Author Topic: William Shakespeare on Film  (Read 18551 times)

Jared

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #70 on: September 07, 2015, 11:15:21 AM »
Too dramatic is a common complaint I've had about Luhrmann movies but I went with the flow of his Romeo and Juliet movie this time around. He is really ramping things up at that part of the movie and I was along for the ride

Sandy

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #71 on: September 09, 2015, 09:26:35 AM »
This was a very strange adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The actors are realllllly old for the roles they are playing. As Juliet, 34 year old Norma Shearer is just about the only main character younger than than the life expectancy back in Shakespeare's time. Mercutio is played by John Barrymore who is 55. 55! I get that you have to have Basil Rathbone as Tybalt since he seemingly had it written in his contract that he would play a bad guy in every 1930s movie, but he is no spring chicken either at 44 years old. The actors are all perfectly adequate when reading the lines, but no one really conveyed the “young and reckless” attitude that I love about the play/better movie adaptations,  and I thought that this particular movie suffered quite a bit for that reason.

This is the worst idea ever! :D

It's like having Nicholas Hoult playing King Lear!  hmmm, maybe not a good choice. He just might be able to pull that off. :)

Anyway, I so don't want to see a 55 year old John Barrymore play Mercutio. King Lear, on the other hand...
« Last Edit: September 09, 2015, 09:29:54 AM by Sandy »

Jared

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #72 on: September 14, 2015, 06:35:26 PM »
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1996)


Thought I would take a quick break away from Romeo and Juliet to move onto the next play briefly. Still quite a few Romeo and Juliet adaptations to get to, but I think I'll sprinkle in some Midsummer adaptations along the way.

This version is directed by Adrian Noble and acted by the Royal Shakespeare Company, a group I haven't seen anything by (them being a theater group in England). Having watched so many of these BBC TV movies already in this marathon, I've really grown accustomed to their particular brand of filming something as if it is a stage production.

I can't say I was feeling it with this movie. Reading the play I just breezed right through, but when watching it performed the actors they really need to sell the comedy. Finebar Lynch never comes off as a very fun or mischievous Puck, and Desmond Barrit's Bottom comes across as more annoying that anything else.  The fairies never come across as very funny, and their costume designs are pretty dull.

The film might have come across a bit better if I had been immersed, but the movie never really gave me a good foothold. It doesn't ever really decide on a style, starting with lavish looking interiors, but has an abstract looking set for all the forest scenes that gets really uninteresting after awhile. It gets rather tiresome watching the characters maneuver through hanging light bulbs and free standing doors for so long.


Looking forward to some of the adaptations of this play, but this was not a very good start.

Sandy

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #73 on: September 15, 2015, 03:01:30 PM »
a non mischievous Puck? ???  Well, then what's the point? :)


I forgot to comment on Tromeo and Juliet, but honestly I wouldn't even know where to begin. :))

Jared

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #74 on: September 28, 2015, 11:59:44 PM »
Beneath the 12 Mile Reef (1953)


The Romeo and Juliet story is taken to the coast in Florida, in the competitive world of sponge diving. Robert Wagner plays Tony, a Greek boy, and Terry Moore plays Gwyneth Rhys, the daughter in a rival WASP family.

I was hardly in the greatest situation to enjoy this movie at its fullest capacity. It was the third movie do be done in CinemaScope, and probably 15 minutes of the 100 minute or so run time are devoted to these expansive underwater exploration scenes, as Wagner or one of the other divers is underwater. The computer screen of a subpar youtube version (it isn't on Netflix) isn't ideal.

So while the intended highlight of the movie was a bit lost on me, this still managed to be a pretty interesting spin. The Tybalt and Paris characters are combined into one, in the form of Arnold, who is such an asshole in this movie it is almost comical.  Other than him, the sense of a feud between the two families is pretty minimal. Richard Boone plays Gwyneth's father and spends much of the movie being reasonably understanding of what is going on.

