As You Like It (2006)

As You Like It is a 2006 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play. This is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who moves the action to Japan. There's even a sumo wrestler, which I quite enjoyed. Kevin Kline won a SAG Award for his performance. Overall, though, I'm not a fan of this adaptation. I watched it on HBO Max.

Professional reviewers were generally unkind.

Chimes at Midnight

Chimes at Midnight is a 1965 film based on the Shakespeare figure Falstaff. It is directed by Orson Welles and stars Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Margaret Rutherford, and John Gielgud. Regarded as one of Welles' highest achievements, Welles himself called it his best work. I found it on HBO Max.

trailer:

via Internet Archive:

 

 Roger Ebert called it "a brilliant tribute to Falstaff". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 96%.

Raise a glass with Falstaff:

Share your own drink-related post and join me at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

Twelfth Night (1986)

Twelfth Night is a 1986 adaptation of the Shakespeare play. Geoffrey Rush is the name most familar to me. He plays Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

via YouTube:

I admit I didn't finish this one. It can be hard to watch yet another adaptation of a story you've already seen several times. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 adaptation of the Shakespeare play directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. Michael Keaton, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, and Kate Beckinsale also star. I have the DVD, long languishing in my stack of to-be-watched films, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. 

You can read a plot description of the play itself here at the Wikipedia entry, but it's not at all necessary for understanding and enjoyment.

trailer:

It's well-reviewed, though Keanu Reeves earned a nomination for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. He is the weak link here, but I like him at the worst of times.

Measure for Measure (1979)

Measure for Measure is the 1979 BBC adaptation of the Shakespeare play. I watched it on Amazon Prime. The play can be read here and here and listened to here.

Here's one scene:

There's information and background on the play here. There's a Wikipedia entry on this play that has background and historical information and a plot description.

Henry lV, part 1

Henry IV, part 1 is one of Shakespeare's historical plays. You can read the play online here. It begins:

SCENE I. London. The palace.

Enter KING HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, the EARL of WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and others

KING HENRY IV

So shaken as we are, so wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils
To be commenced in strands afar remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of this soil
Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood;
Nor more shall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs
Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in the intestine shock
And furious close of civil butchery
Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way and be no more opposed
Against acquaintance, kindred and allies:
The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,
No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,
As far as to the sepulchre of Christ,
Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engaged to fight,
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy;
Whose arms were moulded in their mothers' womb
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd
For our advantage on the bitter cross.
But this our purpose now is twelve month old,
And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:
Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear
Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,
What yesternight our council did decree
In forwarding this dear expedience.

WESTMORELAND

My liege, this haste was hot in question,
And many limits of the charge set down
But yesternight: when all athwart there came
A post from Wales loaden with heavy news;
Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer,
Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight
Against the irregular and wild Glendower,
Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,
A thousand of his people butchered;
Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse,
Such beastly shameless transformation,
By those Welshwomen done as may not be
Without much shame retold or spoken of.

KING HENRY IV

It seems then that the tidings of this broil
Brake off our business for the Holy Land.

WESTMORELAND

This match'd with other did, my gracious lord;
For more uneven and unwelcome news
Came from the north and thus it did import:
On Holy-rood day, the gallant Hotspur there,
Young Harry Percy and brave Archibald,
That ever-valiant and approved Scot,
At Holmedon met,
Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,
As by discharge of their artillery,
And shape of likelihood, the news was told;
For he that brought them, in the very heat
And pride of their contention did take horse,
Uncertain of the issue any way.

This was recorded live:

The Tempest

This adaptation of The Tempest is one in the Shakespeare: The Animated Tales series of twelve half-hour shows originally broadcast on the BBC in the early 1990s.. The series won awards and has been used in school settings as beginner introductions to Shakespeare's plays. They are much abridged but still delightful shows, including the language we all know and love.

Join me for a cup of something?

I'll be taking mine over to the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

Coriolanus (2011)

Coriolanus is a 2011 film based on the Shakespeare play. Directed by Ralph Fiennes, it stars Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, and Brian Cox. You can read the play from a link in one of my previous posts. You can watch this one at Tubi at this link and at Amazon Prime with ads through Imdb.

trailer:

The Guardian calls it "a vivid, intelligent Coriolanus with powerful political relevance" and "magnificently filmed" and says, "At once visceral and intelligent, this beautifully acted, vividly staged film brings a powerful, challenging honesty to bear on class, political life and the demands we make on our leaders." IndieWire says, "it also has the hallmarks of an assured film from an actor who nonetheless clearly demonstrates he knows that it takes more than just the art of acting to create a work of cinematic art."

