Orson Welles Macbeth on BBC4 - I hadn't previously realised that it had a score by Ibert and was conducted by Efrem Kurtz. Such an imaginative, dramatically photographed film and despite its quirks, very gripping.
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Those who watch films for the music might be pleasantly surprised by Hitchcock's 'Jamaica Inn' , which is available complete on YouTube. It has a score by Eric Fenby. This is the first time I've heard any of his own music. It doesn't sound at all like Delius, by the way.Comment
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I saw it too, gradus. It reminded me that when I was sixteen, for some reason the school took us up to a College in Glasgow where we watched said film. It was probably my first encounter with Shakespeare on screen and I remember being totally bemused. I checked in with an old school pal yesterday and he said exactly the same thing. I certainly enjoyed the film this time round much more than back in 1970 - Welles looked fantastic. Wasn't totally convinced by Lady Macbeth's accent. As you say, the photography was very dramatic.Originally posted by gradus View PostComment
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I think Dick Van Dyke had the same dialect coach.Originally posted by johncorrigan View PostComment
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Watched butterfly effect 2 and 3 on prime friday, not bad sequels with nice plot twists.Annoyingly listening to and commenting on radio 3...Comment
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I think that Macbeth has been generally lucky in its film versions. I like the Welles, Polanski, and Kurosawa takes. I have not yet seen the Joel Coen or Justin Kurzel versions.
My favorite Shakespeare film is Grigori Kozintsev’s Hamlet.Comment
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Remarkable version (which I’d never heard of, let alone seen) of Hamlet currently being broadcast on BBC Four - filmed in 1964 at Elsinore with Christopher Plummer as the Prince, Robert Shaw as Claudius, Michael Caine (!) as Horatio and Martin Clunes’s dad as Polonius…Originally posted by PatrickMurtha View Post
From the bit I saw, much more than a gimmick - Plummer seemed extremely good in the role.
I’ll be watching it all (assuming it’ll be retained on iPlayer for a while)
"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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That sounds great.Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post
The Kozintsev and Peter Brook film versions of King Lear are impressive. I thought Joss Whedon's take on Much Ado About Nothing a few years back was by far the best thing he’s ever done. There is also a 1970s television version of MAAN with Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes that is delightful.
The fact is that Shakespeare on film, video, and audio (the old Caedmon and Argo sets) is an incredibly rich field. He generally brings out the best in his interpreters, because no one is going to tackle Shakespeare half-heartedly.Comment
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I've just recorded the Elsinore Hamlet and look forward to seeing it. I don't know if it's just nostalgia, but these archive Shakespeares seem much better to me than the present day ones. The first series of 'The Hollow Crown' had some fine performances (notably Tom Hiddlestone and Jeremy Irons) but I didn't care for the second quartet .Comment
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It’s shameful and bizarre that I’ve never seen thisOriginally posted by PatrickMurtha View Post
- bizarre because I knew much of the Shostakovich score backwards in my early days of being immersed in his music.
Incidentally, the In The Garden scene was second up in Martin Handley’s ‘Breakfast’ schedule yesterday - that must be one of the pieces you’d be safest betting your house that friends couldn’t guess the composer… there’d be a few stabs at British mid-20th century names, but noone would be able to guess it was DSCH, I think"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Well, YouTube is my friend in that case!Originally posted by PatrickMurtha View Post
HD restored / 4K etc etc"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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This is a real find, many thanks to all concerned. To those who don't read Cyrillic, this is the Boris Pasternak translation. And for those with very deep pockets -Originally posted by Nick Armstrong View Post
Well, YouTube is my friend in that case!
HD restored / 4K etc etc
Shakespeare, W. The Tragedy of Hamlet. Signed by Boris Pasternak, the – Biblionne Rare BooksComment
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Watched portals on prime,also mr earth. Not really good films in my book despite their high stars ratings.Annoyingly listening to and commenting on radio 3...Comment
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