Shakespeare screen adaptations: a list of the best, a brief description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For many decades, adaptations of Shakespeare have delighted fans of the famous playwright. Again and again, films are made based on well-known plots. So one can only agree with certainty with people who call his tragedy immortal. And at the same time, learn more about which works and adaptations are most popular.

Briefly about film adaptations

Let's start with the fact that the very first adaptation of Shakespeare dates back to the end of the nineteenth century! Yes, King John was filmed back in 1899! True, the film could not boast of significant timing - its length was only about five minutes. And even then, most of it was lost - only a fragment of less than a minute has survived to this day. But the fact remains that films based on Shakespeare's works began to be made in the nineteenth century!

Of course, this glorious tradition has continued throughout the twentieth century, as well as in the past years of the twenty-first.

True, the atmosphere and closeness to the plot are not always preserved. For example, matchShakespeare's tragedy with its film adaptation, if the action is transferred from sixteenth-century Italy, where two families of noble nobles are at enmity, to the middle of the twentieth century, where members of local ethnic gangs fall in love in New York!

And yet the same works are reborn, again and again delighting numerous viewers with a painfully familiar, but still not boring plot. Therefore, it is safe to say that Shakespeare left behind truly immortal works.

And now let's talk about the adaptations of the most popular and famous tragedies.

Romeo and Juliet

Of course, this particular work is one of the most famous. It is no coincidence that the number of film adaptations is calculated in many dozens. The first film was shot back in 1908, and the last one to date is in 2013. Most often, the work was filmed in the UK and the USA. Moreover, the plot does not always unfold according to the classical canons.

For example, the film "West Side Story", filmed in 1961, although it guesses the plot borrowed from the immortal tragedy, takes the viewer into a completely different reality. Now the courtyard is not the end of the sixteenth century, but the middle of the twentieth. And instead of two noble families - the Montagues and the Capulets - two street gangs are in the spotlight. Even the names of the main characters have been changed - instead of Romeo and Juliet, the viewer will have to watch the development of the forbidden love of Tony and Mary.

But still the most successful adaptation of the workShakespeare was created in 1968 jointly by Great Britain and Italy. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It is important that young lovers were played by their peers, and not 20-30-year-old professional actors. And the high level of authenticity played a role - even the most picky critics admitted that the film turned out to be a reference.

Hamlet

Continuing to consider the list of screen adaptations of Shakespeare, it is worth mentioning this tragedy. It is only slightly inferior to "Romeo and Juliet" in popularity - it was filmed from 1907 to 2009. Agree, at least a hundred years is a very serious period that has proved the highest quality of the work!

Moreover, they made films with pleasure in different countries of the world: in the USSR, Russia, France, Great Britain, the USA and others. Some of them are very canonical. Others have changed significantly. For example, the 2009 Russian film "Hamlet. XXI Century" takes the action of the film to modern Moscow, generally retaining all the main parallels, characters and references. It has everything: yacht explosions, street racing, nightlife and much more. But in general, any viewer who has read or watched other adaptations of Hamlet will easily understand that the film was made based on Shakespeare's work. Perhaps this is not the best film adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, but still it quite accurately conveys the essence (albeit not the spirit) of the work. In addition, it will be able to interest many young people whonot yet able to appreciate the depth and tragedy of the original productions.

King Lear

Another tragedy by Shakespeare, the film adaptations of which are hard to count. Films based on it were shot in many European countries, as well as in the USA. It's nice that King Lear, filmed in 1970 in the USSR, is still considered one of the best adaptations to this day. Director Grigory Kozintsev managed not only to select good actors, including Oleg Dal, Yuri Yarvet, Elza Radzina and others, but also perfectly conveyed the atmosphere, the spirit of the era. And they did not spare money on the scenery - they turned out really chic.

Strict adherence to the original script and the minimum number of deviations from it also played into the hands of the film - even the most ardent Shakespeare fans were satisfied.

Macbeth

Of course, when talking about screen adaptations of Shakespeare, one cannot fail to mention this play. There are many films of varying degrees of success based on this tragedy. Some writers tried to stick to the play as closely as possible, while others wanted to add something new, albeit not always unsuccessfully.

And back in 1957, the film Throne in Blood was filmed in Japan, which received many positive reviews from local critics. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. After the battle, two lords - Miki and Washizu - met two witches in the forest, who predicted that glory awaits each of them. But Washizu could not resist and told his wife what had happened. An extremely ambitious woman persuaded her husband to kill Miki,to get all the glory, not some of it. And this is just the beginning of a bloody path to great glory that ends in madness.

Compare the tragedy of William Shakespeare with the film adaptation and production in Japan. It is easy to instantly recognize in this plot a modified and adapted to local realities "Macbeth".

The Taming of the Shrew

This work, although inferior in popularity to the above, is also included in the list of Shakespeare's plays that can be called immortal. If only because she is reborn, often adapts to certain conditions and becomes closer to the audience, regardless of their age, era and time.

Talented directors have filmed "The Taming of the Shrew" many times, each time finding their way to the hearts of the audience.

For example, connoisseurs will easily recognize this play in the 1999 American film "10 Things I Hate About You". Although its events are developing almost in our time - at the very end of the twentieth century, the plot has not changed much. There are two daughters in the family - the eldest Kat and the youngest Bianca. The first is a real bore and almost a misanthrope. But the second radiates with fun, joy and optimism. However, Bianca cannot start dating a guy before her older sister finds herself a suitable match. And one can only guess what the attempts to find her a boyfriend will lead to.

However, the best adaptation is still Italiana 1967 film directed by the aforementioned Franco Zeffirelli and starring the brilliant Elizabeth Taylor, Cyril Cusack and the inimitable Richard Burton.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A magnificent play, the action of which takes place not in medieval Europe and not even in modern times, as in most of Shakespeare's works, but in ancient Greece. The wonderful atmosphere of comedy, mixed with the color and mysticism of Hellas, made it possible to create a truly unusual work that has gained popularity all over the world.

It has been screened and screened quite often, and not only in the form of films, but also as cartoons, since the plot and atmosphere are quite conducive to this. A beautiful and very instructive tale will appeal to adults, and at the same time it will tell young viewers about difficult life situations that every person can face in one form or another, regardless of age and title.

Many main roles are given not to people, but to fairies, elves and other mystical creatures. A very unusual and bold step for its time! Perhaps it was thanks to this that the work partly gained such popularity, and subsequently was filmed so many times.

Henry V

Finally, the last piece on our list is a historical play written by Shakespeare in 1599. It is also very popular and has been filmed in the US, UK, Italy, Germany, Canada, France, Belgium, Sweden and other countries.

The most successful, according to many viewers and critics, was the 1989 film, filmed in the UK by Kenneth Bran. The film adaptation was attended by such famous actors as Derek Jacobi, Simon Shepard, James Larkin, Paul Gregory and several others. By the way, Kenneth Bran himself also starred in the film, and he played not just anyone, but the main character - Henry the Fifth.

The film tells about the difficult confrontation between England and France, during which the young but brave English monarch won one victory after another, disrupting the plans of enemies and inspiring ordinary warriors with his example.

Conclusion

This concludes our article. Of course, it is simply impossible to list all the best adaptations of Shakespeare - their number is huge. But we tried to at least mention the most interesting and successful ones. Let's hope that the article awakens readers' interest in the classics.