the same care and technical proficiency as the staging.

The comic potential of the play is fully realized -- I didn't know it could be this funny. Christopher Plummer gives a warm-hearted performance of Prospero. Caliban is half-man, half-iguana. A delightful Ariel is played by the petite (4' 10'') Indonesian actress, Julyana Soelistyo. Trinculo is played with high camp, and Stephano hilariously as a Scotsman. All the roles are well done.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#87 Post by GoodOldNeon » Fri Aug 16, 2019 4:51 pm

It's been years since I last saw it, but since it hasn't been mentioned yet allow me to recommend Hamlet Goes Business, Aki Kaurismäki's darkly comic noir-Hamlet set in the cut-throat world of 1980s Finnish big business. Here's what one thoroughly misguided Empire reviewer had to say:

Utterly without redeeming features. If it were possible to earn zero stars, here is a contender for such a score.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#88 Post by bottled spider » Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:14 pm

knives wrote:
Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:48 pm
Richard II (dir. Giles)... This actually makes me quite curious for The Crown as Ben Winshaw's acting tendencies suggest a performance closer to what I would want.
If you get a chance to see it, I think you'll like it. Ben Whishaw gives a ethereal, mannered performance as an aesthete Richard II, in a rather stylized adaptation. Maybe it goes a little over the top, but it's an intense, compelling interpretation. All the entries in the first volume of The Hollow Crown are filmic and easy to watch, but high quality.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#89 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:49 am

I’m glad to report that I loved As You Like It, and it’s easily the most successful composition of what Shakespeare does so well in his comedies, presenting social dynamic games and tricks with contrasting personalities and worldviews, cute deception and chivalrous yet humorous conflict. Harold Bloom and domino are right in praising Rosalind as a character, a firecracker of wit and blooming with eccentric yet enchanting candor. Jaques’ attitude mirrors one I recognize and value, with much of his dialogue in step with the elements of Shakespeare’s insight that are most fascinating and true in both his comedies and tragedies.

On domino’s suggestion I watched Branagh’s HBO version, and like Almereyda’s Cymbeline, I’m perplexed on where this failed with critics. The cast is uniformly excellent, and Bryce Dallas Howard embodies Rosalind’s qualities to otherworldly colorful degrees. It helps that her smile spreads a naturally relaxed wide, her general disposition emitting genuine vibes. Kline is the perfect choice for Jaques, as one would expect. I remembered him as the standout from the ‘99 A Midsummer Night’s Dream which I haven’t seen in probably 15 years, and he’s always appropriate in the exaggerated Shakespearean roles. Especially here, he shows a keen ability to shift tones from vibrant and energetic to subdued and earnest with ease and humor in every breath or movement. While I’m singling out these two actors, mostly because their castings will make or break the film, everybody is on point. The reliable Alfred Molina going inane as Touchstone, David Oyelowo passionately matching Howard’s tempo in their scenes, and Romola Garai, probably most overlooked, playing a lovely Celia who complements Howard’s Rosalind in kittenish playfulness, creating a harmonious duo I could have spent two hours with alone.

The stylistic choices are interesting, often staging scenes like a play but with purposeful, gradual movement. Occasional angles drop in on characters to capture a mood change or pushing in to bask in a kind and spirited facial gesture. A personal favorite choice is in Jaques’ famous “the world is a stage” speech, where the camera slowly pans as he speaks to the group, unveiling the rest of the characters and brushing across and over the nature of the forest. Branagh slyly uncovers purple flowers and greenery in addition to the other people as the wise man speaks about the vast world with them as merely players. We move from seeing Kline and branches to a more expansive schema until we’re overwhelmed with beauty, and then the camera pushes in on Kline and his cohort to emphasize that despite being merely players, this does not invalidate their significance and value.

Having read the play and watched the movie in close succession, I found the alterations noticeable but mostly assured. Re-ordering scenes and events served the pacing and continuity of the story well. A small quibble would be a few lines from Rosalind missing, especially those early Rosalind/Celia playful talks, but I understand if they didn’t fit in with the pace Branagh set, and were also amended with similar interplay not too much later. All in all, a terrific adaptation from Branagh, with a lot of thought put into structural and technical choices to make the play work in his own context.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#90 Post by domino harvey » Sat Aug 17, 2019 11:36 am

Kline directed himself in a PBS adaptation of Hamlet right after he won the Oscar, if you’re eager for more Klinespeare. I haven’t seen it but Kline’s hamminess is an interesting choice for the title role— I imagine his take would at least give us something other than the countless self-serious portrayals of other versions

