The Appropriateness of William Shakespeare's
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T.C. SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI ANA BİLİM DALI İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI BİLİM DALI THE APPROPRIATENESS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S RICHARD III TO FILM ADAPTATION YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ DANIŞMAN YRD. DOÇ. DR. GÜLBÜN ONUR HAZİRLAYAN ŞEFİKA BİLGE CANTEKİNLER KONYA, 2005 ÖZET 1930ların başında Hollywood ile birlikte yükselen Amerikan Film Endüstrisi vazgeçilmez kaynakları arasında ünlü İngiliz oyun yazarı William Shakespeare'in eserlerini ilk sıraya oturtmuştur. Sessiz sinemadan günümüz üç boyutlu animasyon film dönemine geçişte klasik Shakespeare oyunları da her yeni yönetmen ve yapımcıyla birlikte farklı bir boyut kazanmıştır. Tarihsel bir trajedi olan Shakespeare'in III. Richard adlı oyunu ilk oynandığı 1590lardan günümüze kadar geçen sürede en çok sahnelenen ama en az anlaşılan oyunlardan biri olmuştur. Buna bağlı olarak III. Richard'ın seçilen üç film uyarlaması oyunu farkh yonlerden ele almışlardır. İlk film İngiliz aktör- yönetmen Sir Laurence Oliver'in 1955 film uyarlaması III. Richard, ikincisi İngiliz yönetmen Richard Loncraine'in İngiliz aktör-yönetmen Ian McKellen ile birlikte çektiği 1995 yapımı III. Richard ve sonuncusu da Amerikalı aktör Al Pacino'nun yönetip başrol oynadığı Looking For Richard (Richard'ı Aramak) adlı filmidir. Bu çalışma, seçilen üç sahne ile oyunun kahramanı olan III. Richard'ın yükseliş ve çöküşünü temel alarak üç film uyarlaması arasındaki farklılıkları değerlendirmektedir. Ayrıca, a9ihs monoloğu, kur yapma, baştan çıkarma ile savaş sahneleri incelenerek bunların Shakespeare'in metnini ne derece yansıttıkları ve bu sahnelerin birbirinden nasıl farklı olarak ele alındığını belirtmektedir. ABSTRACT Within the rise of Hollywood productions at the beginning of the 1930s, American Film Industry put the works of famous British playwright William Shakespeare at its one of the most indispensable sources. In the shift from the silent films to the contemporary 3-D animation productions, the classical Shakespearean plays have always gained a different point of view with new directors and producers. As a historical tragedy, Shakespeare's play Richard III has been regarded as one of the most performed, but least understood play of Shakespeare from when it was first performed in the 1590s until today. Consequently, the three selected film adaptations of Richard III have presented the play from several dimensions: first film is produced by British actor-director Sir Laurence Olivier in 1955 as Richard III, the second is produced by British actor Richard Loncraine and British actor- director Sir Ian McKellen in 1995 as Richard III, and the last one is the production of American actor-director Al Pacino in 1996 as Looking for Richard. This study will evaluate the differences among these three films in three selected scenes which will show the rise and the downfall of the protagonist, Richard III. The opening soliloquy, the wooing scene and the battle scene will be examined through the way how they reflected the original text and to what extent they differentiate from each other. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................. i Ozet .......................................................................................................................................ii Abstract ...............................................................................................................................iii I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 II. BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MOVING PICTURES……………...3 ILL THE FILM CRITICISM: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEATRE AND CINEMA .........................................................................................................6 ILII. THE FILM ADAPTATIONS ........................................................................8 II.II.I. THE FILM ADAPTATIONS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE……….9 III. THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE TEXT RICHARD III TO FILM ADAPTATION III.I. THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF SHAKESPEARE'S THERATRE………16 III.II. THE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD III: THE PLAY ..................................17 III.II.I. THE TRADITION OF CHORUS AND SOLILOQUY IN SHAKESPEARE................................................................................................... 18 III.II.II. THE OPENING SOLILOQUY/CHORUS OF RICHARD III ………20 IV. FILM ADAPTATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S RICHARD III RICHARD III. .............................................................. 32 IV JX THE SOLILOQUY SCENE...................................................................... 