For Your Binge Consideration: The Best of Shakespearean Film

P.S. I would have included Chimes at Midnight, but wanted to spread the wealth a bit in terms of the style of Shakesperean plays covered and limited it to more 'direct' adaptations of specific plays. It's a great film though, check it out if you haven't.

10. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

A controversial pick perhaps, since the performances here are indeed a bit of a mixed bunch, with some of the actors struggling to varying degrees with the Shakespearean dialogue, and it is a bit of a shame to see a (very young) Olivia de Havilland stuck with such a bland role as Hermia. Altogether, however, this is a pretty grand Shakesperarean adaptation in terms of the dreamy, shimmering cinematography that sets the mood with how it is shot. Felix Mendelssohn's music is re-arranged to great effect, and the costume design is great, both the fantasy outfits but also the costumes the play-within-play of Pyramus and Thisbe players don. Speaking of which that flock of players-cum-labourers are a definite comedic highlight of the film, speaking of which...

Best in show: James Cagney himself. Now one might not immediately associate the most famous onscreen gangsters of the 30s with the Bard but Cagney delivers one of his best performances as Bottom the Weaver, the wacky wannabe thespian with quite a high opinion of his abilities. The Shakespearean dialogue flows beautifully off his tongue with his knack and energy for it, and even under an ass' head his charm and comic timing shine through, his rapport with Anita Louise's Titania really shining.

Best scene: It's got to be the initial gathering of the players to discuss the upcoming play, with everyone, Frank McHugh and Joe E. Brown (the randy old fella in Some Like It Hot) really delivering as Quince and Snug, and of course Cagney at the top of their game.

Faithful adaptation?: Perhaps to a fault as the quartet of lovers can't quiet make Shakespeare's dialogue flow well enough, and there is a bit of an issue with the over focus on Mickey Rooney's very annoying Puck as almost the lead of the film. But it captures the essence of the play really well and though it's not definitive (waiting on Taika Waititi to unleash his own take on it),

9. The Hollow Crown: Richard II (2012)

Though the (as is to be expected) more limited capacity of a television budget may make certain set pieces seem a bit 'stagy', it doesn't really hurt this Hollow Crown adaptation in particular because of the very nature of the play which is largely quite 'stagy' and wordy over action-based anyway. Rupert Goold, to his credit does add a lot of dynamic energy behind each sequence of verbal sparring, and does a great job at making the fall of Richard and the  ascension of Bollingbrooke well defined in what is plot-wise one of Shakespeare's most straightforward plays but also one of his most thematically rich through the dialogue. It's at its best when you really get the sense that the court of the characters is a literal stage of one-upmanship, and though you may need the text at hand to follow some of the more verbose meanderings it's a clear, confident adaptation that's probably the best of the Hollow Crowns I have seen.

Best in show: Well the whole cast is more than solid - Roy Kinnear, Patrick Stewart, David Suchet and all the other more minor players acquit themselves really well - but the highlight is definitely Ben Whishaw as Richard. It's in many ways the role he was born to play, not many actors can play up the flowery, childish nature of in some ways if I can say so, a 'drama queen' who sees his royal prerogative almost as a toy he does not want taken away from him, so well. He does this tricky balancing act immaculately and holds the screen from start to finish.

Best scene: Richard's struggle to resign his crown. To make this particular set of monologues feel so natural is an insurmountably difficult task and Whishaw's nails it perfectly as if it's all coming off the top of Richard's poor head.

Faithful adaptation?: Very much so. It retains the very particular prose/poetry divide that is at the essence of the play's core themes and values and lets the actors run with it.

8. Julius Caesar (1953)

 As expected Joseph L. Mankiewicz's adaptation of the Roman tragedy play is an efficiently handled, well-casted and acted affair that, if perhaps a bit swift in parts and lacking the proper grand feel that one might expect from such a large-scale play, is one of the most consistent Shakespearean adaptations. It gives a real life to the city of Rome it presents, the political players and machinations are well sketched out by the film in the series of scenes, and that art direction (which won an Oscar) and score are both rather memorable. It's a really good example of a studio Shakespeare film in that it makes the material more accessible to a wider audience while retaining the essence of the play.

