Re-tellings: Good or Evil?

 I have been on a major Shakespeare kick of late, in case you haven't noticed lol. But this time (it's a re-occurring thing) I've discovered a lot of really cool re-tellings of Shakespeare's plays that I thought I would share here.

I have to start out by saying that not all re-tellings are created equal. Some can be clumsy and more than a little ridiculous. But some are actually really brilliant and thought provoking. Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray is a case in point.

The book is told from the point of view of Hamlet's on-again-off-again girlfriend Ophelia. And it is set in modern times. Not gonna lie, I was a little skeptical about the whole thing.But I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. Ophelia was a very likable , feisty sort of character but she wasn't one sided. She was genuinely torn between her father and Hamlet and it seemed very real. I also found Hamlet likable, surprisingly enough. I felt bad for him.

What surprised me most about this book was how intense it was. I mean, I've read the play and everthing but I was expecting this book to be fluffier somehow. It kept me on the edge of my seat, rooting for the characters. It sticks pretty close to the play which is good but it also makes it rough at times because some of the dialouges and situations don't quite fit in the modern settings. That is easily forgiven, though, becauuse some things are explained better in this verision. For example the scene where, in the play,
Ophelia( driven mad by all the crazy stuff going on around her) confronts Queen Gertrude and King Claudius with  basket of flowers and crazy limericks. In this version, this is explained by a depression induced drinking binge. Quite frankly, I find this more believeable than the original she's-crazy-all-of-the-sudden expalination.

The relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia is really heart breaking. They are really cute in the beginning and when everything spirals into maddness it's really sad. Ophelia is faced with hating Hamlet for killing her family  and still loving the person he was before her world fell apart.
This book is so great!

Oh where to start? I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I'm not kidding. It's fanatastic!
O,Juliet by Robin Maxwell is the best kind of re-telling. It's based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, for the record:-) It takes place in Florence around the same time as the original. The story is based around Juliet Capelletti, the spirited daughter of a well-off silk merchant and Romeo Monticecco , the son of her enemy. Of course the two meet and fall completely, head-over-heels in love.

What I like about Maxwell's Juliet is she is a little older than Shakespeare's(18) and she is well educated and VERY opinionated but still seems young and full of life at the same time. In Maxwell's version Juliet finds her equal in Romeo, and that -along with a healthy dose of phyisicial attraction- is what draws the two so closley together.

I've always wondered what exactly was going on in the heads of the characters and this book answers that perfectly. It filled in all the gaps. But this book isn't a perfect mirror of Shakespeare's play and it isn't meant to be. The story of Romeo and Juliet was in existence long before the famous play and the book draws on these as well. A perfect example is the ending. The lover's reunite one last itme before the poison the Romeo took prior to Juliet's waking takes effect. It's one of the most beautiful and heart breaking things I have ever read. You just need to read it!

And finally...

Dude, this movie is awesome! 10 Things I Hate About You is a re-telling of Shakespeare's The Tameing of the Shrew. This definitly the right way to do a re-telling! It sticks close enough to the original that you can definitly see the similarities but not so much that the story line seems out of place in the modern setting, which takes place at a highschool. And it's hilarious! I hate to say it but I liked Katarina more in this version than Zefferelli's. Kat seemed smart and sarcastic in this version as oppsed to just miserable.




If you are a little weary of Shakespeare you should check these out-they might even inspire you to check out the original.

Look What I Found!

I found this song on Youtube last night so I just thought I would share! I haven't heard this in forever!

Guess Who Got Netflix!?!

If you guess yours truly, then you're right! It's so cool! And it's free right now because I'm doing the free month trial. So what have I watched?

Where the Heart Is

This was one of those movies I saw on TV one time and really liked and then forgot about. I'm really glad that I rediscovered it! Natalie Portman plays Novalee Nation, a pregnant teen is abandoned by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma, where she eventually gives birth. It sounds weird but it's really touching.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Last Monday I watched the new show Smash,which is about the process of making a musical about the life of  Norma Jean Baker a.k.a Marilyn Monroe. It inspired me to watch this movie the next day. This was my first Marilyn Monroe movie and I really enjoyed it. it was just a fun movie. The plot wasn't intense or anything but it was very entertaining.

Much Ado About Nothing

I heard about this movie awhile ago but I couldn't find it anywhere-so I was excited that it was on Netflix. It is-of course- based on Shakespeare's play and has an all-star cast. Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves are all in this movie as well as Kate Beckinsale in her first role( don't quote me on that!) I think it is set a couple hundred years after Shakespeare wrote it but other than that it is pretty true to the play. The verbal sparring match between Beatrice and Benedick is hilarious!