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#91 Post by knives » Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:09 pm

bottled spider wrote:
Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:14 pm
knives wrote:
Wed Aug 14, 2019 6:48 pm
Richard II (dir. Giles)... This actually makes me quite curious for The Crown as Ben Winshaw's acting tendencies suggest a performance closer to what I would want.
If you get a chance to see it, I think you'll like it. Ben Whishaw gives a ethereal, mannered performance as an aesthete Richard II, in a rather stylized adaptation. Maybe it goes a little over the top, but it's an intense, compelling interpretation. All the entries in the first volume of The Hollow Crown are filmic and easy to watch, but high quality.
That's exciting. I should try to queue it up before I run out of vacation.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#92 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:11 am

domino harvey wrote:
Sat Aug 17, 2019 11:36 am
Kline directed himself in a PBS adaptation of Hamlet right after he won the Oscar, if you’re eager for more Klinespeare. I haven’t seen it but Kline’s hamminess is an interesting choice for the title role— I imagine his take would at least give us something other than the countless self-serious portrayals of other versions
That’s a really good point, I’ll try to seek it out! Kline definitely fits more in line with other Shakespeare characters and I never would’ve thought he’d be interested in taking Hamlet on, but he also does wonders in serious roles and is capable of playing on the dramatic spectrum, even delivering a few great understated performances, so I’m curious how he chose to play it.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#93 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:33 am

There are clips up on YouTube (as well as the whole three hour adaptation). Understated he is not

Also not seen in whole but I’m intrigued by Campbell Scott’s very on-brand approach here, though dear lord LisaGay Hamilton from the Practice is so awful as Ophelia that it gives me great pause to commit to watching the entire film. The promise of Roscoe Lee Browne as Polonius may convince me regardless, though!

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#94 Post by knives » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:11 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:11 am
domino harvey wrote:
Sat Aug 17, 2019 11:36 am
Kline directed himself in a PBS adaptation of Hamlet right after he won the Oscar, if you’re eager for more Klinespeare. I haven’t seen it but Kline’s hamminess is an interesting choice for the title role— I imagine his take would at least give us something other than the countless self-serious portrayals of other versions
That’s a really good point, I’ll try to seek it out! Kline definitely fits more in line with other Shakespeare characters and I never would’ve thought he’d be interested in taking Hamlet on, but he also does wonders in serious roles and is capable of playing on the dramatic spectrum, even delivering a few great understated performances, so I’m curious how he chose to play it.
Supposedly he wanted Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream, so maybe he just doesn't understand what makes him such a good performer?

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domino harvey
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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#95 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:34 am

I have my first major mea culpa on past stated Shakespeare opinions: on reread Romeo and Juliet is clearly a masterpiece, and I understand at last those who call Juliet Shakespeare's first great character. Bring on more "I was obviously an idiot" rediscoveries, I say!

And RE: Kline, perhaps he was trying to get away from his Fish Called Wanda/I Love You to Death typecasting in this period, but then again, it sure looks like he's bringing that energy to his Hamlet, so maybe not. Kline as anyone but Bottom (which I'm assuming is who he plays, since I haven't seen it but who else could he be), is a fatal error

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#96 Post by knives » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:41 am

He does indeed play an excellent Bottom.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#97 Post by knives » Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:27 pm

I just got to the break of the BBC Measure for Measure which is my introduction to this play which I have not encountered before. It's made me so ecstatic so far that I just have to call out quickly on its virtues even before I am done. It's easily the best and smartest thing I've encountered by the bard with a humour that functions in perfect concert with the drama. Boy, is that drama a wonder as well. I'm shocked in this day and age it hasn't become a rallying cry given the intense political nature of sex in it. This is so explicit about the rights of man and woman that I am to say the least a little shocked.

I am sad to see that Yale hasn't gotten to it yet.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#98 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:44 pm

My library had the Kline Hamlet so I decided to give it a go. His perf is surprisingly effective as a change of pace, playing the character as if he has a screw loose, with other characters scratching their heads over his off-beat mannerisms and inappropriate moods that don’t match the given situation. Kline’s adaptation works as a sillier depiction of Hamlet’s role as a fish out of water, a lone wolf isolated against the community he is infiltrating, and exaggerates this dynamic for us in the confounded faces of the rest of the cast. It makes me wonder why more people haven’t played him this way before or since.

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#99 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:14 pm

Part of me wants to watch/rewatch all 25 Hamlet adaptations I’ve acquired, including that one. The other part of me wonders if doing so would make me love or hate the play by the end of it! Waiting to reread before committing myself one way or another, but I strongly suspect it too will far surpass my less charitable youthful assessments on revisit

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Re: Shakespeare Adaptations Mini-List Discussion + Suggestions

#100 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 18, 2019 5:24 pm

knives wrote:
Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:27 pm
I just got to the break of the BBC Measure for Measure which is my introduction to this play which I have not encountered before. It's made me so ecstatic so far that I just have to call out quickly on its virtues even before I am done. It's easily the best and smartest thing I've encountered by the bard with a humour that functions in perfect concert with the drama. Boy, is that drama a wonder as well. I'm shocked in this day and age it hasn't become a rallying cry given the intense political nature of sex in it. This is so explicit about the rights of man and woman that I am to say the least a little shocked.

I am sad to see that Yale hasn't gotten to it yet.
The RSC just did this one for their theatrical series, and it was sold very knowingly as being part of the current zeitgeist. It's the quintessential "Problem Play," and surely the most widely-liked of that lot of oddballs. I don't think there are many adaptations (ie chances to be exposed to it unless you're looking for it) because it confronts us with unexpected and to some degree not conventionally satisfying turns in its last acts (probably the same reason there are so few takes on the Winter's Tale or All's Well That Ends Well too)

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