# Shakespere remakes (and that ilk) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045 "2005-01-10T15:37:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/21 "2005-01-10T20:01:50Z")
**My Own Private Idaho** with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves is a loose adaptation of the _Henry IV_ plays. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/22 "2005-01-10T20:05:08Z")
Modern [Henry IV](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102494/combined). Modern [Love’s Labour Lost](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0182295/combined). Modern [The Tempest](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084776/combined). Modern [Orpheus](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/combined) (white). Modern [Orpheus](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0053146/combined) (black). Modern [Cyrano de Bergerac](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0093886/combined). Semi-modern [Electra](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0039636/combined). Modern [Medea](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0077473/combined). Modern [Ulysses](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0062414/combined) (Irish). Modern [Ulysses](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0190590/combined) (American). Modern [Gospel of Matthew](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0070121/combined). ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/23 "2005-01-10T22:35:15Z")
[A Thousand Acres](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120323/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9YSB0aG91c2FuZCBhY3Jlc3xodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=11) is a loose adaptation of _King Lear_. An 80s classic, [Valley Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086525/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9dmFsbGV5IGdpcmx8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=16;fm=1), is very loosely based on _Romeo and Juliet_. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/24 "2005-01-10T22:46:16Z")
_Propero’s Books_ is Peter Greenaway’s verison of _The Tempest_. Although, Greenaway is often considred one of those love-him-or-hate-him kind of directors. You’ll either find it brilliant or you’ll prefer to jab a pencil in your eye (eraser end first). Oh, and who did that Fasut with the wooden puppets. The Czech director… ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/25 "2005-01-10T22:50:11Z")
Ah, it was [Jan Svankmajer’s _Faust_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0109781/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9RmF1c3R8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1) that I was thinking of. Marionettes running amok to totally mess with your head. Weird. An some might fight it unpalatable due to its unusual style. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/26 "2005-01-10T23:26:19Z")
Let’s not forget [Tromeo and Juliet](http://imdb.com/title/tt0114733/). The only Shakepeare adaption to feature an opening monologue by Lemmy from Motorhead. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/27 "2005-01-10T23:27:02Z")
Anyone ever see “Joe Macbeth”? It’s a British film from the 50’s starring Paul Douglas and Ruth Roman as the murderous pair. Saw it years ago, and it’s as dark and brooding as the original. Are there not a lot of remakes of “Macbeth”? I guess you can only tell that story one way. Can’t believe “Forbidden Planet” hasn’t been brought up. Touted as a remake of “The Tempest”, another relic from the 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/28 "2005-01-10T23:31:06Z")
For a modern day _Les Liasons Dangereaux_, try [url=“[http://imdb.com/title/tt0139134/](http://imdb.com/title/tt0139134/)”]Cruel Intentions\*. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/29 "2005-01-10T23:32:26Z")
For a modern day _Les Liasons Dangereux_, try [Cruel Intentions](http://imdb.com/title/tt0139134/) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/30 "2005-01-11T00:36:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Perhaps it’s _Hamlet, The Early Years_, when he was off goofing around at school with Rosencranz and Gildenstern (Timon and Pumbaa. Or is it Pumbaa and Timon? 😃 ) Actually, the obvious Shakespeare comparison to that aspect of the plot isn’t to _Hamlet_ but to the _Henry IV_ plays, since Prince Hal (the future Henry V) spends much of them slacking off in taverns, until his father dies and Hal turns over a new leaf. Of course, this was his plan all along, and the slackerness was all a PR stunt. (So he tells the audience, anyway. ;)) > [@Miller](#): > > Kevin Kline absolutely nails Bottom. (That sounds a bit dirty, doesn’t it?) There’s an article out there called “The Trans-Textuality of Kevin Kline’s Bottom.” I love that. It sounds like the sort of thing I would come up with. I think most people have covered the modern-dress Shakespeare plays that spring to mind most readily. Derek Jarman did a film version of Marlowe’s _Edward II_ that is…interesting, but extremely weird (and definitely not for the squeamish). As far as stuff originally aired on PBS goes, they’ve broadcast Trevor Nunn’s production of _The Merchant of Venice,_ done in a 1920s-30s setting – it’s a film of a stage production, but is very well-done. (I saw it on stage in London, actually, and it was quite brilliant.) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/31 "2005-01-11T04:50:00Z")
I have seen Ran, well I own it, and yes it is King Lear set in medival Japan and it is wonderful. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/32 "2005-01-11T05:25:12Z")
