This course will offer a introductory survey of
Shakespearean films from the silent era to today, concentrating on some of the
most influential directors to adapt Shakespeare to film. Also there will be
some analysis of a range of the film versions made from various texts. It will
stress the critical reading of the plays in the context of the choices made by
filmmakers in bringing them to the screen and explore the distinctive language of
film as well. Since a film version of a play is always an interpretation, and
sometimes a radical modification, of the dramatic text, this course will
encourage students to compare and contrast films from different times and
countries. Students will be encouraged to explore how the different techniques
and audiences of Shakespearean films produce effects quite different from what
may have been possible in the original performances, or in later revivals on
stage. In the latter part of the course, selected plays will be matched with at
least two films. Students will have the opportunity to explore other
Shakespearean films, or films that appropriate or take off from Shakespeare,
including some contemporary radical appropriations of Shakespeare. Students must
arrange to view some films on their own. There will be a medium-length paper,
regular quizzes or other short assignments, plus a midterm and a final exam.
Required Texts:
Greenblatt, Stephen, et.
al. The Norton Shakespeare: Essential
Plays, The Sonnets, 2nd. Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.,
2009. ISBN: 978-0-393-93313-0 [paperback]
Jackson, Russell. Shakespeare
on Film, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-521-68501-6 [paper]
Hindle, Maurice. Studying
Shakespeare on Film.New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN: 13:
978-1-4039-0672-4 [paper]