Best in show: Marlon Brando has the juiciest individual speech as Marc Antony, James Mason has the most powerful arc to work with as the tragic antihero of Brutus, but I'd say my favourite performance in the film would be John Gielgud's portrayal of Cassius. As the leader of the traitors to Caesar, Gielgud is insidious and hateful to the extreme under the guise of the wellbeing of Rome and quite marvellous in showing how it all crumbles in the third act as his lies begin to fall through.

Best scene: It's always the highlight of the play and it's no different here. Brando kills the 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen' speech in showing how Marc Antony through one monologue can work the crowd to his advantage.

Faithful adaptation?: Cuts out bits of final act to trim and make the climax a bit more succinct but otherwise largely quite faithful. It's pretty much as good an adaptation of the play as you can get without getting overly bogged down in the details.

7. Richard III (1955)

I used to be more negative on the 1995 Richard Loncraine adaptation in my comparison of Ian McKellen and Laurence Olivier's portrayals of the King With a Hump. It's since grown on me a great deal more, and I still think McKellen is extraordinary, if not even more so now, in the role. I actually have a hard deciding which is my favourite of the two now, and though I think this is still the superior adaptation, it is not by such a wide margin anymore. Anyway, this is a Technicolor sight for sore eyes from the court to the battlefields that finds its way to make a not inherently cinematic play very cinematic. The idea to make Richard break the third wall, thereafter many films of the ilk, with his monologues was an inspired choice, and this might be Olivier's best work as a director that I've seen as he really gives it his all with his directorial choices, with only a few missteps here and there in some of the direction of the supporting players.

Best in show: Why, Olivier himself of course. Again, more detailed thoughts here and it's so fascinating to see how McKellen and him diverged and bear similarities.

Best scene: This is just a great example of how well Olivier understood how plays could translate to cinema. The way he delivers the 'winter of discontent' soliloquy, how the camera co-ordinates to match his performance, is just great. Although I will say, just for comparison's sake (because I love comparing these performances), look at the 1995 version and see a different but also very effective take on the same speech.

Faithful adaptation?: Olivier made a lot of cuts, here and there, splicing scenes up, cutting out Queen Margaret altogether (rather than combining her with the Duchess of York like the 1990s adaptation), and adding context from previous plays in order to make the events transpiring more clear and concise to audiences. Most of his changes work very well so no reason to complain about Olivier making things more palatable for audiences to digest without sacrificing craft.

6. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Kenneth Branagh is clearly having the time of his life in all capacities as both director and star, and it's easy to see why this was as well received as it was as this is possibly the most pure, unadulterated fun one could possibly have with any Shakespearean adaptation comes in this package. It's got quite possibly the most attractive lineup of Shakespearean players to date, just to note that Kate Beckinsale is the coveted object of desire and Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves play half-brothers (obviously), speaking of which Washington is very good and Reeves somehow works quite well in the role despite massacring the Shakespearean language. The vibrant party atmosphere of the film perfectly suits the play and makes for a very, for lack of a better word, sunnily sexy affair.

Best in show: I'd have to say Emma Thompson's Beatrice is the star of the show here. Beatrice is a character right up her street in terms of her comic talents, dishing out her barbed witticisms with such fervour and clearly having a ball of a time. It's one of her best performances and I'm always a huge fan, though Michael Keaton is also a lot of fun as the foolish yet surprisingly capable Dogberry.

Best scene: The masked ball scene is a great bit of direction and acting by all the players, Keanu Reeves uttering evil plans while getting a massage is a classic, but I'd have to say Dogberry's interrogation of minor miscreants is my single favourite scene of the lot.

Faithful adaptation?: I have to say out of all the Shakespeare plays I'm covering here this is the one I'm least familiar with as I never did an essay or direct critique of it or used it as supplementary discussion material at either GCSEs, A-Levels or undergraduate level. Still, it's Branagh so I imagine he stuck to the text pretty closely with his own little variations.