My favorite traditional (not modernized) telling of Shakespeare on film is [Twlefth Night](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117991/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxzZz0xfHR0PW9ufHBuPTB8cT10d2VsZnRoIG5pZ2h0fG14PTIwfGxtPTIwMHxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=22;fm=1), starring Helena Bonham Carter, Nigel Hawthorne, and Ben Kingsley. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/33 "2005-01-11T07:39:44Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > My favorite traditional (not modernized) telling of Shakespeare on film is [Twlefth Night](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117991/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxzZz0xfHR0PW9ufHBuPTB8cT10d2VsZnRoIG5pZ2h0fG14PTIwfGxtPTIwMHxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=22;fm=1), starring Helena Bonham Carter, Nigel Hawthorne, and Ben Kingsley. Now, I’m hardly an expert, but [these costumes](http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/eiga/SI/807.html) don’t look 16th century to me. More 18th-19th, I think. It’s a modernized version of the play, just not modern day. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/34 "2005-01-11T11:16:44Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Now, I’m hardly an expert, but [these costumes](http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/eiga/SI/807.html) don’t look 16th century to me. More 18th-19th, I think. It’s a modernized version of the play, just not modern day. And late 19th, at that. (You are correct, sez costumer chick.) Although I must, because I am such a costume geek, point out that Shakespear’s company only used 16th century clothing in his plays because that’s when he was putting them on, and that’s what you did back them. Many of them didn’t take place in the 16th century, but they were all “modernized” in look to roughly his era. Saved on wardrobe costs in a time when clothes were hideously expensive - especially elaborate theater clothes - becaise they’d reuse wardrobe between productions. Juliet’s gown may have become Ophelia’s (or vice-versa, I forget which came first). So even a 16th century Shakespearian costume may be “modernized” in the strictest sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/35 "2005-01-11T14:50:26Z")
Not Shakespeare, but _Bridget Jones’s Diary_ is based on _Pride and Prejudice_. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/36 "2005-01-11T15:09:02Z")
> [@Ms Boods](#): > > Not Shakespeare, but _Bridget Jones’s Diary_ is based on _Pride and Prejudice_. :eek: Well, don’t I feel like a dolt. Never noticed that. Not even when Firth’s character is named…Mr. Darcy! :smack: That’s it, my girlgeeek badge must be revoked. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/37 "2005-01-11T16:24:11Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Now, I’m hardly an expert, but [these costumes](http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/eiga/SI/807.html) don’t look 16th century to me. More 18th-19th, I think. It’s a modernized version of the play, just not modern day. :smack: I knew that! Really! When I posted, I was just thinking about the fact that it’s not set in the present day. :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/38 "2005-01-11T16:33:12Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Although I must, because I am such a costume geek, point out that Shakespear’s company only used 16th century clothing in his plays There were occasional exceptions, such as the leading characters wearing togas in _Julius Caesar_. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/39 "2005-01-11T17:10:25Z")
I’ll add a vote for Mel Gibson’s Hamlet and Akira Kurosawa’s Ran and add [The Throne of Blood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050613/) which is a Japanese Samurai version of Macbeth. And don’t forget [Forbidden Planet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0xfHE9Zm9yYmlkZW4gcGxhbmV0fGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=2;fm=1) which is of course The Tempest in space. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045/40 "2005-01-11T18:49:19Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > There were occasional exceptions, such as the leading characters wearing togas in _Julius Caesar_. Of course, there’s also a reference to Caesar wearing a doublet: “Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the common herd was glad he refused the crown, he plucked me ope his doublet and offered them his throat to cut” (1.2.263-6). A [contemporary drawing](http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/pberek/titusimage.html) of a scene from _Titus Andronicus_ suggests that the Roman plays were done in a combination of classical and contemporary dress. In general, though, it’s believed the comedies, tragedies, and English histories would have been done in the dress of Shakespeare’s day, which was probably the case (as I recall) at least well into the eighteenth century. In the eighteenth and especially nineteenth centuries, Shakespeare’s era had become considerably more temporally distant, so the trend was to do “historicist” productions – not just in Elizabethan costume, but also, say, _Macbeth_ in medieval Scottish garb or _Henry V_ in fifteenth-century dress. Some productions got really elaborate about their realistic settings, often at the expense of the text. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespere-remakes-and-that-ilk/284045.md?page=3)