Shakespeare
-
Pensive Prowler #18: Hamlet of the Abyss
Pensive Prowler #18 by Dmetri Kakmi Hamlet of the Abyss Hamlet’s actions and motivations have either been compared to the “unnatural” drives of Oedipus towards his mother, or he has been charged with an inability to navigate his way, in mature fashion, through the forest of choices pressed upon him during his ordeal in the Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #72: Richard III (2016)
72. Dominic Cooke’s Richard III (2016) This rogue who reviews Shakespeare films for you, dear readers, gets jaded sometimes. I expect these films to be good. Not just un-terrible, but quite seriously good. Henry VI Parts 1-3 were so good on The Hollow Crown that I approached its Richard III with some sense of crankiness. Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #71: Henry VI Parts 2 & 3 (2016)
71. Dominic Cooke’s Henry VI Parts 2 & 3 (2016) Season 2, episode 1 of “The Hollow Crown” ends somewhere in the middle of Henry VI, Part 2. Our callow King Henry VI was expecting to oversee the trial of Humphrey, Lord Protector of England, only to learn that Humphrey was—ummm—assassinated in the Tower. In his Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #70: Henry VI Parts 1 & 2 (2016)
70: Dominic Cooke’s Henry VI Parts 1 & 2 (2016) I am an outright Shakespeare junkie, dear readers. This you should know by now. Yet the prospect of outright speed-balling multiple Shakespeare plays in one sitting seems daunting, even to me. I am aware of festivals that mount all of The War of the Roses Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #69: Twelfth Night (1996)
69. Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night (1996) Songs in Shakespeare can be a tricky thing since his texts share lyrics, but not melodies. The normal theatrical approach to these songs is to keep them brief, and not to commit to melodies that are catchy or especially even musical, which kind of defeats the presumed delightful fucking Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #68: Hamlet (1948)
68. Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) I first saw Olivier’s Hamlet sometime in 1988 or 1989 in my English class as a senior in high school. The film was Shakespearean kryptonite for teenagers: a shaky black and white print of a study of melancholia expressed with exaggerated erudition. The very notion that I should flatter such work with Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #67: Tromeo and Juliet (1996)
67. Lloyd Kaufman’s Tromeo and Juliet (1996) Last week, the bourgeoisie wet dream that is Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet so dismayed me that I decided the time had come to try Tromeo and Juliet. From time to time, I review films that may seem tangential to Shakespearean theatre, such as Strange Brew and Gnomeo and Juliet and Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #66: Romeo and Juliet (2013)
66. Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet (2013) Why does Carlo Carlei’s Romeo and Juliet make me cranky? I think part of the problem is that David Tattersall’s camera is a little too enamored with the posh art direction of Gianpaolo Rifino and Armando Savoia. These Renaissance mansions of Verona make our best museums look like hovels, Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #65: King of Texas (2002)
65. Ali Edel’s King of Texas [King Lear] (2002) Those fucking snobs who discuss Shakespeare’s plays pretend like he didn’t even write any westerns. I wonder why? Oh—right. So Patrick Stewart has performed King Lear on film once, but it was set in Texas, and didn’t use Shakespeare’s text, but was re-written into a nineteenth century Texas Continue reading
-
The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #64: King Lear (1987)
64. Jean Luc Goddard’s King Lear (1987) In 1987, Jean Luc Goddard answered the question everyone was asking: what if Jean Luc Goddard was haunted by seagulls and made a meta-cinematic fever dream about the history of film, fine art, and literature that occasionally thought about (or thought about thinking about) a post-apocalyptic King Lear in Switzerland Continue reading
About
The Drunken Odyssey is a forum to discuss all aspects of the writing process, in a variety of genres, in order to foster a greater community among writers.
The Drunken Odyssey 