Meditation #11
As I was reading “Richard III”, I got a clear picture in my head of what the film would be like. It would be a serious production with melodramatic actors, almost no comedy, it isn’t meant to be a humorous show, but during class today, when we watched the clip of “Richard III,” it seemed to be mocking the seriousness of a Shakespearean play. The way Richard was dancing up the stairs and singing to himself after he wins over the woman he loves, by professing his love for her over the body of her dead husband, in a morgue. That scene in itself is darkly humorous, but compiled with the direct speeches into the cameras and the dancing; it provided audiences with a new perspective of Shakespeare.While I was watching Looking For Richard tonight, it occurred to me how many different varieties of adaptation are available for one play. Al Pacino created a great documentary about Richard III, actually meant to be an educational film, it told the story with interjections from the cast and crew. Also, filled with commentary by literary analysts and random surveyed citizens, they gave their own thoughts on the play. “Looking For Richard” really showed the different approaches that could be taken with such a stylized show. It reminded me of Baz Luhrmann’s take on “Romeo and Juliet”. He used the dialogue and just set it in modern times, a stylized show taken to a new time period, just like Richard III was taken to the time period of World War II to aid the plotline.
posted by Taylor @ 8:11 PM
4 Comments:
I really enjoy when Shakespear is contemporized. I love that everyone can finally look at the work of Shakespeare and relate to it. You don't even realize that it isn't in modern English, but you understand it anyway. Without adaptations that are current, I think it would be a lot more difficult to understand Shakespeare as a whole for me.
-Ann
I think it's interesting that so many people read Shakespeare's plays and get an picture in their mind of what it must look like. I do this as well. What I have learned from my experince with theater and english is that Shakespeare performed is never quite how I imagined it - sometimes it's completely different!
I am all for modernizing a Shakespeare show. I've never quite understood what he means in any of his plays, but when I see it done in a more modern setting, I can relate to it more, making it easier to understand...or at least try to understand.
Well I think that any production that is an adaptation is something that should be considered a different art form than the original, you can't compare apples and oranges.
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