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ED 439 443 CS 217 054
AUTHOR Christel, Mary T. TITLE Shakespeare in Cinema. PUB DATE 2000-04-00 NOTE 8p.; Paper presented at the International Teaching Shakespeare Conference (3rd, Bethesda, MD, March 2-4, 2000). PUB TYPE Reference Materials Bibliographies (131) Speeches /Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *Drama; *English Instruction; *Films; Secondary Education; *Videotape Recordings IDENTIFIERS *Shakespeare (William)
ABSTRACT This filmography lists information on 41 films or videotapes related to Shakespeare in cinema to help teachers integrate cinematic texts, or series of texts, into the teaching of Shakespeare's plays. It lists titles, length, and the name of the producer or distributor and includes brief descriptions of the content of the film or videotape. The filmography includes biographical programs, material on Shakespeare's world, condensed versions, critical approaches, avant-garde adaptations, and companion films to 11 of Shakespeare's plays. It also lists contact information for 4 video distributors, and 2 journals and 4 books dealing with teaching Shakespeare. It concludes with sample study guide questions for the film "Forbidden Planet," a companion film to "The Tempest." (RS)
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Off ice of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to SHAKESPEARE IN CINEMA improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) MARY T. CHRISTEL official OERI position or policy. ADLAI E. STEVENSON H.S. LINCOLNSHIRE, ILLINOIS mchristel @district125.k12.il.us
Choosing A Film Most teachers of Shakespeare aren't always aware of the options they have to integrate a cinematic texts or a series of texts into their teaching of a Shakespeare play.With the availability of affordable videotapes and DVDs English departments can easily build a library of Shakespeare on film.Here are some suggestions! Biographical Programs
William Shakespeare: A Life in Drama 50 min. A&E Biography series
William Shakespeare: A Concise Biography 30 min. Famous Author series Kultur Video Both of these videos provide useful information about Shakespeare's life and times.Your choice would be based on the length of your class period.
Shakespeare's World
Teaching Shakespeare: New Approaches 5 min. Vineyard Video from the Folger Shakespeare Library (excerpt)
This video is a great inservice resource for teachers, but it also provides a great excerpt that summarizes the role of theater in Elizabethan England.
Shakespeare in the Classroom 45 min. Miramax
Miramax distributed this tape in the fall to schools across the nation, so you should have a copy lurking back at your school.It features the stars of Shakespeare in Love presents material on the times, Shakespeare life, the language of the sonnets and plays as well as liberal (and well chosen clips) from the film.It is best used as an introduction to R & J.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Restored 30 min. TMW Media Group
This documentary follows a group of college students from California as they mount a performance of Much Ado About Nothing at London's Globe Theater. The packaging includes a useful study guide complete with suggestions for essay topics, class demonstrations, and discussion questions.
Condensed Versions
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales 30 min. Random House Video Macbeth Romeo and Juliet Hamlet BEST COPYAVAPLALE 2 The Tempest A Midsummer Night's Dream Twelfth Night
These adaptation were originally produced for HBO by a team of Russiananimators and BBC actors. The quality of the animation varies, but the most artistic efforts are on displayin Macbeth, Hamlet, and The Tempest. Great to use as a preview for less able readers or a review at the end of a unit. I used the Hamlet tape to get my AP students ready to see a production of the play.
Critical Approaches
Discovering Hamlet 53 min. PBS Video
A review of the tape from the NY Times is included later in packet. Useful in its entirety and in excerpt.
Looking for Richard 112 min. 20th Century Fox
In the last few years I have used this documentary before my AP students read the textwith great success.It features Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, among others.
Understanding Shakespeare: The Tragedies 90 min. Goldhill Video Romeo and Juliet Macbeth Othello Hamle
This series features actors performing key scenes with scholars discussing those scenes.
Avant-Garde Adaptations/Curious Finds
Macbeth: The Witches Scenes 17 min. Facets Video
The Piven Theater, along with video artist Miroslaw Rogala, have created a post-apocalyptic interpretation of the witches' scenes.A great catalyst for discussion and comparison to more traditional film adaptations of those scenes.
Silent Shakespeare 88 min. Milestone Video
This recent release (see review) features the first cinematic adaptations of King John, King Lear, The Tempest. Richard III among others. Screening one of these versions could prove to be a springboard to having students create condensed, pantomimed versions of the plays that they are reading.