5. Romeo and Juliet (1968)

While I like to really, really like all the five films I've mentioned thus far, the following five here are in my opinion, on a whole other level of Shakespearean excellence altogether. Now I love the play for starters, and any performance of it I will find at the very least bearable (yeah, even Baz Luhrmann although it's not a 'good' film at all, and yes even the Hot Fuzz rendition which is great for entirely different reasons). Franco Zeffirelli does period Shakespeare like few others can in just the presentation and staging of scenes, and doing a great job with the casting by avoiding stunt casting but instead casting very appropriate actors in each of the roles, and 60s Zac Efron Leonard Whitting and the wonderful Olivia Hussey are both excellent. What's not to like here, it's a wonderful old-fashioned beautiful telling of the most famous fictional lovers, and bolstered by that iconic Nino Rota love theme and its implementation within the film.

Best in show: John McEnery's Mecrutio and Michael York's Tybalt are particularly fresh renditions of respective characters, as the former does well to emphasise the playful nature of the character above all instead of focusing too much on the overt showboating, and York's portrayal is less of a malicious villain and more just a snobbish dick with no real malice in him.

Best scene: As much as I love their duel though, it has to be the scene where Romeo first sees Juliet. Compare it to other versions and you see how much better Zeffirelli did it.

Faithful adaptation?: Pretty much as humanly possible rather than the absolute massacre a lot of later adaptations have done with the text (and yes I know that the 1996 version is an 'alternative' take - but as we will soon see there are better ways of doing that).

4. Throne of Blood (1957)

Ah, cheeky bit of Kurosawa here - that's what I like, talking about my favourite director, and it should be no surprise that I loved his adaptation of Macbeth with Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada's Lord Taketoki Washizu and Lady Asaji Washizu, effectively Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. If I could use one word to describe the film I would say it's 'creepy' - in the best possible way. Creepier even than the overly stylised Justin Kurzel version or Roman Polanski's nihilistic take. The witches here are coalesced into a deeply disturbing spirit. Macbeth/Taketoki's descent into madness is strikingly vivid in that he's already pretty crazy to begin with and only gets worse and worse, and Lady Macbeth has rarely been as well utilised as she is through her snake-like deathly countenance and delivery. And I haven't even discussed how incredibly well shot and well implemented the Western cultural elements are into the feudal Japanese Noh style of the film. 

Best in show: Well it's got to be Mifune, who plays possibly his craziest character ever here as while with most Macbeths there are hints of clarity throughout, this particular Macbeth just goes off the rocker, complete with violent alcoholism, and it's a primal, animalistic and devoted performance that rings of strong realism particularly in...

Best scene: this part of the final sequence. Apparently Mifune had nightmares and was pretty peeved off after filming this, anyone would be shitting themselves filming this. 

Faithful adaptation?: I mean for obvious reasons, it changes up a lot of stuff, trades in direct translation of soliloquies and such into moody atmospheric foggy shots and the kin, and it pays off unlike say, Kurzel's approach. 

3. Hamlet (1996)

I imagine there aren't many people prepping for GCSEs or A-Levels reading this now but seriously, if you want to ace your Hamlet exam, this is the way to go. This is literally the whole text of Hamlet, everything in Hamlet, even the plot digressions that don't really add up to the main or even the secondary story, everything is in here. French star Gerard Depardieu plays Reynaldo, who you will never get a question in the exam on, who knows what Reynaldo does? Anyway if this sounds like I'm criticising the film, I'm not. This is the only four hour long film I have ever gotten through in one sitting, and the reason is that it is a masterpiece. Taking the whole text meant that Kenneth Branagh was setting himself up for a box-office flop from the outset, and so what does he do? He adorns it with lavish costumes, set design of unique sorts both exteriors and interiors that you've never quite seen done this way, another glorious Patrick Doyle score. This is essentially any Shakespeare and film buff's dream come true and for me, it is one of those perfect cinematic experiences.

Best in show: The all-star cast which when the casting does click, is pretty amazing (Kate Winslet as Ophelia! Charlton Heston as the Player! Billy Crystal as a gravedigger! Richard Attenborough, John Mills, John Gielgud, and Judi Dench making seconds long cameos!) and even the miscast ones aren't John Wayne as a Roman Centurion bad. Derek Jacobi with his own very unique and strangely sympathetic take on Claudius is a close second but it's got to be Kenneth Branagh for me. Branagh can be a bit of a divisive quality as an actor as he certainly has an ego and the camera certainly loves him here.  It works though as his portrayal of the Prince of Denmark as a man who is legitimately going a bit insane but is also putting on an act of being insane, a mess of a man which implodes in the final act.

