Filmed Shakespeare (And Contemporary Works) Actually Worth Watching
Efforts by actors and directors to film Shakespeare plays are usually utter disasters. But once in a while...someone nails it. (That someone is almost never Branagh, however).
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- DirectorGregory DoranStarsDavid TennantPatrick StewartPenny DownieThe RSC puts a modern spin on Shakespeare's Hamlet in this filmed-for-television version of their stage production. The Prince of Denmark seeks vengeance after his father is murdered and his mother marries the murderer.In this and the JULIUS CAESAR that follows, director Gregory Doran shows that he understands how to take the elements that make Shakespeare work in the theatre and transpose them to film. He is not afraid of letting his actors address the camera directly; he knows how to put those factors that were timely in early modern England in a context that allows them to be timely today.
- DirectorGregory DoranStarsTheo AffailSegun AkingbolaAdjoa AndohThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.While this is an excellent version of the production, it does not quite do justice to the live staging at the RSC. Nonetheless, the DVD version allows you to see Patterson Joseph's magnificent portrayal of Brutus.
- DirectorRalph FiennesStarsRalph FiennesGerard ButlerBrian CoxA banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.Ralph Fiennes clearly took a few pages from Gregory Doran's book in approaching Shakespeare - it worked.
- DirectorThea SharrockStarsGareth Bennett-RyanMichael BenzPhilip BirdShakespeare's tale of young love, betrayal, cross-dressing, and redemption.I will admit that this and other productions that are filmed performances at Shakespeare's Globe are a bit of a cheat. But these performances demonstrate the power that the plays regain when they are seen in an environment like that for which they were written.
- DirectorWilson MilamStarsChristopher AllanSimon AllenZawe AshtonThe Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.Tim McInnerny is far and away the most surprising, compelling Iago I have ever seen. The production as a whole stands miles above any film version.
- DirectorChristopher LuscombeStarsChristopher BenjaminSerena EvansSarah WoodwardImagining that Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have each fallen for him, the fat knight Sir John Falstaff decides to seduce them both, as much for their husbands' money as for their personal charms. Wise to the old rogue's tricks, the women turn the tables on him with a series of humiliating assignations and a very damp, extremely smelly laundry basket.Another one from the growing collection of Shakespeare's Globe productions. A fantastic collection of amazing actors, particularly Philip Bird as Dr. Caius.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsChristopher EcclestonKevin KnapmanMichael RyanIn a post-apocalyptic Liverpool, a man returns seeking revenge for his wife's murder - and everyone speaks perfect Jacobean English.This adaptation of Middleton's everything-including-the-kitchen-sink revenge tragedy is a phenomenal piece of work. It's harder than hell to find - I had to bring a region 2 DVD back from England - but SO very worth it if you can track it down.
- DirectorMatthew DunsterIan RussellStarsCharlotte BroomMichael CampRichard ClewsThe Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the German story Faust.DOCTOR WHO fans flocked to this production to see Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles. Darvill handled the role very well, but he was only one part of a stunning production that adhered in many ways to Elizabethan performance practices. Easily the most powerful production I have ever seen (onstage or on film) - and brilliantly answers the question Marlowe leaves unresolved in the text: What does Lucifer gain by acquiring Faustus' soul?