On this here day of the anniversary of William Shakespeare's baptism and death, I've decided to provide a short thread of Youtube's best offerings in terms of insight into adaptation. I'll try and say something helpful with each recommendation I make. #ShareYourShakespeare

Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight (1965):

This is one of the greatest battle scenes shot for the big screen. Always good to see an off-stage version of this scene in another medium, because you’re always limited on-stage by lack of space, lack of extras, and lack of ability to edit.

Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight (1965):

Yes, another clip. This multi-adaptation somehow encapsulates the humour of Merry Wives of Windsor, the looseness of Henry IV 1, and the poignancy of 2. This is my favourite adaptation, and one of my favourite scenes. Falstaff’s banishment from the court.

Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995):

An interesting adaptation, but it’s equally liked and equally hated. Interesting opening scenes, asking lots of questions about how one can perform soliloquy and monologue to an audience which is there, but not there.

Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth (2015):

This one looks nice and sounds nice, but there’s not too much depth in it in terms of its version of the story. So here’s one of the most ‘looks nice and sounds nice’ scenes. S'blood. Watch for Paddy Considine’s Banquo and David Thewlis’s Duncan.

Grigori Kostinsev’s Hamlet (1964):

So rich. I find all of Kosintsev’s work on Shakespeare to be quite heavy in medieval imagery, which is always interesting for discussions of the period’s influence on the Renaissance. No subtitles on the clip but the visual is explanatory enough.

Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho (1991):

Esteemed by my lecturers at undergraduate level. More of a loose adaptation, compared to everything else in this thread. With Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. An emphatic study of the male relationship dynamics present in the second Henriad. New Queer Movement.

There are many honourable mentions for which I could not find satisfactory clips. But the films noted above are the ones I find most watchable, and I think they are a good starting point for anyone remotely into Shakespeare - or just interested in broadening their watchlists.