Best scene: So many great ones. Heston's soliloquy. 'To Be or Not To Be'. Act IV Scene IV, killing Polonius, the final duel, gravediggers, Claudius' regret, but for me it has to be the ghost of Hamlet's father appearing to the son. The perfect combination of the medium of film with Shakespeare's words.

Faithful adaptation?: Yes.

2. Ran (1985)

Another Kurosawa adaptation of Shakespeare, this time implementing King Lear into the Sengoku-setting which is even more highly stylised. The choice to change up Lear into such a different yet at the same time so thematically similar setting - Lear as a character shares many of the views that a Japanese warlord of the time would hold with regards to respect, division of power, prerogative - is ingenious but just a starting point for what might be Kurosawa's crowning achievement as a director in terms of sheer spectacle and technical achievement. You could say it's the most stunning film ever and I wouldn't argue with you - how could you? It takes everything that is great about Shakespeare's text and characters and turns it up several notches in terms of intensity. I'll talk more about specifics below, and really I should devote a whole article to this film at some point, but just...watch it.

Best in show: I would have to say Tatsuya Nakadai as the Hidetora, the King Lear equivalent warlord in the proceedings, though Mieko Harada's Lady Kaede is also a revelation. Again, I might need a full article to go into what makes Nakadai's performance work as well as it does but he really embraces the stylistic choices Kurosawa goes with, donning the full Noh makeup and embodying the ageing warlord (playing about 30 years his senior at the time) fully.

Best scene: Come on, was it ever going to be any other scene? Although I couldn’t find the whole scene as it plays out on the whole. Although I do also dearly love the film's ending which is another terrific touch by Kurosawa, and shows that...

Faithful adaptation?:...sometimes change that captures the essence of the material while paving the way for your own approach is all the better. Ran changes things up by switching up Goneril and Reagan into warlords who are allured and seduced by the Edmund equivalent of Kaede, a switch around of gender dynamics which is quite powerful. The fool is changed up into a very stylistic Noh androgynous entertainer which is another really interesting touch. But best of all is perhaps the changing up of the blinded up Lord Gloucester into one of the film's quietest and deeply moving subplots. I won't go into too much detail, just watch it if you haven't.

1. Henry V (1989)

As much as I hate to leave Kurosawa off the top spot, and it was very close, I have to hand this over to Branagh as Henry V is a perfect Shakespeare adaptation, even more perfect than his Hamlet which was already pretty much perfection, my top 3 are really all on a level par. What makes this particular adaptation of the play so effective? Many things, above all a thorough understanding of the material that goes beyond the text itself. Branagh would score full marks on the AO4 for his reading of the text here in how he implements parts of Henry IV parts 1 and 2 into the screenplay. It helps to further the characterisation of the king by showing his development from careless young man into the King we see. The genius of this adaptation does not stop there as Branagh does a tremendous job at humanising not just the titular protagonist but each and every one of his footmen, and even his enemies. He takes what was established in Shakespeare's original play and dare I say it, takes it to even greater heights as he retains that glorious inspirational spirit of camaraderie and warfare, while building on and creating even more of a poignancy in the Chorus' final bittersweet remarks by showing the loss and tragedies in even greater light. While nowadays we have cinematic universes, this is a film which is truly a universe unto itself, a world I love dipping into again, and again.

Best in show: Branagh is superb, as is everyone else he casts (look out for Ian Holm, Brian Blessed, Robbie Coltrane, Judi Dench and a very young Christian Bale). Derek Jacobi as the Chorus though is the standout as he brings so much to his narrative observations in tying in the themes of this film and adaptation not being pro or anti-war but rather a blunt examination of the losses and gains of it.

Best scene: Well that St Crispin's Day speech is magnificent in its delivery by Branagh and just the whole direction around it...but it has to be the one-take 'Non Nobis Domine' scene in the calm after the wake of warfare that shows the fallout of the horrors of war without compromising the resounding victory.

Faithful adaptation?: It captures the history play beautifully as a film with such a sense of history on its own, and every little cut or addition it makes and changes to the material it does are all executed with such care and expertise.