Small Slice of Shakespeare

“The Focus Group.” By Aaron Sorkin. Perf. Matthew Perry and Sarah Paulson. Dir. Chris Misiano. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Season 1, episode 3. ABC. 1 October 2006. DVD. Warner Home Video, 2007.

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I try to keep my finger on the pulse of Shakespeare in the media, even if the reference is relatively small or the Shakespearean matter relatively limited. All right, I admit that I have a list of Star Trek episodes that take their titles from Shakesperare.

In Season One, episode three of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (thus far, a very cleverly-written television show, providing much interest in terms of Christians and Christianity in the media), Sarah Paulson’s character performs a brief speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream while imitating the voice of Holly Hunter.

As I said, it’s small and limited, but it’s Shakespeare! Hurrah!

Note: A later post includes a clip of this scene.

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Links: The Show at IMDB.

Click below to purchase the show from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).

The Second Suitor

Merchant of Venice. Dir. John Sichel. Perf. Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, Jeremy Brett, and Michael Jayston. 1973. Videocassette. LIVE Home Video, 1993.

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One of the remarkable things about Olivier’s Merchant of Venice (and there are many) is the second suitor. At 103, he’s clearly unsuitable for Portia even before he approaches the caskets. That unsuitability is part of the humor, of course—and there’s a fair amount of doddering and slapstick associated with the character—but there’s something more to it. The less suitable the suitors, the less reasonable the father’s will looks on the face of it.

Once the caskets are opened, however, the more unsuitable the suitors, the more we approve of the father’s will.

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The Banquet [Ye Yan] (Re-released as The Legend of the Black Scorpion)

The Banquet [Ye Yan]. Dir. Feng Xiaogang. Perf. Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, Zhou Xun, Ge You, Ma Jingwu. 2006. DVD. Mega Star, 2006.

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Alternate Citation: The Legend of the Black Scorpion [a.k.a. The Banquet (Ye Yan)]. Dir. Feng Xiaogang. Perf. Zhang Ziyi, Daniel Wu, Zhou Xun, Ge You, Ma Jingwu. 2006. DVD. Dragon Dynasty, 2008.

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I’m not entirely in tune with the genre of this film, but I’m fascinated by the adaptation itself. The genre, I suppose, is Wuxia. That’s a kind of Kung Fu action film coming out of Hong Kong. Plenty of slow-motion violence fills the film—the aesthetics are like ballet, and that may have a softening effect on the stabbings and choppings.

In any case, that’s not altogether what I’m interested in. The film is a retelling of Hamlet, and it stays fairly close to the plot, but it varies from it in really interesting ways. I don’t want to provide spoilers here, but (if you can take the beheadings and slow-motion blood splattering) you should see this film. The cinematography is fabulously beautiful! Stunning.

See a slideshow of selected stills from the film:

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Links: The Film at IMDB.

Click below to purchase the film from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).