Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, creeps in this petty Hobbit hole...
September 21, 2015 8:19 PM Subscribe
Looking for entertaining Shakespeare movies with correct, quotable dialogue.
I like to have movies running in the background while I work. So far, it's been so many hours of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, that I have many lines memorized (to the dismay of people close to me). I would love to watch some Shakespearian comedy (or drama) as reciting lines from there might seem a bit more sophisticated. Any recommendations for movies that are true to the dialogue and entertaining? I love movies with great visuals, music, comedy or drama, so am open. I just don't want to quote a movie instead of the original text (or I might as well stay with Hobbit quotes...)
I like to have movies running in the background while I work. So far, it's been so many hours of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, that I have many lines memorized (to the dismay of people close to me). I would love to watch some Shakespearian comedy (or drama) as reciting lines from there might seem a bit more sophisticated. Any recommendations for movies that are true to the dialogue and entertaining? I love movies with great visuals, music, comedy or drama, so am open. I just don't want to quote a movie instead of the original text (or I might as well stay with Hobbit quotes...)
Both the Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson Much Ado About Nothing from 1993, and the recent Josh Whedon & Friends Much Ado About Nothing are very good.
The 2009 David Tennant Hamlet is also very good. Tennant did such a job on the "oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt" speech that I rewound and watched it over again several times.
The strange and magical gay high school musical Were the World Mine riffs on A Midsummer Night's Dream and includes dialogue from the play both in spoken lines and, especially, in the songs. Did you know you needed a rock-n-roll version of Pyramus & Thisby sung by Zelda Williams? Neither did I, until I heard it.
posted by not that girl at 8:30 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The 2009 David Tennant Hamlet is also very good. Tennant did such a job on the "oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt" speech that I rewound and watched it over again several times.
The strange and magical gay high school musical Were the World Mine riffs on A Midsummer Night's Dream and includes dialogue from the play both in spoken lines and, especially, in the songs. Did you know you needed a rock-n-roll version of Pyramus & Thisby sung by Zelda Williams? Neither did I, until I heard it.
posted by not that girl at 8:30 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
I just don't want to quote a movie instead of the original text
Almost every Shakespeare production, even on stage, is heavily edited because his original plays take about 3-4 hours running time. Here is a list of plays by how many lines of his pentameter they run; actors can manage about 1000 lines an hour, but that would be with no pauses for action or quiet, slow bits. But it is a very rare thing to hear the whole play, unedited.
That doesn't mean you won't get long chunks, especially the very famous and highly quotable chunks, intact. But you might find yourself surprised when you compare a movie script to the actual text.
posted by Miko at 8:33 PM on September 21, 2015
Almost every Shakespeare production, even on stage, is heavily edited because his original plays take about 3-4 hours running time. Here is a list of plays by how many lines of his pentameter they run; actors can manage about 1000 lines an hour, but that would be with no pauses for action or quiet, slow bits. But it is a very rare thing to hear the whole play, unedited.
That doesn't mean you won't get long chunks, especially the very famous and highly quotable chunks, intact. But you might find yourself surprised when you compare a movie script to the actual text.
posted by Miko at 8:33 PM on September 21, 2015
While they may be abridged, I don't think most movie adaptations actually re-write Shakespeare.
That said, Kenneth Branagh's HAMLET is completely unabridged, and excellent (though it is about four hours long).
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:49 PM on September 21, 2015
That said, Kenneth Branagh's HAMLET is completely unabridged, and excellent (though it is about four hours long).
posted by drjimmy11 at 8:49 PM on September 21, 2015
Response by poster: I am good with abridged. More concerned with added on/altered dialogue.
posted by Vaike at 8:53 PM on September 21, 2015
posted by Vaike at 8:53 PM on September 21, 2015
I liked Brannagh's Henry V very much when I was in college.
posted by leahwrenn at 11:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by leahwrenn at 11:11 PM on September 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
The James Earl Jones King Lear is a filming of an actual live performance of the play. It's old but still worth a watch.
posted by gudrun at 4:28 AM on September 22, 2015
posted by gudrun at 4:28 AM on September 22, 2015
Coriolanus, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes. Some of the speeches have been abridged, I think, but the dialogue that is there is faithful to the play. It has a few neat tricks, like having the chorus come from a tv in the background tuned to a talk show.
posted by ocular shenanigans at 8:21 AM on September 22, 2015
posted by ocular shenanigans at 8:21 AM on September 22, 2015
Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing was quite enjoyable.
Also, this. It's just one brief monologue that, from the title of your post, you're already able to quote. But it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:44 AM on September 22, 2015
Also, this. It's just one brief monologue that, from the title of your post, you're already able to quote. But it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:44 AM on September 22, 2015
Not a movie, but is 18 45-minute episodes: Slings & Arrows.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:55 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:55 AM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
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