I just saw clips of two movie versions of Hamlet. One had Mel Gibson as Hamlet and Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia, the other had some random guy as Hamlet and Kate Winslett as Ophelia.

Anyone know more about these or have an opinion on them? The setting of the latter seemed way too modern in my opinion.

I liked the Mel Gibson version a lot. I remeber having to watch it in school too.

Mr. Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh, is some "random guy"? He did update the play to the late 19th century, but that allowed him to make it a much more colorful production and to emphasize how well the play can be transferred to other periods and still retain its relevance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

Hi, is there an actual film of a play (on stage) of any of Shakespeare's plays?

Do you mean besides the Olivier Othello?

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Mr. Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh, is some "random guy"? He did update the play to the late 19th century, but that allowed him to make it a much more colorful production and to emphasize how well the play can be transferred to other periods and still retain its relevance.

I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but there was another film version of Hamlet from 2000 starring Ethan Hawke and set in modern day New York City. I saw it on a plane, and I was pretty groggy, but I thought it was pretty cool. It also had Bill Murray as Polonius, and you can't really go wrong sticking Bill Murray in a film.

I thought it did a much better job of translating the story to a modern setting than Baz Luhrmann did with Romeo & Juliet.

For all the gripe that Luhrmann got for Romeo + Juliet it still is an admirable attempt. I don't think that he truly disgraced the original by no means, to be honest it isn't like the overrated Romeo and Juliet play is anywhere near the top of Shakespeare's other works. The cinematography is rather smart and it is nicely choreographed and shot. The acting is somewhat decent, but the dialogue is amped up a bit with some modernization alterations. Still, the Elizebethan feel is there but the modern additions are done well with brilliant imagery. It has it's flaws sure, but I don't think it is the worst adaptation of one of Shakespeare's plays by any means.

I think my problems are more with Luhrmann as a director, period. His stuff is so campy and over-the-top.

Well so far he has only written and directed three different films. His first one Strictly Ballroom was a decent film, Romeo + Juliet was a step up and he truly made leaps and bounds in Moulin Rouge!. My girlfriend loves that film and although I think at times it is over the top, it is nicely written, shot and the acting is superb. I had no problem with that movie being nominated for so many Oscars, including Best Picture. I found it to be far better than Chicago, which won a year later for Best Picture, and in a way it was boosted by Mouling Rouge!'s revival of the musical.

He has written and is going to produce and direct a film titled Autralia that will star Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman that looks promising.

quote:

Originally posted by Ducati:
Hi, is there an actual film of a play (on stage) of any of Shakespeare's plays?

Many, many. I have dozens I taped off of old TV networks when they ran those sort of things, and there are more on DVDs and VHSs floating around. The problem is... they're terrible. Almost every single one has bored me out of my mind, mainly due to the fact that filming a play removes all the positives of both.

Orson Welles' Othello is a flat out masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.

Despite numerous, insane problems during the filming, not to mention post-production, Welles' eye is at a peak of inventiveness, and one of the finest works of art anywhere, anytime is given cinematic power!!

Shakespeare never wrote a bad play, though some are a little under-developed- ( step up Titus), so I would recommend seeing any filmed Shakey, if you are not going to bother reading the text of say, Twelth Night.

Luhrmann's version of R & J, by the way...is outstanding....

quote:

Originally posted by Dork:
Romeo + Juliet (1996): *1/2 of **** (A mess; should have updated the dialogue or placed it in the original setting. The lead actors got the emotions across, but did not seem to really know what they were saying. )

I agree with this completely & I've been saying this very thing since it came out!