The Taming of the Shrew

This movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and was directed by Franco Zefferelli, who directed Romeo and Juliet in 1968. Need I say more?

That's it for now. Check back for more reviews because I'm definitely going to watch more movies!





What's on My Mind: R and J Edition

So I watched the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet again last night ( Shakespeare and Milk Duds...life is good! :-) ) and it made me SUUUUUPPPEER excited for the NEW R and J that is supposed to be released sometime this year, maybe next year. Did you know there was going to be a new one? Yup, there is and it's about time. It's been 15 or 16 years since the last film version.

Hailee Steinfeld of True Grit fame is playing Juliet which seems like a good choice to me. She's the right age and I thought she looked like Olivia Hussey even before I heard the new movie was coming out. Don't you think so?

Douglas Booth is playing Romeo. I've never seen him and anything but it looks like he will fit the part.

I read that it's going to be a classic version which is awesome because it's been a really long time since the last one. I can't even begin to describe to you how excited I am about this!!! I definitely wasn't around in 1968 and I was only 3 in 1996 so this will be the first movie version of R and J that I will be able to see in the theatre. That's so cool!

One of the things I'm most curious about is how much of the original play they will use. For example the infamous balcony scene.

Balcony scene in the 1968 Romeo and Juliet



Balcony scene in the 1996 Romeo and Juliet

They are obviously different. But even though the 1996 version uses more of the original scene, neither of them uses the scene in it's entirety. Will the newest version? And there's other scenes in the play that are skipped altogether in both versions. Will they be used?

Guess we'll have to wait and see...

P.S How do you like the new layout? I'll be changing according to my mood. :-)



Romeo and Juliet: 1968 vs 1996

The best part of having a blog is getting to write about whatever your little heart desires. Thus this post.:-)

The last couple days I have been obessing over R and J and watching both the 1968 and 1996 movies  again...and  again. So I thought this would be a good time to review them in a serious and studious fashion. Yeah right! I'm totally using this post as an excuse to gush.

First up.......

1968

I completely,totally and utterly(enough adverbs? lol) adore this version! It's pretty much the definitive version of Romeo and Juliet. When most people (myself included) think of Romeo and Juliet, they think of Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. They were pretty much perfect together. Here's the break down:

Juliet: Olivia Hussey was only 15 when she played Juliet. I think her age had a lot to do with why her performance was so great. She gave Juliet the perfect mix of innocence and determination.

Romeo: Leonard Whiting was 17 when he played Romeo.  He pretty much IS Romeo, which is no small feat. Good looking, English,  Shakespeare...what else do you need? Except for maybe a balcony.

Script: Despite being the quintessential classic version, large chunks of the play are missing, which is the only problem I have with this version. Except for Olivia Hussey's laugh, which gets a tad grating after awhile.:-)

Overall: Well, you already know what I think. The acting is great, although a bit over dramatic at times. But that can be easily forgiven, it IS Shakespeare. The music and costumes are beautiful. This version makes a 500 year old play seem fresh even if the movie itself is almost 50 years old.  A masterpiece.

1996

I'm not gonna lie. When my English teacher first showed us clips of this version I hated it about as much as I loved the 1968 version. And there are still things that bug me about it. But when I let go of my bias and really watched it I started to love it. Come on, it's Shakespeare AND Leonardo DiCaprio!!!

Setting: This is definitely something I need to talk about. The modern setting is something that myself and others definitely had issues with at first. It just seems so wrong! But when you think about it Verona Beach isn't really like any modern day place. It's more like a fictional place, which makes makes this whole let's-change-the time-period thing easier to accept. And it's so colourful it's hard not to get caught up.

Juliet: Claire Danes does a really good job of making Juliet seem modern and classic at the same time. She sounds very natural which is very impressive because it's so easy to over-act when it comes to Shakespeare. I love that she sounds like she talks like that all the time. She captures the fun and the cautious sides of Juliet.

Romeo: It's Leonardo DiCaprio. Need I say more? :-) He does an amazing job showing that Romeo is multifaceted guy who can sprout poetry to the love of his life and then go josh around with his friends. And he's gorgeous, which helps. lol.

Script: Less of the original play is missing in this version, with a few exceptions, such as Juliet's final line (O happy dagger...).

Overall:  You have to admit this version is pretty great even if there are a few things that bother me, as I mentioned. I can't watch the first 10 minutes because it's so jarring. I always skip to where we first meet Romeo. And I know it makes more sense in this case, but why did they have to substitute a gun for dagger in the final scene? But I guess I'll let to slip because that scene is so moving, despite the changes.

And that pretty much sums up both movies. Romeo and Juliet is always moving no matter which version your watching.