The metaphor is certainly clunky and on-the-nose, but McKellen makes it all worthwhile, alongside the top notch cast that includes Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, and Kristin Scott Thomas. Every syllable that he utters feels drenched in delicious slime.īased on a stage production directed by Richard Eyre, the film takes the events of the play out of its fifteenth-century setting and into a fictionalized 1930s England that mirrors the Nazi party of the era, with Richard as the Hitler stand-in. As the archetypal direct address villain, McKellen brings so much joy to Richard's cunning and wickedness. Richard III from director Richard Loncraine delivers just that, with Ian McKellen taking on the title role. Sometimes all you want out of a Shakespeare adaptation is for a great actor to sink their teeth into one of the most iconic characters in the history of drama. RELATED: 10 Best Movies You Didn't Realize Are Based on Shakespeare Plays The fifteen films here are theatrical, textual adaptations of Shakespeare's plays. These are also ineligible for this list, even if many are excellent (the RSC's production of The Tempest, starring Simon Russell Beale, is a recent favorite). Also, the UK has a long history of adapting these plays into television films and filming stage productions from the likes of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe Theatre. That means no West Side Story, no Ran, no The Lion King, or any other film that just takes inspiration and does its own thing. The films must utilize Shakespeare's dialogue, as the gorgeous poetry and prose are crucial to his legacy. Hundreds of films have been made out of Shakespeare's plays, and with this list, we will look at fifteen films that turned them into something special on the big screen. 2021 saw the latest high-profile release of a Shakespeare adaptation with Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. Because they are in the public domain, anyone has the ability to grab ahold of these beloved plays and make something with them. His works will continue to be adapted, reimagined, and dissected on screens big and small as long as movies continue to be made. The first Shakespearean sound feature was The Taming of the Shrew in 1929, starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and nearly a century later, filmmakers continue to use the Bard's plays for countless reinterpretations. The works of William Shakespeare have been adapted for the screen since cinema's earliest days, even before people could even speak on screen.

Olivier hamlet full movie movshare