# It was Zerferelli's Romeo and Juliet, but Gibson's Hamlet. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2008, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647 "2008-12-04T08:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/1 "2008-12-04T08:48:59Z")
Lhurmann’s\* Romeo + Juliet\* once prompted the comment “Every generation gets the Shakespeare it deserves.” I didn’t get Lhurmann, my psyche got slapped by Franco Zefferelli long before DiCaprio swaggered onto the stage. My generation could only adore that boy out of nostalgia. And Polanski’s _MacBeth._ Robert Lindsay’s Benedict from _Much Ado,_ though Branagh will always, always be _Henry V._ And yes, Mel Gibson will always be my \*Hamlet \*- shameful secret trashy lurvve. Shirley Henderson as The _Shrew_ . And Rufus Sewel! Now \*there \*was a sexy crossdresser! Dear Freaking Og. It isn’t Shakespeare, but it’s close - Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine in Goldman’s _The Lion in Winter_. Patrick Stewart as well. That was (as they say on brit telly) well fit. What Shakespeare did \*your \*generation deserve? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/2 "2008-12-04T12:53:37Z")
When I was a teenager, the BBC announced it was going to produce all 37 acknowledged plays, and they did, over seven years. That’s when I fell in love with Helen Mirren (in _As You Like It_) and got to see John Cleese star in _Taming of the Shrew_, which led to my marriage to a woman named Kate. Anyway, they were really good productions – low budget, but top-notch actors. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/3 "2008-12-04T13:28:58Z")
Apparently, _10 Things I Hate About You_, _O_ and the aforementioned Luhrman thing. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/4 "2008-12-04T15:03:14Z")
To catch the truly great Shakespearian performances of any generation you still need to go to the theatre. At least that’s true in the UK, I’m not sure if it holds for the US. I remember seeing Paul Scofield as King Lear: unforgettable, even to the 16-year old I then was. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/5 "2008-12-04T15:08:17Z")
Luckily, I got Diana Rigg in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in _The Taming of the Shrew_, and Kurasawa’s _Ran_. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/6 "2008-12-04T15:12:42Z")
Olivier & Rigg in LEAR, and Hopkins in TITUS Oh yeah, and the collective performances of Edward Lionheart in THEATRE OF BLOOD. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/7 "2008-12-04T15:31:59Z")
I’m 28. Lhurman’s R&J just didn’t cut it for me (though I have yet to give it a second viewing, and it’s been a really long time; maybe I’ll try to catch it over the holiday). I also have enjoyed Mel Gibson’s Hamlet on repeat viewings. There are many directorial choices that make it less “pure” than some other productions, but still a fully realized concept, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/8 "2008-12-04T17:01:30Z")
I liked Kenneth Branagh’s **Henry V** and **Hamlet**. Luhrman’s **Romeo + Juliet** wasn’t for my generation (that was probably Zifferelli’s), but it was a superb rethinking of the play. Ian McKellan’s **Richard III**. The best **Hamlet** I ever saw was at Hofstra University in the late 60s. They turned “To be or not to be” into a comic monologue (without changing a word) and it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/9 "2008-12-04T17:19:39Z")
**Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet**. Flashy, sexy, violent, and I think it worked perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/10 "2008-12-04T18:30:40Z")
I enjoyed Gibson’s Hamlet and also Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet. I love the _Twelfth Night_ film with Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/11 "2008-12-04T18:48:06Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > To catch the truly great Shakespearian performances of any generation you still need to go to the theatre. At least that’s true in the UK, I’m not sure if it holds for the US. Amen to that! In the spring of '87 I was fortunate enough to see both _Antony and Cleopatra_ and _King Lear_, with both lead roles performed by Anthony Hopkins (before he became Hannibal Lecter.) Someday I’ll have to get back to London and visit the “new” Globe Theatre. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/12 "2008-12-04T19:07:16Z")
I’m 27. Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson _are_ Beatrice and Benedick to me. I can even - almost - get over Keanu, who suffered, I think, from many of the same symptoms as the actors in Baz’s R+J. Growing up in regional Australia, the live Shakespeare I was exposed to was local or [Bell Shakespeare](http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/) productions. Thank you, Mr. Bell! I suppose I’m still waiting for my defining generational adaptation. I haven’t seen it yet. (I do prefer the comedies - they’re a better sort of tragedy.) But I will re-watch **Much Ado** and wait patiently. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-was-zerferellis-romeo-and-juliet-but-gibsons-hamlet/475647/13 "2008-12-04T21:02:53Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > To catch the truly great Shakespearian performances of any generation you still need to go to the theatre. At least that’s true in the UK, I’m not sure if it holds for the US. > > I remember seeing Paul Scofield as King Lear: unforgettable, even to the 16-year old I then was. Oh definitely, it’s just hard to generate an international discussion about the version of \*Measure for Measure \*where The Duke holidayed in Australia or the Acid influenced _MacBeth_ or the post-apocalyptic \*Hamlet \*when there’s a fair chance no-one else on the boards has seen it (and with the drug raddled Lady MacBeth hearing news from the battlefront via cellphone, anything remotely like it!). I’ve also seen MacBeth turned into a comedy halfway through after an accident with a prop - brilliant, they followed the audience mood and made it work. To reach a generation in any meaningful way, I’m afraid we’re stuck with mass media. I loved Ten Things I Hate About You, but prefer the later version from Shakespeare re-told.