Shakespeare on Screen

Overview

Admit it: when you studied Shakespeare in school, you just wanted to watch films. With Baz Luhrmann bathing the Bard's famous fated lovers in a '90s soundtrack, Akira Kurosawa transporting the Scottish play to feudal Japan, and Gary Oldman and Tim Roth thrusting two of Hamlet's minor players into the comic spotlight, well, that's understandable.

Romeo + Juliet, Throne of Blood and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead aren't the only memorable Shakespeare movie moments, though, as the Gallery of Modern Art's latest cinema showcase attests. All three pop up in the program, of course. So does everything from the '50s sci-fi take on The Tempest that is Forbidden Planet to Michael Fassbender's recent brooding turn as Macbeth.

Add Joss Whedon's interpretation of Much Ado About Nothing, Kenneth Branagh's all-star, unabridged adaptation of Hamlet and Ralph Fiennes' modern-day vision of Coriolanus to the mix, and the stage is set for a plethora of excellent play-to-screen efforts. And, if you're wondering why GOMA is celebrating the most frequently adapted author in cinema history, then take a look at the date. Sure, any time is a good time to get your Shakespeare on Screen fix, but this April marks the 400th anniversary of the great writer's death.