Teaching Philosophy

Selected Syllabi

Advising Statement

    Ask me tomorrow and they’ll be different, but . . .

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1. Throne of Blood (1957), Directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. Perhaps the greatest example of film “adaptation” in world cinema, Kurosawa’s version of Macbeth brilliantly captures the spirit and psychological darkness of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

2. Falstaff, aka Chimes at Midnight (1967), Directed by and starring Orson Welles. Welles’ epic narrative of Sir John Falstaff, combining scenes from the Henriad and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Features the battle scene to end battle scenes.

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3. King Lear (1970), Directed by Peter Brook and starring Paul Scofield. Brutally minimalist and incomparably dark film, cut to emphasize the despair that makes Lear the most painful play in our language.

4. Richard III (1995), Directed by Richard Loncraine and starring Ian McKellen. Proof that modernization is more stimulating and provocative than periodization. A complex web of allusions to Renaissance drama and American movies that serves to accommodate the play’s metatheatricality exceptionally well.

5. Henry V (1944), Directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. Wartime propaganda commissioned by the British government—much like Shakespeare’s own history plays—this was the film that legitimized Shakespeare on film.

6. Othello (1952), Directed by and starring Orson Welles. A breathtakingly gorgeous film that positions Iago centrally, and therefore appropriately, as the director-within-the-film.

7. To Be or Not to Be (1942), Directed by Ernest Lubitsch and starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. A Polish theater company stages Hamlet to resist Nazi occupation during World War 2. About as structurally perfect a “Shakespearean comedy” as you’ll ever see on film or television.

8. Ran (1985), Directed by Akira Kurosawa. An adaptation of King Lear set in 16th-century Japan, Ran features unforgettable mise-en-scene and colors so vivid they’ll blind you.

9. Hamlet (1948), Directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. A heavily, perhaps unforgivably, cut (there’s no Fortinbras plot) but glowing black and white Hamlet that did much to demonstrate how film’s psychological complexity could effectively engage Shakespearean drama.

10. King Lear (1970), Directed by Grigori Kozintsev. A rich, heavily Marxist, Russian version of the play, cut to emphasize the hopefulness that makes Lear the most poignant celebration of love and compassion in our language.

11. Romeo + Juliet (1996), Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Claire Danes. A beautiful and colorful R&J shot in a style of montage heavily evocative of 90s MTV editing—and with a brilliant soundtrack to match.

12. Titus (1999), Directed by Julie Taymor and starring Anthony Hopkins. This visually stunning, otherworldly Titus Andronicus succeeds in transforming a largely un-performable play into an emotionally powerful tragedy.

13. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935), Directed by Max Reinhardt and starring James Cagney and Mickey Rooney. A large-scale Hollywood production that nonetheless manages to capture the beauty and ugliness of a comedy too often Disneyfied on film and stage.

14. Silent Shakespeare (1899-c.1910). Compiled by the British Film Institute’s National Film and Television Archive, this DVD presents the earliest attempts to capture Shakespeare on film and includes the very first Shakespeare film: the 1899 King John.

15. West Side Story (1961), Directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Natalie Wood. This musical version of Romeo and Juliet transforms the aristocratic gang wars of Renaissance Verona into the racial gang wars of 1950s New York City. Dated but still impossible to resist.

16. Taming of the Shrew (1929), Directed by Sam Taylor and starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. The first Shakespeare “talkie,” featuring stripped-down slapstick that culminates in Pickford’s infamous wink.

17. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968), Directed by Peter Hall and starring Diana Rigg and Judi Dench. A direct challenge to “gossamer and moonshine” MNDs, this exceedingly ugly little film constitutes one of the most intelligent Shakespeare movies out there.

18. Scotland PA (2002), Directed by Billy Morrissette and starring Maura Tierney. A comedic adaptation of Macbeth set in a 1970s fast-food environment and featuring the rock music of Bad Company? Damn straight.

19. Kiss Me Kate (1953), Directed by George Sydney. A badly dated film version of Cole Porter’s musical Taming of the Shrew, which nonetheless manages to accommodate the play’s metatheatrical obsessions in a remarkably efficient and joyfully energetic manner.

20. Macbeth (1971), Directed by Roman Polanski. The critics really missed the point at the time, a fact demonstrated especially clearly by how well this appropriately bloody film has held up over time. A challenge to conventional Macbeth productions with a ridiculously smart reworking of the denouement.

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