Empire Online concludes a positive review with this: "Exciting, ironic, with assured direction, accomplished performances and the tension of topical themes, this is Shakespeare as relevant as you like it." Roger Ebert admires it and says, "One of the pleasures of Fiennes' film is that the screenplay by John Logan ... makes room for as much of Shakespeare's language as possible." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 92%.

The Winter's Tale (1910)

The Winter's Tale is one of Shakespeare's plays. I much prefer seeing than reading plays, but you can read it online, if you like.

This adaptation is from 1910 and is only 12 minutes long. The surviving print is missing the final scene, so it might be helpful to check out the Wikipedia entry for a plot review before watching. I enjoy seeing these earliest of films:

The Winter's Tale (1910) from Ned Thanhouser on Vimeo.

I'm taking my coffee cup and visiting with the T Stands for Tuesday bloggers.

Join us?

Timon of Athens

Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare. You can read the play online here. This performance is by Seattle's Shakespeare in the Park Company from 1999:

Here's a drink-related screenshot from the feast scene:

Raise a glass and join me at the weekly T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

If you're interested in further exploration, here's a 20-minute video on Timon of Athens and the fickleness of one's personal political philosophy:

It has some background on the play itself, including a summary of the plot. He discusses current Trump-related political issues in light of the play. I think he puts forward a false equivalence with regards to the support of investigations into political figures, though, in ignoring whether or not there's legitimate grounds for investigation. I also disagree that being neutral on Trump is some kind of middle ground between loving him and hating him. I have a list of legitimate objections to Trump's behavior in office that don't require broad-stroke hate of him as a person. Current political views need discussing. I'm sure this man would make more sense to me in a fuller presentation.

Here's two minutes on intriguing facts about the play:

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare is one of the last two tragedies Shakespeare wrote. Charles Bouchard directs this Brussels Shakespeare Society production:

[video no longer available]

Yeah, well, that video didn't stay up long. It's frustrating that there's no way to see this production, not even photos.

*******

You can read the play here or here. It begins,

Act I, Scene 1

Rome. A street.

---

[Enter a company of mutinous Citizens, with staves,] [p]clubs, and other weapons]

First Citizen. Before we proceed any further, hear me speak.

All. Speak, speak.

First Citizen. You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?

All. Resolved. resolved.

First Citizen. First, you know Caius CORIOLANUS is chief enemy to the people.

All. We know't, we know't.

First Citizen. Let us kill him, and we'll have corn at our own price.
Is't a verdict?

All. No more talking on't; let it be done: away, away!

Second Citizen. One word, good citizens.

First Citizen. We are accounted poor citizens, the patricians good.
What authority surfeits on would relieve us: if they
would yield us but the superfluity, while it were
wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely;
but they think we are too dear: the leanness that
afflicts us, the object of our misery, is as an
inventory to particularise their abundance; our
sufferance is a gain to them Let us revenge this with
our pikes, ere we become rakes: for the gods know I
speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge.

Second Citizen. Would you proceed especially against Caius CORIOLANUS?

All. Against him first: he's a very dog to the commonalty.

Second Citizen. Consider you what services he has done for his country?

First Citizen. Very well; and could be content to give him good
report fort, but that he pays himself with being proud.

Second Citizen. Nay, but speak not maliciously.

First Citizen. I say unto you, what he hath done famously, he did
it to that end: though soft-conscienced men can be
content to say it was for his country he did it to
please his mother and to be partly proud; which he
is, even till the altitude of his virtue.

Second Citizen. What he cannot help in his nature, you account a
vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous.

First Citizen. If I must not, I need not be barren of accusations;
he hath faults, with surplus, to tire in repetition.

[Shouts within]

What shouts are these? The other side o' the city
is risen: why stay we prating here? to the Capitol!

All. Come, come.

First Citizen. Soft! who comes here?

[Enter MENENIUS AGRIPPA]

Second Citizen. Worthy Menenius Agrippa; one that hath always loved
the people.

First Citizen. He's one honest enough: would all the rest were so!

Menenius Agrippa. What work's, my countrymen, in hand? where go you
With bats and clubs? The matter? speak, I pray you.

