Shakespeare and World Cinema: a strategy for reading film

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Abstract

Given the plethora of recent Shakespeare films that have been produced around the world, we should think critically about how Shakespeare is mediated in the cinematic idiom and move away from a narrow focus on only one or two better-known examples (Burnett 2013). This chapter suggests three strategies to interrogate the separate bracketing of a so-called foreign Shakespeare and acknowledges the importance of plurality.

‘Auteur’ theory facilitates an engagement with cinema that prioritizes the notion of the individual craftsperson possessed of a distinctive vision. A ‘regional’ approach permits consideration of the national and cultural characteristics of cinema without succumbing to a unitary modality which would favour only the nation-state as an option for analysis. And ‘Plays’ presents an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which particular dramas have proved resiliently popular as objects of filmic treatment. Crucially, in the extent to which they introduce issues around setting, genre, periodization, context and technique, these approaches are not hermetically sealed. Rather, they cross-fertilize and form a series of openings into a disparate field. In a number of respects, too, these approaches can be combined. Depending upon the particular film product, considerations of auteurship, region and playtext can be mixed and matched to furnish several modes for understanding and illuminating the diverse expressions of Shakespeare in his non-Anglophone screen re-imaginings....
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationContemporary readings in global performances of Shakespeare
EditorsAlexa Alice Joubin
Place of PublicationLondon and New York
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
Chapter2
Pages41-57
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781350410824, 9781350410831
ISBN (Print)9781350410817, 9781350410855
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 03 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Shakespeare films
  • world cinema
  • cinematic idiom

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