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PERIOD MOVIES TO SURVIVE THE QUARANTINE

Here’s today’s recommendation!

Today is April 23rd, World Book Day, and Shakespeare’s Day, and in honor of that, I recommend Kenneth Branagh spectacular epic adaptation of the Bard’s HAMLET.

This is the only adaptation of the full text of the play and it spared no extravagance. A star-studded cast is able to infuse gravitas and passion in every line of this four hour mammoth of an adaptation.

The film also moves the story forward in time, to be set in the 19th century, and the change makes for spectacular visuals.

As for the costume design, it makes the most out of the romantic aesthetic. It is grand, over the top and highly dramatic.

Let me know your thoughts! We’ll be back tomorrow with another Period Drama for your enjoyment!

princesshamlet-deactivated20210

shakespeare is not pretentious. fans of shakespeare are pretentious. shakespeare is twelve hundred dirty jokes strung together by increasingly ridiculous plotlines and increasingly homosexual characters. don’t let the archaic language fool you

BBC’s The Hollow Crown, Season 2, episode 2: Henry VI Part 2

#shakespeare #the hollow crown #the bard #quote #richard III #house of york #richard duke of gloucester #the wars of the roses #the cousins war #dreams of the crown #the bard on screen #benedict cumberbatch #shakespeare on film #bbc #historical plays

Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time, Unless to spy my shadow in the sun And descant on mine own deformity: And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days.

Richard Duke of Gloucester, “Richard III”, Act 1 Scene 1, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #quotations #quote #richard iii #the bard #william shakespeare #duke of gloucester #villain #soliloquy #elizabethan theatre

thecostumevaultblog

TV MINI-SERIES REVIEW: THE HOLLOW CROWN. SEASON 1

“The Hollow Crown” is a british mini series by the BBC that focuses of Shakespeare’s Historical plays. It made great reviews back in 2012 when it came out, but I did not have the chance to see it until very recently. And it certainly deserved the praise.

The show decided, very cleverly to do this plays back to back in chronological order. Which gives the overarching story a much deeper impact that it would other wise.

RICHARD II

Ben Wishaw shines extraordinarily as the almost divine, christ-like figure of the deposed King Richard. And gives a very human and moving touch to a character that has been played many times as rather unsympathetic. This episodes also manages to mach that with stunning visuals and great performances by Patrick Stewart, Rory Kinnear and many others.

HENRY IV, PART 1 and 2

How could be better than Jeremy Irons? He gives a lot of gravity and weariness to an old Henry IV. Tired down by constant civil wars, he continues to defend the crown he got through unholy means, Meanwhile, young Prince Hal wastes his days drinking and whoring around London. The confrontation between the old and the young Harry is at the center of this plays and it’s brought marvelously to life by Irons and Hiddelston, two amazing shakespearean actors that deserve every praise they get. Also, this has probably the best Falstaff I have ever seen.

HENRY V

This miniseries is brought to a close with this canonical play of the Bard. The director manages to marry the wonderful text with breathtaking image while also making you forget about the Brannagh version. This is a fresh new take on the character that is very much helped by the fact that you’ve seen Prince Hal in his wild days, and you have seen him grow up. And the whole story is played as Hal trying to find out how to be a good king. Which makes it very interesting. All in all, Hiddelston’s Henry is a king close to his people, kind, but also commanding when he needs to. It’s a flawless take on the character that has nothing to envy to previous incarnations.

All in all, I really recommend this show. It’s well acted, well filmed, well costumed and a well rounded product. It’s a great show for shakespeare lovers, but also a great introductions to those who are not familiar with his plays.