First Citizen. Our business is not unknown to the senate; they have
had inkling this fortnight what we intend to do,50
which now we'll show 'em in deeds. They say poor
suitors have strong breaths: they shall know we
have strong arms too.

Menenius Agrippa. Why, masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbours,
Will you undo yourselves?

First Citizen. We cannot, sir, we are undone already.

Menenius Agrippa. I tell you, friends, most charitable care
Have the patricians of you. For your wants,
Your suffering in this dearth, you may as well
Strike at the heaven with your staves as lift them
Against the Roman state, whose course will on
The way it takes, cracking ten thousand curbs
Of more strong link asunder than can ever
Appear in your impediment. For the dearth,
The gods, not the patricians, make it, and
Your knees to them, not arms, must help. Alack,
You are transported by calamity
Thither where more attends you, and you slander
The helms o' the state, who care for you like fathers,
When you curse them as enemies.

First Citizen. Care for us! True, indeed! They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us.

Menenius Agrippa. Either you must
Confess yourselves wondrous malicious,
Or be accused of folly. I shall tell you
A pretty tale: it may be you have heard it;
But, since it serves my purpose, I will venture
To stale 't a little more.

First Citizen. Well, I'll hear it, sir: yet you must not think to
fob off our disgrace with a tale: but, an 't please
you, deliver.

Menenius Agrippa. There was a time when all the body's members
Rebell'd against the belly, thus accused it:
That only like a gulf it did remain
I' the midst o' the body, idle and unactive,
Still cupboarding the viand, never bearing
Like labour with the rest, where the other instruments
Did see and hear, devise, instruct, walk, feel,
And, mutually participate, did minister
Unto the appetite and affection common
Of the whole body. The belly answer'd—

First Citizen. Well, sir, what answer made the belly?

Menenius Agrippa. Sir, I shall tell you. With a kind of smile,
Which ne'er came from the lungs, but even thus—
For, look you, I may make the belly smile
As well as speak—it tauntingly replied
To the discontented members, the mutinous parts
That envied his receipt; even so most fitly
As you malign our senators for that105
They are not such as you.

First Citizen. Your belly's answer? What!
The kingly-crowned head, the vigilant eye,
The counsellor heart, the arm our soldier,
Our steed the leg, the tongue our trumpeter.
With other muniments and petty helps
In this our fabric, if that they—

Menenius Agrippa. What then?
'Fore me, this fellow speaks! What then? what then?

First Citizen. Should by the cormorant belly be restrain'd,
Who is the sink o' the body,—

Menenius Agrippa. Well, what then?

First Citizen. The former agents, if they did complain,
What could the belly answer?

Menenius Agrippa. I will tell you
If you'll bestow a small—of what you have little—
Patience awhile, you'll hear the belly's answer.

First Citizen. Ye're long about it.

Menenius Agrippa. Note me this, good friend;
Your most grave belly was deliberate,
Not rash like his accusers, and thus answer'd:
'True is it, my incorporate friends,' quoth he,
'That I receive the general food at first,
Which you do live upon; and fit it is,
Because I am the store-house and the shop
Of the whole body: but, if you do remember,
I send it through the rivers of your blood,
Even to the court, the heart, to the seat o' the brain;
And, through the cranks and offices of man,
The strongest nerves and small inferior veins
From me receive that natural competency
Whereby they live: and though that all at once,
You, my good friends,'—this says the belly, mark me,—

First Citizen. Ay, sir; well, well.

Menenius Agrippa. 'Though all at once cannot
See what I do deliver out to each,
Yet I can make my audit up, that all
From me do back receive the flour of all,
And leave me but the bran.' What say you to't?

First Citizen. It was an answer: how apply you this?

Menenius Agrippa. The senators of Rome are this good belly,
And you the mutinous members; for examine
Their counsels and their cares, digest things rightly
Touching the weal o' the common, you shall find
No public benefit which you receive
But it proceeds or comes from them to you
And no way from yourselves. What do you think,
You, the great toe of this assembly?

First Citizen. I the great toe! why the great toe?

Menenius Agrippa. For that, being one o' the lowest, basest, poorest,
Of this most wise rebellion, thou go'st foremost:
Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run,
Lead'st first to win some vantage.
But make you ready your stiff bats and clubs:
Rome and her rats are at the point of battle;
The one side must have bale.

[Enter CAIUS CORIOLANUS]

Hail, noble CORIOLANUS!

