7 Shakespeare Adaptations For People Who Hate Shakespeare

The works of Shakespeare can be a somewhat acquired taste. Though written in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Bard's plays are more often than not adapted for the screen with story beats done to the letter and with antiquated dialogue intact. Hearing that iambic pentameter spoken in the modern day can be cat nip for some, while for others there's just no getting used to it. The latest Shakespeare adaptation to come to cinemas, Justin Kurzel's Macbeth, arrives with that tricky dialogue intact. That said, it's also an adaptation that attempts to modernize Shakespeare for new audiences, by upping the stylization and violence whilst introducing a heavy dose of dogged realism. Kurzel's is a film that tries to bring Shakespeare kicking and screaming into the modern age, while also keeping an eye on viewers who might not necessarily normally find the Bard appealing. It's not a revolutionary film, but it does the job: Kurzel's Macbeth is made for those who normally can't stand seeing Shakespeare on-screen. So, in honor of it, here are seven other great examples of Shakespeare movies that were made for the Shakespeare haters. 7) Richard Loncraine's Richard III How do you bring Shakespeare's Richard III into the modern day? Why, re-write the character as a foppish British fascist and get Ian McKellen to play him, of course. In Richard Loncraine's impeccably designed adaptation, one of several starry attempts made in the 90s to update the work of Shakespeare for contemporary audiences, Richard III is set in an alternative universe in which pre-WWII Britain is the playground for battling factions locked in a state of civil war. McKellen is outstanding as a hunchbacked, Adolf Hitler-alike manipulator, proving he's one of very few actors who understand exactly how to deliver Shakespeare's words with clarity. In a film that spookily recalls Nazi Germany in costumes, music, and all, the cast - including Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., and Kristin Scott Thomas - deliver the heavy dialogue with ease and easy understanding. Blackly comic, Richard III is also the rare Shakespeare adaptation that could also be described as something approaching dystopian science fiction. 6) The Lion King Yes, The Lion King really is based on Shakespeare - Hamlet specifically - it's just the dialogue was replaced by cheery Disney songs and words more understandable for young ears. The basic story, however, is essentially intact: uncle to a young prince kills his own brother, and the prince's father, in order to seize power for himself. The difference, obviously, is that Disney swapped humans for lions and Denmark for the African savanna. The animation is gorgeous, the voice work is iconic (Jeremy Irons' sneering Scar and James Earl Jones' rumbling Mufasa make for memorably mellifluously-voiced foes), and the story remains powerful even in hand-drawn form. It's one of Disney's best animated films, made at the height of its 90s revival period, and it's a Shakespeare adaptation so made for the unconvinced that most aren't even aware it was taken from Shakespeare at all. 5) Ran Based on Shakespeare's King Lear, Ran is in some ways the film Akira Kurosawa had been preparing for his whole career. He'd been literally gearing up to make it since the 70s, in the meantime drawing up immensely detailed storyboards for the beauteous and vibrantly colorful battle sequences, but this was also the Japanese maestro's biggest movie ever. It took his years of directing on (relatively) smaller jidaigeki movies for him to amass the experience to make something of this size. As he had with his previous Shakespeare adaptations, Kurosawa mostly throws the dialogue out and comes up with his own, while remaining faithful to the basic story of the source. It leaves him with a timeless epic tale as a template and room to layer it in lavish decoration - which he does, profusely. The result is probably the most visually resplendent film of Kurosawa's career, and one of the best-looking samurai movies ever made. 4) Roman Polanski's Macbeth Made following the death of his wife at the hands of the Manson gang, Roman Polanski's take on Macbeth is uncompromising and nasty. Quite easily the most faithful and conventional Shakespeare adaptation on this list, Polanski's Macbeth nonetheless stands out from the rest of the pack because of its unique otherworldly aura: It's hard not to see parallels with Polanski's personal life in the many scenes of butchery, so chilly because they're shot with the eye of someone who knows what it's like to lose it all and come face-to-face with death. Grimy and humorless like Justin Kurzel's most recent adaptation, there's none of the stylization that Kurzel brought to the table - this is a cold, austere adaptation that doesn't care how audiences receive it. The dialogue may still be a turn-off for some Shakespeare dismissives, but it really shouldn't matter: this is one Shakespeare adaptation that viewers are meant to feel and carry the haunting sensation with them long after it's over. 3) Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing Defying the notion that Shakespeare must be handled with the utmost reverence, care, and preparation, Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing is rather a brisk trifle that was made in the director's back garden in 12 days. Shot on digital cameras with a cast of Whedonverse regulars, the film feels like a great home movie, an amateur black and white cheapie made with such confidence it could inspire aspiring filmmakers into having a go at their own. Updating Shakespeare's farcical comedy by setting it in the modern day, Whedon highlights its inherent sitcom-iness (it's clear from this film that so many sitcom staples come from the Bard's work), and crucially renders the play actually laugh out loud funny. Those aren't words that the sceptics would ever associate with Shakespeare, but Whedon has Much Ado About Nothing feeling refreshingly contemporary, utilizing the likes of Alexis Denisof and Nathan Fillion to charming comic effect. 2) Chimes At Midnight Trust Orson Welles - the man who relocated Julius Caesar to fascist Italy and once staged a Haiti-set 'voodoo Macbeth' - to break from tradition and tear up the Shakespeare rulebook in order to suit himself. Chimes at Midnight uses Shakespeare's own dialogue, but it's based on no single Shakespeare play. Rather, it's several of them cut up and glued together the way Welles saw fit. The film concerns Shakespeare's jolly, bloated noble character Falstaff, who appeared through Henry IV parts one and two, Richard II, and Henry V. Welles, adoring of Falstaff, simply took all of the character's scenes and put them together for Chimes at Midnight. The result is not just surprisingly coherent, but also disarmingly warm-hearted, humorous, and ultimately sad all at once. The Battle of Shrewsbury is one of Welles' finest directorial achievements, an intimate, down-and-dirty take on an epic battle, one where the most touching and tragic moments come in-between the conflict. 1) Throne Of Blood Kurosawa again - Throne of Blood might not be quite as epic in scope as the director's later production Ran, but it stands tall as one of the filmmaker's finest works, and perhaps the greatest Shakespeare adaptation ever committed to film. The reason for its success lies in Kurosawa's refusal to be tied down to the original text; rather, he takes the bare bones of the Macbeth story, hollows the play out by removing much of the dialogue, and leaves something bleakly beautiful and chillingly told. Relocating Macbeth to feudal Japan, Kurosawa replaces Scottish clans with warring samurai factions and the prophetic witches with an uncanny spirit of the forest. Interestingly, the change in scenery almost seems to help make more sense of the story, while Kurosawa's re-interpretation of the film as a kind of jidaigeki horror movie is a stroke of genius. Shakespeare has never been this spooky.