I’m a sucker for Shakespere’s tragedies. His other stuff not so much. I don’t think his comedies translate as well into modern day as his tragedies. The Taming of the Shrew has been made into a shit ton of movies (some of the distinct assinine variety), some of them good.
But his tragedies, man o man. You don’t need to adapt them. You can use the origional language and let them roll. My favorite film version Shakespere is Baz Lurman’s Romeo and Juliet. If you haven’t see it, its the one with DiCaprio and Danes. The language is exactly from the ancient play and the setting is modern day. When the cast referrs to swords they talking about guns (a sword 9mm is a stand in for a beretta and a broadsword for a sub-machine gun). So sword was transformed into slang for gun and several items like that. And its this type of cool throughout the movie that places it slightly ahead of Branagh’s Hamlet. Really, the only issue I had was I didn’t think Danes was hot enough to be Juliet. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a looker, but she doesn’t look quite hot enough for Paris and Romeo to fight to the death over her grave. Although that scene doesn’t happen in the movie so there you go.
Anyway (fuck I can go off subject) it used to be my favorite film version. Ralph Fiennes has just knocked Baz off the top of the mountain. His Coriolanus is wall to wall intensity. The play, since its noticeably less well known than our star crossed lovers or the batshit Danish prince, tells of a real (or at least a real legend) general from Rome’s pre empire days. Coriolanus, as he was known after taking the city Corioli, was successful general who defeated the invading Volscians. He was made consul, later banished, and still later made common cause with the Volscians and invaded Rome.
The film imagines this in modern day. The nation in question is still Rome and the language is still the original iambic pentameter; but the appearance is modern. As the film begins a mob of Roman poor are protesting grain prices and denouncing Coriolanus for placing the city under martial law. The general, a patrician and no lover of the common people, emerges from behind a line of police shields and fearing nothing walks straight up to the crowd and harangues it into submission. Ralph Fiennes is fairly terrifying as he portrays this general. I wouldn’t fuck with him.
The leader of the Volscians is played by Gerrard Butler, who’s not really a slouch in the physical intimidation department either.
Rome in this film looks like a war-torn Balkan city (indeed it was shot in Coatia). The fighting takes place in a very Sarajevo like urban combat theater. Fiennes skillfully maneuvers the modern combat in a manner that suits the 400 year old language. And he manages to keep it quite intense. Near the end of the skirmish the Romans and Volscians are down to knives and it’s smashing good fun.
And like most of Shakespere’s tragedies, its frightenly easy to take the language and situation and slip it into modern day. One enterprising reviewer said he half expected to see signs saying ‘Occupy Rome’.
Anyway, the story is of an exploited patriot who has no other means of making his way in the world than through violence and what he does when he finds out he was a puppet. Fiennes is at his most intense (if you thought he was scary as Voldemort, you may need to re evaluate). Brian Cox is great (as always) as a sympathetic senator. Coriolanus’s wife and mother are played by Vanessa Redgrave and Jessca Chastain. Both are good. I wish Jessica Chastain had more lines; she is truly gifted.
This probably isn’t for gen-pop but if you like 2 of the 3 in parenthesis (Shakespeare, Guns, Knives) you’ll enjoy it.