Companion Films
Romeo anb het
West Side Story probably we have all used this musical adaptation with R&J at one time or another
3 Shakespeare in Love (R) excerpts of the "rehearsal" process for R & J would prove entertaining and informative to help students understand the theater in Shakespeare's time
Zebrahead (R) contemporary adaptation set in an interracial high school hamlet
Royal Deceit a curious adaptation starring Christian Bale that attempts to tell the story of Hamlet from its Danish origin, brief nudity
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Tom Stoppard's film adaptation of his own play Are Dead that moves Hamlet into the realm of theater of the absurd
Last Action Hero Arnold Schwartzenegger quotes the Bard and the relationship between the "last action hero" and his young fan echo elements and situations in Hamlet
Green Eggs and Hamlet the melancholy Dane fused with Dr. Seuss with obviously comic results
Harr tile (2000) this adaptation by Michael Almereyda retains Shakespeare's language and translates story into a modern corporate setting
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Throne of Blood Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's classic adaptation that moves the story to the samurai culture
Men of Respect (R) modern adaptation that transfers the story to the world of NYC mafia, treatment of the "witches" is particularly effective and worth excerpting
Fury Is A Woman aka. The Siberian Lady Macbeth, foreign language adaptation that foregrounds the character of Lady M Ring bar
The Dresser follows a troupe in England during WWII as they try to mount a touring production of Lear as the actor/manager suffers a nervous breakdown
Ran Kurosawa's blending of Lear and Macbeth in a truly epic adaptation
4 Broken Lance an American western adaptation
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Tempest Paul Mazursky's transfer of the plot to contemporary NYC and an isolated Greek Island
Forbidden Planet the classic sci-fi adaptation featuring Robby the Robot as the stand-in for Caliban
The Tempest (1998 TV adaptation) recent adaptation set in antebellum South starring Peter Fonda
Prospero's Books (NC-17) inventive adaptation by Peter Greenaway, but its liberal use of nudity makes it difficult to use in a high school classroom
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Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy Woody Allen's loose adaptation of mistaken amorous intentions
Taming of tbe i§breto
Ten Things I Hate About You recent teen comedy that transfers Kate and Petruchio to the Pacific Northwest and the trials of finding a date for your disagreeable sister
Moonlighting episode check your video store for newly released episodes of this comedy series starring Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis, one based on Shrew
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The Tower of London a Hollywood B-movie starring Boris Karloff as chief executioner, gives a "behind of the scenes " look into Richard's reign
Richard Ill(Ian McKellan) even though this version uses Shakespeare's language, its transfer to a 20th century fascist regime makes it an audacious, rather than faithful, adaptation
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Chimes At Midnight Orson Welles reassembles scenes from Henry IV to explore the character of Falstaff
My Own Private Idaho (R) a modern adaptation set among male prostitutes in Seattle and Portland
5 Othello
A Double Life a melodrama starring Ronald Coleman as an actor portraying Othello who discovers life imitates art
0 a forthcoming (2000) modern adaptation set in high school among basketball players itoOe'5 'labour log
LLL: The Musical Kenneth Branagh is at it again in a forthcoming (spring 2000) adaptation that integrates classic songs from the 20's and 30's into the Shakespearean text
0enerat Rpplication
L.A. Story Steve Martin's contemporary comedy that draws heavily on Shakespeare for character motivation and hilarious quips Resources
Video Poor Yorick Most comprehensive listing of Shakespeare 89a Downie St. audio and video sources. Stratford, Ontario Canada N5A 1W8 519-272-1999 [email protected]
Facets Video Great for hard to find videos. 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60614 1-800-331-6197 www.facets.org [email protected]
Films for the Humanities and Sciences Good assortment of documentary/informational P.O. Box 2053 films, very expensive to rent or own. Princeton, NJ 08543-2053 www.films.com [email protected]
The Writing Company/Zenger Video Request "Shakespeare" catalog. division of Social Studies School Service 10200 Jefferson Blvd. room 9711 P.O. Box 802 Culver City, CA 90232-0802 (800)944-5432 zengermedia.com [email protected]
6 Journals Shakespeare Magazine Quarterly journal for teachers, by teachers. www.Shakespeare.com
Cineaste back issues Volumes XXIII No 4 & XXIV No.1 both focus Cineaste on recent Shakespeare films. Cost: $4.00 each. Box 2242 NYC, NY 10009-8917
Books Shakespeare and the Moving Image: The Plays on Film and Television.ed. Anthony Davies and Stanley Wells. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge U Press, 1994.
Teaching Shakespeare Today: Practical Approaches and Productive Strategies. ed. James E. Davis and Ronald E. Salomone. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1993.
Teaching Shakespeare into the Twenty-first Century. ed. James E. Davis and Ronald E. Salomone. Ohio U. Press, 1997.
Shakespeare: The Movie. ed. Lynda E. Boose and Richard Burt. NY: Rout ledge, 1997.
7 THE TEMPEST: Companion Film Sample Study Guide Questions
FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956 - 99 min.) Directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox Starring: Walter Pigeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis Screenplay by Warren Stevens (based on story by Irving Block & Allen Adler)
As you watch the film, consider the following questions which will guide our discussion.
How did Morbius come to the star of Altair-IV?
How does the world of the "Forbidden Planet" resemble Prospero's island?In what ways is it different? What makes this place a "forbidden"world?
Who or what are the Krells? What role have they played in the development of the planet and in Morbius' life on the planet?
Morbius is a philologist? What does he study?Why would this kind of person be involved in space exploration?
How is Morbius similar to Prospero? How are they different?
What replaces the magic and illusion of the play? What does this add to the development of plot and characterization?
What are the qualities of Robby the Robot?How does it compare to Caliban and Ariel?
How does the film incorporate the comic subplot of the play?
How does the film develop the lovers' subplot?How do the characters of Alteira and Adams compare to Miranda and Ferdinand?
Explain how these elements of the film have parallels in the play: brain boosters the monsters of the id"
What themes do the film and play share?
Explain the appropriateness of the ending of the film.How does the ending reflect the way the plot, characters, and themes have been developed up to that point?
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