Coriolanus. Thanks. What's the matter, you dissentious rogues,
That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion,
Make yourselves scabs?

First Citizen. We have ever your good word.

Coriolanus. He that will give good words to thee will flatter
Beneath abhorring. What would you have, you curs,
That like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you,
The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you,
Where he should find you lions, finds you hares;
Where foxes, geese: you are no surer, no,
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice,
Or hailstone in the sun. Your virtue is
To make him worthy whose offence subdues him
And curse that justice did it.
Who deserves greatness
Deserves your hate; and your affections are
A sick man's appetite, who desires most that
Which would increase his evil. He that depends
Upon your favours swims with fins of lead
And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! Trust Ye?
With every minute you do change a mind,
And call him noble that was now your hate,
Him vile that was your garland. What's the matter,
That in these several places of the city
You cry against the noble senate, who,
Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else
Would feed on one another? What's their seeking?

Menenius Agrippa. For corn at their own rates; whereof, they say,
The city is well stored.

Coriolanus. Hang 'em! They say!
They'll sit by the fire, and presume to know
What's done i' the Capitol; who's like to rise,
Who thrives and who declines; side factions
and give out
Conjectural marriages; making parties strong
And feebling such as stand not in their liking
Below their cobbled shoes. They say there's
grain enough!
Would the nobility lay aside their ruth,
And let me use my sword, I'll make a quarry
With thousands of these quarter'd slaves, as high
As I could pick my lance.

Menenius Agrippa. Nay, these are almost thoroughly persuaded;
For though abundantly they lack discretion,
Yet are they passing cowardly. But, I beseech you,
What says the other troop?

Coriolanus. They are dissolved: hang 'em!
They said they were an-hungry; sigh'd forth proverbs,
That hunger broke stone walls, that dogs must eat,
That meat was made for mouths, that the gods sent not
Corn for the rich men only: with these shreds
They vented their complainings; which being answer'd,
And a petition granted them, a strange one—
To break the heart of generosity,
And make bold power look pale—they threw their caps
As they would hang them on the horns o' the moon,
Shouting their emulation.

Menenius Agrippa. What is granted them?

Coriolanus. Five tribunes to defend their vulgar wisdoms,
Of their own choice: one's Junius Brutus,
Sicinius Velutus, and I know not—'Sdeath!
The rabble should have first unroof'd the city,
Ere so prevail'd with me: it will in time
Win upon power and throw forth greater themes
For insurrection's arguing.

Menenius Agrippa. This is strange.

Coriolanus. Go, get you home, you fragments!

[Enter a Messenger, hastily]

Messenger. Where's Caius CORIOLANUS?

Coriolanus. Here: what's the matter?

Messenger. The news is, sir, the Volsces are in arms.

Coriolanus. I am glad on 't: then we shall ha' means to vent
Our musty superfluity. See, our best elders.

[Enter COMINIUS, TITUS LARTIUS, and other Senators;]

JUNIUS BRUTUS and SICINIUS VELUTUS]

First Senator. CORIOLANUS, 'tis true that you have lately told us;
The Volsces are in arms.

Coriolanus. They have a leader,
Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to 't.
I sin in envying his nobility,
And were I any thing but what I am,
I would wish me only he.

Cominius. You have fought together.

Coriolanus. Were half to half the world by the ears and he.
Upon my party, I'ld revolt to make
Only my wars with him: he is a lion
That I am proud to hunt.

First Senator. Then, worthy CORIOLANUS,
Attend upon Cominius to these wars.

Cominius. It is your former promise.

Coriolanus. Sir, it is;
And I am constant. Titus TITUS, thou
Shalt see me once more strike at Tullus' face.
What, art thou stiff? stand'st out?

Titus Lartius. No, Caius CORIOLANUS;
I'll lean upon one crutch and fight with t'other,
Ere stay behind this business.

Menenius Agrippa. O, true-bred!

First Senator. Your company to the Capitol; where, I know,
Our greatest friends attend us.

Titus Lartius. [To COMINIUS] Lead you on.

[To CORIOLANUS] Follow Cominius; we must follow you;]

Right worthy you priority
.
Cominius. Noble CORIOLANUS!

First Senator. [To the Citizens] Hence to your homes; be gone!

Coriolanus. Nay, let them follow:
The Volsces have much corn; take these rats thither
To gnaw their garners. Worshipful mutiners,
Your valour puts well forth: pray, follow.

