Download Shakespeare Special Topic (Term 2)

Shakespeare Special Topic (Term 2)
Shakespeare's Later Collaborators: Shakespeare on Screen
Aims
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This ten-week module is designed
to examine developments in Shakespearean film up to the present day.
It invites students to consider the cultural, personal and economic reasons why contemporary filmmakers
have repeatedly turned to Shakespeare,
to investigate the consequences of translating a dramaturgy based on the word into visual images,
to analyse and compare the Shakespearean output of major directors,
and to consider how Shakespearean cinema has been affected by economic and political conditions.
Students will explore the cultural debates surrounding contemporary Shakespearean film, including
questions of national identity, sexual politics and race.
Students will consider the appropriation of Shakespeare’s works by film-makers with “classical”,
“experimental”, “populist” and “educational” agendas.
The shifting relationship between Shakespearean production and changing styles in the mass media will be
explored.
Structure
Term 2
Week 1 No seminar. (But screenings on Thursday and Friday.)
2 Introduction: Stage to screen: Olivier, Henry V; Welles, Chimes at Midnight
3 Shakespeare Noir: Olivier, Hamlet; Welles, Macbeth
4 Japanese Shakespeare: Kurosawa, Throne of Blood
5 Soviet Shakespeare: Kozintsev, Hamlet
6 Reading week
7 Existential Shakespeare: Brook, King Lear
8 Postmodernisms: Lurhman, Romeo + Juliet; Taymor, Titus
9 Urban Shakespeare: Almereyda, Hamlet; Woolcock, Macbeth on the Estate
10 Shakespeare and the Artist: Jarman, The Tempest; Greenaway, Prospero’s Books
Term 3
Week 2 Shakespeare silent/ Shakespeare ‘complete’: Asta Nielsen/Svend Gade, Hamlet; Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet
Teaching methods
Seminars will be on Tuesdays, room H542
but there will be 2 x 90-minute seminars:
10.00 - 11.30
and
11.30 - 1.00
All students will give a short seminar paper introducing one of the films.
Please sign the list on the door of room 534.
All seminars will be preceded by video screenings* Thursday (starting week 1 of term 2): room H502: 9.00 -11.00
Friday (starting week 1 of term 2): room H534: 10.00 – 3.00*
Monday (starting week 2 of term 2): room S020: 5.00-8.00 (large screen)
* Collect tapes and 534 key from English Reception
NB: films will also be available in SRC on video and/or DVD.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module you should have
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Considered some of the strategies developed for translating Shakespeare into a primarily visual medium.
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Acquired knowledge of the work of a number of significant directors.
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Considered the expressive and interpretative possibilities of different film languages as a medium for
Shakespearean adaptation.
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Considered the different stylistic, cultural and commercial factors operating when filming Shakespeare in
Britain, Hollywood, the Soviet Union and elsewhere.
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Considered the ways Shakespearean cinema can be seen to reflect or comment on historical events.
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Compared and contrasted film interpretations of a number of Shakespearean texts.
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Developed your presentational skills through class assignments.
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Developed your critical skills in academic essays.
Background reading
Academic books on Shakespearean cinema form a rapidly expanding sub-genre. Major titles include:
Michael Anderegg, Cinematic Shakespeare (Lanham 2004)
Orson Welles, Shakespeare and Popular Culture (New York 1999)
Robert Hamilton Ball, Shakespeare on Silent Film (London 1968)
Linda Boose and Richard Burt (ed) Shakespeare the Movie (London 1997)
Shakespeare the Movie II (London 2002)
Judith Buchanan, Shakespeare on Film (London 2005)
John Collick, Shakespeare, Cinema and Society (Manchester 1989)
Peter Donaldson, Shakespearean Films/ Shakespearean Directors (Boston 1990)
Russell Jackson, Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Film (Cambridge 2000)
Anthony Oliver, Filming Shakespeare’s Plays (Cambridge 1988)
Kenneth Rothwell, A History of Shakespeare on Screen (Cambridge 1999)
Robert Shaughnessy (ed), Shakespeare on Film (Basingstoke 1998)
Lisa S. Starkes and Courtney Lehmann, The Reel Shakespeare (Madison 2002)
Stanley Wells (ed.), Shakespeare and the Moving Image (Cambridge 1994)
Starkes and Lehmann, The Reel Shakespeare contains a good bibliography. Shakespeare Quarterly includes
an exhaustive annual bibliography of publications on Shakespearean work, including film. Literature/Film Quarterly
features frequent special issues on Shakespearean adaptation.
Preparation
It’s essential that you are thoroughly familiar with the plays themselves (Chimes at Midnight is based on the Henry IV
plays, Throne of Blood on Macbeth). If you can see the films beforehand, do. All will be available in SRC.
TH
Shakespeare Special Topic (Term 2)
Shakespeare's Later Collaborators: Shakespeare on Screen
Structure
Term 2
1 No class
2 Introduction: Stage to screen: Olivier, Henry V; Welles, Chimes at Midnight
3 Shakespeare Noir: Olivier, Hamlet; Welles, Macbeth
4 Japanese Shakespeare: Kurosawa, Throne of Blood
5 Russian Shakespeare: Kozintsev, Hamlet
6 Reading week
7 Existential Shakespeare: Brook, King Lear
8 Historical Revisionism: Loncraine, Richard III; Pacino, Looking for Richard
9 Postmodernism: Lurhman, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet; Taymor, Titus
10 Urban Shakespeare: Almereyda, Hamlet; Walcock, Macbeth on the Estate
Term 3
1 Silent Shakespeare: Asta Nielsen/Svend Gade, Hamlet
Video screenings.
Videos will be shown on WEDNESDAYS in 502: 6.00-8.00
FRIDAYS in 502: 10.00-1.00
MONDAYS in 507: 10.00-1.00
They may also be borrowed from SRC and the English Office.
Seminars will be in the same rooms at the same times as in Term 1
Background reading
Academic books on Shakespearean cinema form a rapidly expanding sub-genre. Major titles include::
Michael Andregg, Cinematic Shakespeare (2004)
Orson Welles, Shakespeare and Popular Culture (1999)
Robert Hamilton Ball, Shakespeare on Silent Film (1968)
Linda Boose and Richard Burt (ed) Shakespeare the Movie (1997)
John Collick, Shakespeare, Cinema and Society (1989)
Peter Donaldson, Shakespearean Films/ Shakespearean Directors (1990)
Graham Holderness, Visual Shakespeare (2002)
Russell Jackson, Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Film (2000)
Anthony Oliver, Filming Shakespeare’s Plays (1988)
Kenneth Rothwell, A History of Shakespeare on Screen (1999)
Robert Shaughnessy (ed), Shakespeare on Film (1998)
Lisa S. Starkes and Courtney Lehmann, The Reel Shakespeare (2002)
Stanley Wells (ed.), Shakespeare and the Moving Image (1994)
Shakespeare Quarterly includes an exhaustive annual bibliography of publications on
Shakespeare, including film and t.v. productions. Literature/Film Quarterly includes frequent special issues on
Shakespearean cinema.
Copies of films will be available in SRC. Consultation copies will also be available from the English office. These must
be signed for and returned within 24 hours.