39 IV.I.II. THE SEDUCTION SCENE .................................................................... 47 rV.I.III. THE BATTLE SCENE........................................................................... 61 IV.II.LONCRAINE'S1996J2/Cffi4J?Z)///. ......................................................... 74 IV.II.I. THE OPENING SCENE .......................................................................... 85 IV.II.II. THE WOOING SCENE........................................................................100 IV.II.III. THE DEATH SCENES AND THE FINAL........................................I l l W.III. V\CIWS\996 LOOKING FOR RICHARD.........................................120 rV.III.1. A REFLECTION OF METHOD ACTING........................................ 121 IV.III.II. THE QUEST AND QUESTIONING.................................................. 127 IV.III.III. EXEMPLIFIED PERFORMANCES: THE LADY ANNE SCENE AND THE DEFEAT OF THE VILLAIN........................................................... 140 V.CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................160 Works Cited......................................................................................................................162 I. INTRODUCTION The reflections of the ongoing process of nature has nourished on the walls of the caves as paintings, in the lures of the bards as music, at the statues of the Mother Earth as sculpture, in the first settling of Anatolia as architecture, in the legends of the Great Flow as literature, and at the Theatre of Dionysus as drama. Throughout the development of mankind these traditions have voiced themselves as the well respected art forms of humanity. In time, the modern individual has added a new one into these arts at the seventh place; that is, cinema or the moving pictures. Cinema becomes the one that all art forms can find a place to present their identities at the same time in a synchronized way. Historically, it cannot be ignored that the existence of theatre is longer than cinema. As a matter of fact, the essential issue in cinematic self-definition lies in the cultural status and the legitimacy of cinema as an art form. The origins of the theatre go back to the religious rites of the earliest communities. There are traces of songs and dances in honour of a god performed by priests and worshippers dressed in animal skins. On the other hand, the origins of cinema are more prosaic situated in scientific experimentation and "carnival side-show" (Hotchkis 5). Thus, film history has a vivid reality supported by visual and experimental evidence when it is considered to the obscure fragmented origin that of theatre. When mankind has reached to the never-ending flow of technology, he creates some other entertaining habits. Television, video cassettes, and digital video discs have opened up some new understanding, such as home theatres. Now, it is time for the modern man to find some free time to relax at home under the heavy conditions of making money. Some prefer action-thrillers, some soap-opera kind movies, and some other want to see the characters of the book s/he has read with flesh and blood in the movies. In this account, when the problem comes to adaptation process of the best-sellers into film, it is proved that one of the authors who holds the top record in film adaptations is the English William Shakespeare (1564-1616). From the first moving picture of a Shakespeare play, King John, released in 1899 until today, the Shakespeare films have changed their skins many times. The current films make it easier to study them in detail than the previous ones (Pilkington 65).Now, the researchers and the critics have more time to examine the films because of the new formats of the DVD generation. As Richard Burt comments people are not limited 1 to the theatrical releases of the films or the video cassettes, the DVD extras provide the audience with menu trailers, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, interviews, "making of documentaries, music videos, video games, and so on (Boose and Burt, 2003:1). One of the most famous and performed history plays of Shakespeare is The Tragedy of Richard III, thus, it has many film adaptations shot by popular directors and actors of the time. King Richard III's story is not a pleasing one, yet his is a little bit scary. Accordingly, The British critic A.P. Rossiter does not hesitate to name Richard III as "angel with horns" in one of his books about Shakespeare (1). The characterization of the protagonist is depicted in various performances not only on stage but also on screen. His famous struggle has been analyzed in the film adaptations of the 21st century in different styles and performances: in 1955 by Sir Laurence Olivier; in 1995 by Sir Ian McKellen; and in 1996 by Al Pacino. These three film adaptations of Shakespeare's