Shakespeare Adaptations

This comedy is an adaptation of both Antony & Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.

One among several Shakespeare films by Kenneth Brannagh, coming from the play of the same name.

One of, if not the, earliest film adaptations of As You Like It. It was also the first time Laurence Olivier appeared in a Shakespeare adaptation.

The film is quite faithful to the original play, only removing content and adding nothing.

A Bollywood adaptation of "A Comedy of Errors".

This Orson Welles film is based on the character of Falstaff, who appears in multiple plays. The film takes elements from several works.

A modern adaptation of Hamlet.

This loose adaptation of Hamlet takes place around the 10th century, in China.

This film takes the story of Hamlet in a Japanese context.

A Franco Zeffirelli film, set in the original context.

This Kenneth Brannagh film has one important distinction from most (nearly all) other Shakespeare film adatpations: it includes the entirety of the original text, making the full version last 242 minutes. There is also a cut version at 150 minutes.

A modern day adaptation of the play, set in New York City.

A Best Picture winning film directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. It takes place in the original setting, but reduces the text.

Low budget British adaptation of the play, based on the director's theater production.

Russian adaptation of the play. The text was heavily cut, with several sequences presented visually rather than by dialogue.

This film shows abridged versions of the plays Hamlet and Macbeth.

This Richard Burton film was originally scheduled to play in cinemas for one week, then be burned. A print was found in Burton's garage after his death. His widow authorized its release on DVD.

A spaghetti western adaptation of the play.

This popular Disney animated film takes several elements from Shakespeare's Hamlet: the king murdered by his brother, the son who seeks revenge, the ghost of the king coming to see his son. No crazy Ophelia drowning, though.

Kenneth Brannagh's directorial debut.

Another Laurience Olivier film, using the on-screen title of "The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France". Released during World War II, just in time for the Allied invasion of Normandy, the film was used as propaganda and moral boosting for British troops. The original text was modified accordingly.

A Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with, among others, Marlon Brando as Mark Antony. The film received several awards, and even granted Marlon Brando his third Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards in three consecutive years.

The first color release of the film. Charlton Heston plays Mark Antony, for the second of three times on screen.

This partially lost short black & white film is the first known adaptation of Shakespeare. Out of four scenes, only one remains, the death of King John.

Film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and poorly received by critics. It is not a direct adaptation, but rather a film in a modern setting, with a descendant of Shakespeare attempting to restore his ancestor's plays.

A Peter Brooke film.

A Japanese adaptation of King Lear.

An Orson Welles film. While it is mostly faithful to the original play, it went through a few chances, among other reasons because of censorship.

An Australian adaptation of the play, taking it into modern Melbourne, with gangsters. It however largely uses the original dialogue (with Australian accents).

A film by Roman Polanski, his first after the brutal murder of his wife. The story, co-written with Kenneth Tynan, takes various liberties from the original text. The film also has the special distinction of being produced, among others, by Hugh Hefner.

The surprisingly recent first full-length sound adaptation of the play of the same title. It is mostly faithful to the original. An important thing to note is that the film features Shylock as much as a victim than as a villain.

A Michael Hoffman adaptation of the play, which it follows rather faithfully. Among the cast are Kevin Cline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockart and Christian Bale.

A Max Reinhardt, and Olivia de Havilland's first role. The German born director didn't speak English, so his instructions were translated by William Dieterle. The film was banned in Germany at the time because Reinhardt and the film's composer, Felix Mendelssohn, were of Jewish origins.

A mostly faithful adaptation of the play, directed by Peter Hall. The cast incldues Ian Holm, Judi Dench and Helen Mirren.