[Citizens steal away. Exeunt all but SICINIUS]
and BRUTUS]

Sicinius Velutus. Was ever man so proud as is this CORIOLANUS?

Junius Brutus. He has no equal.

Sicinius Velutus. When we were chosen tribunes for the people,—

Junius Brutus. Mark'd you his lip and eyes?

Sicinius Velutus. Nay. but his taunts.

Junius Brutus. Being moved, he will not spare to gird the gods.

Sicinius Velutus. Be-mock the modest moon.

Junius Brutus. The present wars devour him: he is grown
Too proud to be so valiant.

Sicinius Velutus. Such a nature,
Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow
Which he treads on at noon: but I do wonder
His insolence can brook to be commanded
Under Cominius.

Junius Brutus. Fame, at the which he aims,
In whom already he's well graced, can not
Better be held nor more attain'd than by
A place below the first: for what miscarries
Shall be the general's fault, though he perform
To the utmost of a man, and giddy censure
Will then cry out of CORIOLANUS 'O if he
Had borne the business!'

Sicinius Velutus. Besides, if things go well,
Opinion that so sticks on CORIOLANUS shall
Of his demerits rob Cominius.

Junius Brutus. Come:
Half all Cominius' honours are to CORIOLANUS.
Though CORIOLANUS earned them not, and all his faults
To CORIOLANUS shall be honours, though indeed
In aught he merit not.

Sicinius Velutus. Let's hence, and hear
How the dispatch is made, and in what fashion,
More than his singularity, he goes
Upon this present action.

Junius Brutus. Lets along.

[Exeunt]

Hamlet (1970)

Hamlet is a 1970 Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of the Shakespeare play. It stars Richard Chamberlain as Hamlet and Michael Redgrave as Polonius.

If you're wondering why you should bother with Shakespeare:

Macbeth (Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)

This animated adaptation of Macbeth is part of the award-winning Shakespeare: The Animated Tales television series from the early 1990s. They are heavily condensed to fit into the 30-minute time period, but "The episodes continue to be used in schools as teaching aids, especially when introducing children to Shakespeare for the first time." [Wikipedia]. They make wonderful introductions to Shakespeare for all ages. This episode is narrated by Alec McCowen and stars Brian Cox and Zoë Wanamaker.

If you're wondering why you should read/watch Shakespeare:

The Merchant of Venice (1973)

The Merchant of Venice is a 1973 television adaptation of the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, and Jeremy Brett. I love the cast, and especially Jeremy Brett in one of his Shakespeare roles.

BFI says,

Widely regarded as the most convincing screen adaptation of The Merchant of Venice to date, this ATV production was sourced from Jonathan Miller's acclaimed 1970 National Theatre staging.

Aside from its artistic merit, it's also a valuable historical record, preserving Laurence Olivier's farewell to stage Shakespeare...

Henry V (1944)

Henry V is a 1944 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play. It is directed by and stars Laurence Olivier. William Walton wrote the score. I'm a firm believer in watching -not reading- plays, so I look for them and watch them when I find them online. I found this one here.

trailer:

The film's opening:

St. Crispin's Day speech:

TCM has an article. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus rating of 100%.

Julius Caesar (Shakespeare: The Animated Tales)

Julius Caesar is a 1994 part of the Shakespeare: The Animated Tales series. At just 25 minutes, it leaves out a lot, but what's there maintains the play's language and order. It'd be a good first introduction, I think.

Cymbeline (1913)

Cymbeline is a 1913 short film adaptation of the Shakespeare play.

The Tempest (1960)

The Tempest is a 1960 television adaptation of the Shakespeare play. Directed by George Schaefer, it stars Maurice Evans as Prospero, Richard Burton as Caliban, Lee Remick as Miranda, Roddy McDowall as Ariel, and Tom Poston as Trinculo. Edited for time, this is still the best adaptation I've found.

Macbeth (1948)

Macbeth is the 1948 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play. This is directed by Orson Welles. Welles stars as Macbeth, and Roddy Macdowell is Malcolm. The play is abridged and altered for this movie, so this won't be a substitute for seeing the actual play performed.

Empire Online says, "A powerhouse performance from Orson Welles as the troubled Prince." Rotten Tomatoes critics average a score of 88%.

Love's Labour's Lost

Love's Labour's Lost is a 1975 BBC adaptation of the Shakespeare play. It stars Martin Shaw, David Gwillim, and Jeremy Brett.