Reviews for A History of Shakespeare on Screen: A Century of Film and Television

The average rating for A History of Shakespeare on Screen: A Century of Film and Television based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-06-01 00:00:00 Karin Irvine I read this as part of my project to watch all the Shakespeare films I could get my hands on free through interlibrary loan or included in Amazon Prime or Netflix (both of which have surprisingly few Shakespeare films available for streaming). From this book I learned that there's a lot more to film studies than I thought. For one thing, according to Rothwell, every time there's a Medieval battle scene involving a cavalry charge, it's an obvious reference to Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. It might also have something to do with the fact that there were cavalry charges in Medieval battles, but as far as he's concerned, it's all about Alexander Nevsky. I've never seen Alexander Nevsky. Shakespeare didn't write Alexander Nevsky. I think I could design a drinking game in which one drinks whenever Kenneth Rothwell uses the words "Alexander Nevsky" or "tickling commodity," which apparently is the primary reason why Shakespeare movies either do or do not get made. Someone who has more of an understanding of film studies will no doubt gain more than I from his use of terms like "mise-en-scene," "mid-shot," etc. For me, they provide a peek into a field of study I am surprised that I have such little knowledge of. I can't hold that against Kenneth Rothwell, though. I just need to study up a bit more.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-28 00:00:00 Multicarros Multicarros I only plucked this off the library shelf because I was struggling with filmic adaptations of Henry V. There's a really good section on Laurence Olivier and I found some little bots and bobs that helped, but I felt that the book as a whole is rushed. It packs in a lot of information (I haven't read this cover to cover, but I've dipped into most of the chapters) but I felt that perhaps there could have been more focus on he iconic adaptations, including Olivier and Branagh's Henry V. It's a good book, informative and still useful.. But I guess I just expected more. ^.^