BBC's The Hollow Crown, Season 1, episode 4: Henry V

#shakepseare #the hollow crown #the bard #quotations #henry v #henry of monmouth #tom hiddleston #saint crispin's #speech #the bard on the screen #shakespeare on film #william shakespeare #bbc #historical plays

"This day is called the feast of Crispian: He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:' Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars. And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.' Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, But he'll remember with advantages What feats he did that day: then shall our names. Familiar in his mouth as household words Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd. This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remember'd; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition: And gentlemen in England now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

King Henry, "Henry V", Act IV, Scene III, William Shakespeare

#shakepseare #henry v #henry of monmouth #king henry v #the bard #william shakespeare #quotations #plantagenet #elizabethan theatre #saint crispin's #soliloquy #speech

Macbeth (2015, dir. Justin Kurzel)

#shakespeare #macbeth #2015 #the bard #lady macbeth #soliloquy #marion cotillard #justin kurzel #michael fassbender #william shakespeare #the scottish play #james stuart

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude, And in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

King Henry IV, “Henry IV part 2″, Act 3 Scene 1, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #henry iv part 2 #the bard #quotations #william shakespeare #henry iv #prince hal #henry v #falstaff #uneasy lies the head that wears the crown #historical plays #elizabethan theatre #soliloquy

I know you all, and will awhile uphold The unyoked humour of your idleness: Yet herein will I imitate the sun, Who doth permit the base contagious clouds To smother up his beauty from the world, That, when he please again to be himself, Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at, By breaking through the foul and ugly mists Of vapours that did seem to strangle him. If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work; But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents. So, when this loose behavior I throw off And pay the debt I never promised, By how much better than my word I am, By so much shall I falsify men's hopes; And like bright metal on a sullen ground, My reformation, glittering o'er my fault, Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes Than that which hath no foil to set it off. I'll so offend, to make offence a skill; Redeeming time when men think least I will.

Prince Hal, “Henry IV Part I”, Act 1 Scene 2, William Shakespeare

#shakespea #henry iv part 1 #henry iv #part i #prince hal #henry of monmouth #henry v #king henry #the bard #quotations #william shakespeare #soliloquy #elizabethan theatre

BBC’s The Hollow Crown, season 1, episode 2: Henry IV Part I

#shakespeare #henry iv #henry iv part 1 #part i #king henry iv #prince hal #henry of monmouth #henry bolingbroke #jeremy irons #tom hiddleston #william shakespeare #the bard #the bard on screen #shakespeare on film #adaptation

'Tis not due yet; I would be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me? Well, 'tis no matter; honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I come on? how then? Can honour set to a leg? no: or an arm? no: or take away the grief of a wound? no. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? no. What is honour? a word. What is in that word honour? what is that honour? air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? he that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? no. Doth he hear it? no. 'Tis insensible, then. Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? no. Why? detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so ends my catechism.

Falstaff, “Henry IV Part I”, Act 5 Scene 1, William Shakespeare

#shakepseare #henry iv part 1 #the bard #quotations #bardolatry #prince hal #falstaff #honor #henry v #elizabethan theatre #plantagenet

Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.

Malvolio, “Twelfth Night”, Act 2 Scene 5, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #twelfth night #quotations #the bard #malvolio #william shakespeare #elizabethan theatre #16th century #viola #great literature

Hamlet (1996, dir. Kenneth Branagh)

#shakespeare #hamlet #kenneth branagh #the bard #shakespeare on film #to be or not to be #denmark #william shakespeare #elizabethan theatre #1996 #adaptation

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.

Prospero, “The Tempest”, Act 4 Scene 1, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #the tempest #quotations #the bard #prospero #elizabethan theatre #william shakespeare #we are such stuff as dreams are made on

To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

Shylock, “The Merchant of Venice”, Act 3 Scene 1, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #the merchant of venice #the bard #quotations #quotes #shylock #hath not a jew eyes #elizabethan theatre #william shakespeare

You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men That do corrupt my air, I banish you; And here remain with your uncertainty! Let every feeble rumour shake your hearts! Your enemies, with nodding of their plumes, Fan you into despair! Have the power still To banish your defenders; till at length Your ignorance, which finds not till it feels, Making not reservation of yourselves, Still your own foes, deliver you as most Abated captives to some nation That won you without blows! Despising, For you, the city, thus I turn my back: There is a world elsewhere.

Coriolanus, “Coriolanus”, Act 3 Scene 3, William Shakespeare

#shakespeare #coriolanus #the bard #quotation #william shakespeare #elizabethan theatre #great works #16th century

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