Coming to PBS: The Hollow Crown — War of the Roses
Posted on December 9, 2016 at 8:00 am
In the mid-15th century, the royal House of Plantagenet had two rival groups that fought for control of the throne of England. On one side was the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and on the other was the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. There were many battles and conflicts, especially between 1455 and 1487. It continued until Henry Tudor of Lancaster became king and married Elizabeth of York, uniting the two factions.
Shakespeare’s plays about this conflict are coming to PBS this weekend as a second “Hollow Crown” series, this one called “War of the Roses.”
Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday with some of the many, many movie versions of, about, or inspired by his plays. Coming up this spring is the “Much Ado About Nothing” in a contemporary setting — it was filmed at director Joss Whedon’s home, in black and white, starring Nathan Fillion (“Castle,” “Firefly”) and Clark Gregg (“The Avengers”). Compare it to the Kenneth Branagh version with Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Kate Beckinsale, and Michael Keaton.
Here are some of my other favorites:
1. The Taming of the Shrew Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton bring their legendary combustible chemistry to this rambunctious version of Shakespeare’s most famous battle of the sexes. For an extra treat, pair it with the Cole Porter musical it inspired, Kiss Me Kate.
3. Shakespeare In Love This best-picture and best-actress Oscar winner is a highly fictionalized account of the writing of “Romeo and Juliet,” with the magnificent Judi Dench, who also won an Oscar as Queen Elizabeth and a brilliantly witty script by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. For an extra treat, try to catch a performance of A Cry of Players, a play about the young Shakespeare by the author of “The Miracle Worker.”
4. Henry V There is the thrill of the St. Crispian’s Day speech. There is the heart-wrenching parting with the old friends who cannot be a part of the young king’s new life. But for me, the greatness of this play is that in the midst of all of the drama, Shakespeare inserts a scene of a young French princess trying to learn English so she can understand the man who is walloping her countrymen — and makes it work. For an extra treat, compare it to the Laurence Olivier version, very much the product of its WWII era.
5. The Tempest My own favorite of Shakespeare’s plays is thrilling with Helen Mirren as Prospera, a wizard who calls on all her powers of enchantment to provide a happy ending for her daughter and justice for herself. For an extra treat, try the space-age adaptation, Forbidden Planet.
The trailer for Joss Whedon’s new version of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” is spectacular.
It will be out in June. In the meantime, enjoy Kenneth Branagh’s more traditional version, with Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Kate Beckinsale, and Michael Keaton.
Graphic battle violence, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:
None
Date Released to Theaters:
January 13, 2012
Date Released to DVD:
May 28, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:
B0059XTUR2
Shakespeare’s play about a Roman general who survives battle only to take on the bigger battles of politics has been brought to screen by Ralph Fiennes, who directed and stars as the title character. Contemporary costumes and weapons and Serbian locations underscore how little has changed in the 500 years since Shakespeare wrote the play and indeed in the more than 2000 years since the events depicted.
Caius Martius (Fiennes) is a general who returns home in triumph after defeating the Tarquins and rewarded by being given the new surname Coriolanus. His fierce mother (Vanessa Redgrave in an incendiary performance) is proud and ambitious. His wife (Jessica Chastain), is quietly devoted. He calls her “my gracious silence.” He is persuaded to go into politics, but his public statements come across as arrogant and ignorant. He sees it as honesty and refusing to pander to the crowd but he is condemned as a traitor and exiled. Furious, he goes to the other side, first offering to sacrifice himself and then joining forces to attack his own city. Once again he faces the leader of the opposing forces (Gerard Butler).
Fiennes makes an impressive debut as a director, making good use of the locations to evoke the chaos of a war-torn world and its symbolism for what is most broken and bleakest inside the title character. Redgrave matches his ferocity, helping us realize a depth of understanding for one of Shakespeare’s few lead tragic characters who never explains himself with asides or monologues. Butler, as the antagonist who understands Coriolanus better than his family, his colleagues, and the political operators who want to use him, is the cracked mirror who provides the insight that Coriolanus fails to have for himself. The single-mindedness and lack of introspection that served him — and Rome — so well as a general leave him defenseless when the war is over.
Parents should know that this film includes bloody battle violence with characters injured and killed.
Family discussion: What leaders in today’s world are most like Coriolanus? Like those who encourage him to try politics?
If you like this, try: “Looking for Richard,” with Al Pacino working on a production of “Richard III.”
Watch Shakespeare Plays in Shakespeare’s Globe — At a Movie Theater
Posted on June 8, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed in London’s Globe Theatre. The original open-roof theatre, made of wood-and-thatch was built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s company of actors and was destroyed by fire in 1613. American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, worked tirelessly to raise funds for the theatre’s reconstruction and a modern reconstruction of The Globe opened in 1997 approximately 200 yards from the site of the original theatre.
Now the Globe comes to more than 260 movie theaters across the country through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network. NCM Fathom, Globe Theatre and Arts Alliance Media with Shakespeare’s Globe London Cinema Serieshave produced an exclusive four-part in-theater series of the most classic of Shakespeare titles in U.S. movie theaters nationwide this summer and fall. Captured in 2010 from the prestigious and internationally renowned Globe Theatre in London— Shakespeare’s theatrical London home – the series will kick off in June with The Merry Wives of Windsor followed by Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 in August and closing in September with Henry VIII. Each performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. local time and will include a special 20-minute historical perspective on the Globe, the reconstruction process, the work of the Globe today, and a behind-the-scenes look at each production with interviews from the actors and creative team involved. It begins with “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” said to have been inspired when the queen wondered what it would be like to see the wine, women, and song-loving Falstaff (of “Henry IV” parts 1 and 2) in love.
Tickets for Shakespeare’s Globe London Cinema Series are available at participating theater box offices and online at FathomEvents.
§ The Merry Wives of Windsor – Monday, June 27 – One of the great comedies by William Shakespeare, this hilarious tale of love and marriage, jealousy and revenge, class and wealth is Shakespeare’s only play to deal with the contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life. It was first published in 1602, although it was believed to have been written prior to 1597.
§ Henry IV Part 1 –Monday, August 1 – The second play in Shakespeare’s tetralogy dealing with the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V, Part 1 depicts a span of history beginning with Hotspur’s battle at Homildon and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in 1403. This work of honor, rebellion and the struggle for power is thought to have been written no later than 1597. From the start it has been an extremely popular play both with the public and the critics with Roger Allam winning the 2011Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Falstaff.
§ Henry IV Part 2 – Thursday, August 18 – The third piece of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV Part 1, this work is followed by Henry V. This play picks up where Henry IV Part 1 ended and focuses on Prince Hal’s journey toward kingship. The two plays are often perceived as a dissection of father-and-son relationships, with Falstaff as a wayward father substitute for the young Prince Hal, who is estranged from his own dying, guilt-ridden father, Henry IV. It’s also a drama about an old England that, like Falstaff himself, is riddled with ills, in decline and in urgent need of rebirth. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Allam received the 2011 Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Falstaff in Henry IV Part 2.
§ Henry VIII – Thursday, September 15 – This work is based upon the life of Henry VIII of England. During a performance of this play at London’s Globe Theatre in 1613, a canon used for special effects ignited the theatre’s thatched roof and beams, burning the original structure to the ground. This play was famous in its own day as Shakespeare’s most sumptuous and spectacular play, and this production presents a gorgeous pageant of masques and royal ceremony.
