Modern era adaptations of Shakespare

Here are some quite good adaptations of Shakespeare:

Hamlet (2000) directed by Michael Almereyda, starring Ethan Hawke as Hamlet. Sets Hamlet in modern New York City.

Romeo + Juliet (1996) dir: Baz Luhrman, starring Leo di Caprio as Romeo. Set on "Verona Beach" California.

And here are some Shakespeare adaptations that aren't "modern", but instead adapt the stories to a different setting:
-The Banquet (2006) Dir: Feng Xiaogang: Hamlet set in Ancient China
-Throne of Blood (1956) Dir: Akira Kurosawa: Macbeth set in Feudal Japan
-Ran (1985) Dir: Akira Kurosawa: King Lear set in Feudal Japan
-Omkara (2006): a Bollywood interpretation of Othello
-Maqbool (2004): another Bollywood interpretation, of Macbeth

Midsummer Nights Dream with Christine Baranski -- an absolute scream.

There's lots.

Al Pacino "Merchant of Venice"
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton "The Taming of the Shrew"
Woody Allen "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" for a "Midsummer Night's Dream"
Geilguld "Julius Caesar"
Zefferelli "Romeo and Juliet"
Mel Gibson "Hamlet"
Branaugh "Henry V"

PBS/BBC has mad film recording of all the stage performances. Worth a look see for the undaunted.

Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho is one that's more or less a modern Shakespeare adaptation that like Orson Welles' Chimes At Midnight uses more than one of Shakespeare's plays.

There are lots.
Forbidden Planet--Supermodern version of the Tempest
West Side Story--Modern version of Romeo and Juliet
(Tromeo and Juliet, if you must.)
Ten Things I Hate About You--Modern Version of Taming of the Shrew
(Also, Kiss Me Kate)
The Lion King--(Certainly could be a) modern version of Hamlet
(Also, Strange Brew. In the Bleak Mindwinter is interesting as well.)
O--Modern version of Othello
She's the Man--Modern version of Twelfth Night
Love's Labour's Lost--the Branagh version

On PBS a while back I saw ads for a postapocalypic MacBeth, but I've got very few details because I missed it. (Pre-TiVo.)
I wouldn't call Taymore's Titus 'modern', nor Branagh's Hamlet. But I liked them.

There is "The Tempest" (1982) by Paul Mazursky, with John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia as Kaliban and a very young Molly Ringwald as Miranda.
It's not a literal adaptation - Cassavetes is a New York architect in self-imposed exile on a Greek island - but faithful to the spirit of the play - brilliant, actually.
The acting is great (how could it not be), the direction wonderful, but it's not everybody's piece of pie - then again, Shakespeare seldom is.

There are other Tempest adaptations, one by Derek Jarman (1979) and one by Julie Taymor (2010), both of which I haven't seen, but not set in modern times.


"Your money's no good here, Mr. Torrance" Lloyd

1997's Great Expectations with Hawke, Deniro & Paltrow. Set in modern Florida & NYC.

Those giraffes you sold me, they won't mate. You sold me queer giraffes.

There's an absolutely brilliant and hilarious version of "The Taming Of The Shrew", which was produced in 2005 for a British mini-series entitled "Shakespeare Re-Told", and is set in current time. It stars Shirley Henderson and Rufus Sewell and I can't recommend this enough.


"I'm not reckless . . . I'm skillful!"