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Shakespeare film adaptations

Worthy scaffold: The epic intimacy of William Shakespeare
a dramatic black and white image of a man and woman leaning with their faces close together
Shakespeare and Beyond

Worthy scaffold: The epic intimacy of William Shakespeare

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor writes about movies that feel like plays and theater that feels cinematic.

Ian McKellen on Richard III, Macbeth, and Gandalf
Shakespeare Unlimited

Ian McKellen on Richard III, Macbeth, and Gandalf

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Sir Ian McKellen tells us about some of his most famous roles: playing Macbeth opposite Dame Judi Dench, King Richard III with a screenplay he co-wrote, and Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings films.

Pamela Hutchinson on Asta Nielsen's Hamlet
Shakespeare Unlimited

Pamela Hutchinson on Asta Nielsen's Hamlet

Posted

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 188 In 1921, Asta Nielsen, one of the world’s biggest movie stars, had just formed her own production company, and decided to open it up by playing Hamlet. Plenty of women had done that on the stage…

Matías Piñeiro on His Shakespeare-Adjacent Films
Shakespeare Unlimited

Matías Piñeiro on His Shakespeare-Adjacent Films

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Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 186 An Argentine woman translates A Midsummer Night’s Dream while incessantly taping travel postcards to a wall. Two Argentine actresses vie for the same role in Measure for Measure. An actress in Buenos Aires seduces her colleague while…

The power of restriction: Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'
Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth
Shakespeare and Beyond

The power of restriction: Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth, now streaming on Apple TV+ A movie that honors a play’s theatricality: That’s what director Joel Coen said he wanted for The Tragedy of Macbeth, his new adaptation of the Scottish play. The…

Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet turns 25
Shakespeare and Beyond

Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet turns 25

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Author
Carla Della Gatta

Carla Della Gatta writes about Baz Luhrmann’s movie Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, which became an indelible version for Gen X, Gen Y, and even Gen Z. In homage to West Side Story, it Latin-izes the…

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in March
Anthony Hopkins in King Lear.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Your guide to streaming Shakespeare in March

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Author
Ben Lauer

Streaming platforms are a great way to get some Shakespeare while you’re social distancing. Here’s what’s streaming now, featuring Anthony Hopkins, Bollywood, “The Twilight Zone,” and more.

"A goodly prize": Award-winning Shakespeare movies
Photograph from Laurence Olivier's movie of Henry V: Olivier as Henry V. United Artists Corp. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

"A goodly prize": Award-winning Shakespeare movies

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Since we’ve just completed the annual Hollywood marathon called “Awards Season” — several self-congratulatory months filled with the Independent Spirit Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, various guild awards from around the world, the British Film & Television Academy Awards (the…

The King, Prince Hal, and Falstaff: Shakespeare’s father-son triangle onstage and onscreen
Shakespeare and Beyond

The King, Prince Hal, and Falstaff: Shakespeare’s father-son triangle onstage and onscreen

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Timothée Chalamet (Hal) in The King, 2019. IMDB One of Shakespeare’s most moving love triangles isn’t romantic, it’s filial. The tension between Prince Hal and his two father figures — King Henry IV and Sir John Falstaff — fuels both…

Chimes at Midnight: Orson Welles is Falstaff
Orson Welles as Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight
Shakespeare and Beyond

Chimes at Midnight: Orson Welles is Falstaff

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Author
Michael Anderegg

Chimes at Midnight, the 1966 film directed by and starring Orson Welles, constructs a rich, complex, and moving portrait of the larger-than-life Sir John Falstaff, who appears in three of Shakespeare’s plays and is among the best-known characters in all…

Lisa Klein on Ophelia
Shakespeare Unlimited

Lisa Klein on Ophelia

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Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 124 Have you ever wanted to know more about Ophelia? What does she think about the events at Elsinore? What is her relationship to Hamlet? Whose account of her death should we believe? Shakespeare’s Hamlet leaves lots…

Casey Wilder Mott and Fran Kranz on their LA Midsummer
Shakespeare Unlimited

Casey Wilder Mott and Fran Kranz on their LA Midsummer

Posted

Shakespeare Unlimited Episode 123 Director Casey Wilder Mott’s 2017 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream sets Shakespeare’s story in modern Los Angeles, where aspiring filmmakers, eccentric artists, studio execs, and surfers bounce off one another in a riot of…

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