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What are your favorite Shakespeare movies? Which ones do you dislike?


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My favorite Shakespeare movie is Emma Thompson and Kenneth Brannaugh's Much Ado About Nothing. That said, if your 10yo is still in the same "ooh, gross, kissing!" stage that my 9yo twins are in, I would wait. (If you go ahead, there is brief non-sexual nudity in the beginning and a brief questionable sexual scene partway through.)

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My favorite Shakespeare movie is Emma Thompson and Kenneth Brannaugh's Much Ado About Nothing. That said, if your 10yo is still in the same "ooh, gross, kissing!" stage that my 9yo twins are in, I would wait. (If you go ahead, there is brief non-sexual nudity in the beginning and a brief questionable sexual scene partway through.)

 

:iagree: and Franco Zeferelli's version of Romeo and Juliet of course! Oh, and the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet.

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We've watched HenryV (Kenneth Branagh's) with our ds 7 because it is great. He was fine with everything, we had to explain some of what was going on. ok, we pause movies a LOT to explain. Our ds is more likely to get scared by a cartoon, like, what was that possessed house animated movie from a couple of years ago? that freaked him out. Battles and such don't shock him as much even though he says, "I like studying a war but I don't like war, you know what I mean?" So take our recommend with that in mind.

I like Much Ado (again, Branagh's) just fine. My dh rolls his eyes a bit.

hmmm..... Netflix has something called "Shakespeare: The Animated Tales" that is absolutely for us.

I preferred Mel Gibson's Hamlet over Branagh's. I might try Branagh's again but it was so brooding and ponderous you would surely losea 10 yr old's attention I should think.

I've always liked Zefirrelli's (sp?) Taming of the Shrew w/ Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, again, don't know for a younger.

There are a couple of adaptations of King Lear that I like: Ran by Kirosawa and A Thousand Acres where it's in a Western setting. But when I saw a play of King Lear at age 10 I never wanted to read or see Shakespeare again it freaked me out so badly. Obviously I got over it but that may be something to keep in mind depending if your son is sensitive in any way.

Edited by Jill
i meant ponderous
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There is a documentary called Shakespeare Behind Bars, about a prison troupe who do The Tempest. What is fascinating is how the men talk about their crimes/past lives and how it makes their play come alive for them and the viewer. I highly recommend it, dont remember whether there was language or not.

 

I also love Taming of the Shrew with Marc Singer, done in a choral arrangement. I saw it in high school and loved it.

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My favorite Shakespeare movie is Emma Thompson and Kenneth Brannaugh's Much Ado About Nothing. That said, if your 10yo is still in the same "ooh, gross, kissing!" stage that my 9yo twins are in, I would wait. (If you go ahead, there is brief non-sexual nudity in the beginning and a brief questionable sexual scene partway through.)

 

:iagree:

 

DD10 loves this movie. My favorite is Zeferelli's Romeo & Juliet. DD2 is named for the actress that played Juliet. :)

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Eliana, your son liked the BBC Julius Caesar? I was wondering about that one for us.

Thanks for the thorough reviews and comments, esp of the BBC set. DH and I loved "I, Claudius" so might slog through that whole set too.

No one has mentioned Anthony Hopkins in "Titus" as in Titus Andronicus. I wasn't thrilled with it like with Ran but any comments?

p.s. The Grigori Kozintsev King Lear is on Netflix. that's going in my queue.

Edited by Jill
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Eliana, your son liked the BBC Julius Caesar? I was wondering about that one for us.

Thanks for the thorough reviews and comments, esp of the BBC set. DH and I loved "I, Claudius" so might slog through that whole set too.

No one has mentioned Anthony Hopkins in "Titus" as in Titus Andronicus. I wasn't thrilled with it like with Ran but any comments?

 

Sadly, Titus Andronicus is a play I've never even read myself. Perhaps I need to put that on my own reading list!

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It has at least one extremely erotic scene. You won't be left wondering whether Hamlet and Ophelia were intimate. Her breakdown is very very difficult to watch, and I just think is too mature a subject for a ten year old. However, it's very powerful and probably the best vision of what Ophelia might have lived of any performance I have seen.

 

Also, it's oddly set centuries past Shakespeare's own time, and I think that's a bit confusing for a kid, though mine didn't have any trouble understanding that it was artistic license.

 

It's a great performance, and if I am correct, the only totally unabridged movie version. We watched Olivier's version right before the Branaugh version, and i must say the Branaugh is much more engaging.

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Sadly, Titus Andronicus is a play I've never even read myself. Perhaps I need to put that on my own reading list!

In all honestly, I've read few of these. Since they were written as plays, I certainly don't feel any guilt watching them instead of reading them. Not that I don't hope to read through more of them but that's not in my immediate plans. And does turning on the closed captioning count? Really? Because it certainly helps me get through the grammar sometimes.

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And does turning on the closed captioning count? Really? Because it certainly helps me get through the grammar sometimes.

 

Smacking forehead....:tongue_smilie:! What a great idea for my 10 yo. He loves reading "foreign language" captions and this would help him enjoy the movie. It drives me bonkers, however.

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