A neat little adaptation that I enjoyed well enough.

Jared

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #75 on: September 29, 2015, 11:00:04 AM »
Going to try to get to Romeo and Juliet adaptations including Ram-Leela, Lion King II: Simba's Pride, the BBC version, West Side Story (rewatch), and Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss in the next month or so.

Will probably do more adaptations eventually, but that group will probably close me out on that play for the time being. If there are any other adaptations or related material any one else thinks is worth watching let me know and maybe Ill squeeze that in too.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #76 on: September 29, 2015, 11:26:28 AM »
I never realized that the Lion King 2 was an adaptation of the play. It is not a very faithful one at any rate.
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Sandy

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #77 on: September 29, 2015, 01:41:14 PM »
Bernard Herrmann did the score for Beneath the 12 Mile Reef! I could have used it for the cacophony races!


I can't wait to hear what you think about Ram-Leela. It's not at my library, can't understand why. :)

Jared

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #78 on: October 02, 2015, 12:02:02 AM »
Ram-Leela


This Indian adaptation was one of the more fun movies I have watched so far in this marathon, perhaps my favorite version "modern day" version of one of these plays.

It has a real tightrope to walk, being loud and bombastic but also staying true to a tragic love story, and somehow it really pulls it off.

Ram (Romeo) is played by Ranveer Singh and perhaps has the best musical entrance I have ever seen a character make:
Why bother whining about "fair Rosaline" when you can instead to a crazy ass song with 50 back-up dancers and pelvic thrusts that make the ladies faint? My three year old was also copying the "hair brushing" move and it was pretty funny.

Leela (Juliet) is played by Deepika Padukone. Unfortunately she isn't given an equally wonderfully introductory song because all her music is quite a bit of fun. Also, for what it is worth, the prettiest Juliet in the marathon so far in my estimation  ;)

The two lead characters have such wonderful chemistry between them and the movie is pretty wonderful whenever they are on screen together. For the most part this is the case, even when the story begins to deviate quite a bit following the stand-in scene for the Tybalt-Mercutio duel. There are a few other interesting people here and there but for my money the two leads really steal the show in this one.


One of the biggest weaknesses in the movie also ended up being quite a strength in its own way too. The story really seems to go completely off the rails near the end. Instead of the whole Friar Laurence, fake poison angle, this movie takes the story into full on gang warfare with murders, gun fights, assassinations, attempted rape, and more. It is very unfortunate the story gets so big, sprawling, and violent because it takes us away from Ram and Leela, which was pretty disappointing for awhile. The good news is, however, that once the Shakespeare story was abandoned for such a massive stretch, I really didn't know what was going to happen or how it was going to end. I was rooting for these two more than most versions of the story so far, and it was nice to be far enough away from the expected that there was some reasonable doubt regarding the ending. I won't spoil what happens.

So this was a fun discovery. Thank you for the recommendation roujin!





Filmi Hero

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Re: William Shakespeare on Film
« Reply #79 on: October 02, 2015, 06:06:58 PM »
Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela is lots of fun, and my favourite from Bhansali. Glad you enjoyed it, Jared.

As for this (conditional) caveat:
The story really seems to go completely off the rails near the end. Instead of the whole Friar Laurence, fake poison angle, this movie takes the story into full on gang warfare with murders, gun fights, assassinations, attempted rape, and more. It is very unfortunate the story gets so big, sprawling, and violent because it takes us away from Ram and Leela, which was pretty disappointing for awhile.
...communal politics and riots often play a large part in Hindi (and Indian) film narratives, especially compared to US and western cinema. This article - Communal Politics and the Tragic Love Narrative in Hindi Cinema - elaborates a little on that.

(FWIW, Ranveer and Deepika will be starring in Bhansali's next film, too: Bajirao Mastani, a sumptuous looking historical epic. Here's hoping their on-screen chemistry continues.)

 

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