Modern Day Shakespeare

I really, really enjoy Shakespeare!  I've read many of his original plays and sonnets (though not all) and I used to be an actress in a company that performed a few of his works.

Another thing I really like?  When Hollywood takes one of Shakespeare's works and modernizes it.

(Make sure you click on the lighter text, it links up to previews and clips.)

Take for example, Hamlet.  And I'm not talking about the 1996 Kenneth Branagh version that runs 242 minutes and you need a pot of coffee to get through.  Even though I actually do like that version - it's spot on to the written word - the one I'm thinking of came out in 2000 and stars Ethan Hawke as the troubled Hamlet.

I am in the minority though of those who actually like it.  It leaves out a good portion of the actual play, mostly the graveyard scene if you're familiar, but I don't think it would have added any real contribution to this version.  Some of the actors don't seem to really know what they are saying, I struggle over the fact that Bill Murray was cast as Polonius and I can barely watch his scenes.  But then others, such as Liev Schreiber playing the role of Laertes, does an excellent job!  Really making you understand what he is saying in such old fashioned lingo.

My favorite part of this film is the famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy.  With the latter part of the dialog between Hamlet and Ophelia spread out over a few scenes and not all at one time, the more famous first part of the speech is done while walking up and down the aisles of a Blockbuster video store.

This movie is quirky and keeps you interested in way that most modern day retellings of Shakespeare's works don't.

For a time there was this huge surge of re-doing Shakespeare.

The most famous is the 1996, Baz Luhrmann, off-the-wall concept of Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
Other's include:
1999's 10 Things I Hate About You (Taming of the Shrew)
2000's Love's Labour's Lost (also directed by Branagh)
2001's O (Othello)

(In a side note: 10 Things I Hate About You, Hamlet and O, ALL star Julia Stiles in the female lead.)

But the whole reason I decided to blog about this was to introduce you to Coriolanus.

Who?  Coriolanus.


The citizens of Rome are hungry. Coriolanus, the hero of Rome, a great soldier and a man of inflexible self-belief despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot. Rome is bloody. Manipulated and out-maneuvered by politicians and even his own mother Volumnia, Coriolanus is banished from Rome. He offers his life or his services to his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius. Coriolanus and Aufidius march on Rome intending to destroy the city. Volumnia appeals to her son. He tries to reject her but eventually breaks. Aufidius, feeling bitterly betrayed, brutally murders Coriolanus.


Not one of Shakespeare's most famous works it has now been turned into a modern day piece by Ralph Fiennes.  I can't wait to see it, I think I've watched the preview a dozen times.  Not only does it look like a top notch cast of Academy Ward winner Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Gerard Butler and relative newcomer Jessica Chastain, but I think the cinematography will be superb and I already like the music they used to underscore it all.  


Follow the link for an excellent article about the story itself and the acting/directing behind it.
Hollywood Reporter- Review: Coriolanus


I hope that this post inspires you to learn more about Shakespeare or watch a film from one of his plays!