I’ve somehow avoided experiencing any of Shakespeare’s work outside of Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet. I prefer to see plays acted out rather then just reading them so I’m looking for the best film versions of his work to experience.
My personal favorite is Franco Zeffirelli’s Hamlet, I watch it all the time and absolutely love it. I love how accurate it is to the play, as well as the costuming and set design feeling so real mixed with the gravitas and drama of the play.
Please share your favorites and tell me a little about why?
My favorite Shakespeare is Othello and there are some good ones, the Lawrence Fishburn from the 90s is decent, and there is an Olivier floating around that is excellent. But, try the Zeffirelli version of Verdi’s opera Otello for my all time favorite Iago.
Titus (1999), Julie Taymore directs, Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, DEFINITELY NOT A COMEDY https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120866/?ref_=ext_shr
Macbeth (1971). No matter how you feel about Polanski as an (alledged) human, it’s quite a film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067372/?ref_=ext_shr. There is also a Michael Fassbinder Marrion Cottiard from 2015 that I havent seen, but am curious about.
Kenneth Branaugh did a bunch of Shakespeare in the 90’s which were mostly pretty good.
If anyone can suggest a good film version of The Tempest I’d love to know about it.
The first Shakespeare I watched was Branaughs Henry V. It actually got me into Shakespeare a bit.
His Hamlet was filmed on 70mm, giving it some great color and depth though I can’t sit still long enough to watch it in one sitting.
In general, you can’t beat The Reduced Shakespeare Companys “Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged.”
Helen Mirren as Prospero is good: https://youtu.be/lcnp8apSJ1k
I’m kinda shocked how many of these are on YouTube, never even occurred to me to check.
Thanks
Tromeo and Juliet (1996)
There is a version of Macbeth from 1979 with Ian McKellen and Judy Dench. It’s not really a movie but a recording from the Royal Shakespeare Company. It uses minimal sets and just the actors standing in a circle. My wife is a huge Shakespeare fan, but I had no real interest in watching it outside of making her happy. But it was amazing. The acting was absolutely incredible. I’ve never seen anything else like it.
The Lion King for Hamlet
