The Tempest: Shakespeare on Film

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Trailer for an awesome looking Tempest directed by Julie Taymor can be found in this interview with Alan Cumming:

http://www.popeater.com/2010/12/10/alan-cumming-tempest-burlesque-spider-man-interview/

I hadn't heard about this until now. I'm a huge fan of the subject of Shakespeare on film, and did an extensive independent study on the matter as an undergrad. So, what's your favorite Shakespeare on film?

I have three:

Branagh's Henry V for his excellent use of the Derek Jacobi as a modern dress chorus within the film.

Welles's Othello for its indie street cred...read an account of the extensive low-budget stretches of making of this film and you'll probably go "oh, yeah, I've been there."

Peter Brook's King Lear with Paul Scofield as Lear. This one made me want to get into making movies. Stark photography and an excellent adaptation. Sadly unavailable in the States on DVD.

Have to dig up my copy of Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books before I go see this new Tempest. Long Live The Bard!
 
I'm pretty sure I've only seen two. Definitely Romeo + Juliet (the 90's version). That movie (plus Jagged Little Pill) was a huge part of my pre-teen years :P

I've also seen a version of Othello that was fantastic, but it doesn't look like the one you mentioned. It was more modern. We watched it in my high school drama class after reading the play.

I tried watching Much Ado About Nothing (90's, I think), but I didn't get very far. I think I wasn't in the right mood.

:D

edit: the Tempest looks awesome!
 
I am really looking forward to seeing this. Taymor is amazing. I'm a huge fan of Greenaway's Prospero's Books and Greenaway in general. :) Indeed, long live the bard!
 
I've seen two terrible Hamlets: Ethan Hawke's and Mel 'Too a nunnery!' Gibson's.

I loved the Willard White/Ian McKellan Othello (which was just a film of the stage play) but didn't like the Larry Fishburne/Kenneth Branagh verion, and K.Bran can't do much wrong in my books... Henry V was just epic...

I also like Ian McKellan's Richard III with Robert Downey Jr as Earl Rivers (a great name for a Jazz singer, right?).

Never seen Lear or Macbeth onscreen and don't really want to. There are some parts of our British cultural heritage that are sacred. Shakespeare's plays were designed for the stage and it is fundamentally wrong to play them on screen, regardless of how good the film is.
 
I saw Taymor's film last night. It's great. I loved her "Titus", also.
That would be on my list of favorite Shakespeare on film. Along
with Mazursky's "Tempest", Gregory Doran's 2009 "Hamlet" and
Welles' "Othello"
 
I keep remembering other favs:

Al Pacino did a great documentary on Richard III, called Looking for Richard which is essentially about staging Richard III for today's audiences.

And I'll never forget that bloody, gory Macbeth that Polanski did. Ouch.

Shakespeare's plays were designed for the stage and it is fundamentally wrong to play them on screen, regardless of how good the film is.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's a view shared by your entire nation, Nick. How to explain those great BBC productions of all of Shakespeare's plays, including one of Sir Laurence Olivier's last performances as Lear (if memory serves)?

I'd like to think Shakespeare would LOVE the possibilities of film.
 
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