14 Aug 2010
This Is Hamlet
A mockumentary examination of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy using "breaking news" style interviews and commentary.
King Lear
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
Top Billed Cast
Ian McKellen King Lear
Romola Garai Cordelia
Monica Dolan Regan
Sylvester McCoy The Fool
Philip Winchester Edmund
Jonathan Hyde Earl of Kent
Frances Barber Goneril
William Gaunt Earl of Gloucester
Julian Harries Duke of Albany
Similar movies
This Is Hamlet This Is Hamlet Twelfth Night 
Twelfth Night 12 Jul 1970
Twelfth Night
Sir Alec Guinness, Sir Ralph Richardson and Joan Plowright star in this merry on-stage mix-up of identity, gender and love in Tony Award-winner John Dexter’s production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Originally broadcast on Britain’s ITV, this classic performance captures all the slapstick, puns and double entendres that have amazed and amused audiences for over four hundred years.
National Theatre Live: Hamlet 
National Theatre Live: Hamlet 09 Dec 2010
National Theatre Live: Hamlet
A 2010 broadcast of Hamlet returns to cinemas as part of the NT's 50th anniversary celebrations. Following his celebrated performances at the National Theatre in Burnt by the Sun, The Revenger's Tragedy, Philistines and The Man of Mode, Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet in a dynamic new production of Shakespeare’s complex and profound play about the human condition, directed by Nicholas Hytner. He is joined by Clare Higgins (Gertrude), Patrick Malahide (Claudius), David Calder (Polonius), James Laurenson (Ghost/Player King) and Ruth Negga (Ophelia).
Hamlet at Elsinore 
Hamlet at Elsinore 15 Apr 1964
Hamlet at Elsinore
The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. An historic BBC production taped on location in and around Kronborg castle in Elsinore (Denmark), in which the play is set.
The King Is Alive 
The King Is Alive 11 May 2000
The King Is Alive
Stranded in the heat of a barren African desert, eleven bus-passengers shelter in the remnants of an abandoned town. As rescue grows more remote by the day and anxiety deepens, an idea emerges: why not stage a play. However the choice of King Lear only manages to plunge this disparate group of travelers into turmoil as they struggle to overcome both nature's wrath and their own morality.
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead 
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead 08 Feb 1991
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Two minor characters from the play "Hamlet" stumble around unaware of their scripted lives and unable to deviate from them.
My Own Private Idaho 
My Own Private Idaho 01 Feb 1991
My Own Private Idaho
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Julius Caesar - Live at Shakespeare's Globe 
Julius Caesar - Live at Shakespeare's Globe 14 Aug 2014
Julius Caesar - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
A live performance of the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. Set in ancient Rome, leading citizens Cassius and Marcus Brutus are alarmed that the power and authority Caesar is assuming may endanger the democracy of the Republic, so they conspire to assassinate the popular general. The ensuing battles and suicides extend the tragedy, establishing neither a clear-cut hero nor villain.
PYRAMUS & THISBE PYRAMUS & THISBE 19 Dec 2016
PYRAMUS & THISBE
In this modern adaptation of the classic Greek myth two young lovers bound by a tragic fate plot to escape their homes to start a new life somewhere far from their families.
Chimes at Midnight 
Chimes at Midnight 22 Dec 1965
Chimes at Midnight
Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.
Throne of Blood 
Throne of Blood 15 Jan 1957
Throne of Blood
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
Romeo and Juliet 
Romeo and Juliet 15 Jul 1984
Romeo and Juliet
Ballet performance by The Royal Ballet, recorded at Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, July 1984.
Henry V - Live at Shakespeare's Globe 
Henry V - Live at Shakespeare's Globe 02 Jun 2012
Henry V - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare’s masterpiece of the turbulence of war and the arts of peace tells the romantic story of Henry’s campaign to recapture the English possessions in France. But the ambitions of this charismatic king are challenged by a host of vivid characters caught up in the real horrors of war. Henry V, which opened the new Globe with the words ‘O for a muse of fire’, celebrates the power of language to summon into life courts, pubs, ships and battlefields within the ‘wooden O’ - and beyond.
The Merchant of Venice 
The Merchant of Venice 08 Oct 2001
The Merchant of Venice
Memorably set between the two world wars, this adaptation of Trevor Nunn's award-winning 1999 Royal National Theatre production of The Merchant of Venice features a superlative performance from Henry Goodman as Shylock.
The Wars of the Roses 
The Wars of the Roses 08 Apr 1965
The Wars of the Roses
A 1965 BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy (1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III), which deals with the conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the throne of England, a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. It was based on the 1963 theatre adaptation by John Barton, and directed by Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Last Lear 
The Last Lear 12 Sep 2008
The Last Lear
The film starts with the veteran thespian Harish Mishra, he is gravely ill. The punishments of a film shoot have left the old man in a coma. His co-star, Shabnam, is wracked with worry, but their director, Siddharth, keeps strangely distant and refuses to visit his ailing star. In flashbacks, their story emerges.
Romeo and Juliet 
Romeo and Juliet 13 Feb 2014
Romeo and Juliet
In this Broadway stage production, Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad take on the title characters in a modern adaptation of the timeless classic, Romeo and Juliet.
Othello 
Othello 23 Jun 1990
Othello
Noble Moroccan Othello finds his life with beautiful, fiercely loyal Desdemona thrown tragically out of balance when secretly jealous, scheming confidante Iago begins an insidious campaign of lies and treachery.
Maqbool 
Maqbool 30 Jan 2003
Maqbool
The Scottish tragedy 'Macbeth' set in the contemporary underworld of India's commercial capital; two corrupt, fortune telling policemen take the roles of the weird sisters, and "Duncan" is Abbaji, the head of a crime family.
Julius Caesar 
Julius Caesar 04 Jun 1970
Julius Caesar
All-star cast glamorizes this lavish 1970 remake of the classic William Shakespeare play, which portrays the assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, and the resulting war between the faction led by the assassins and the faction led by Mark Anthony.