My Introduction to Shakespeare

michaelpjensen.com

Shakespeare is in the air for Armitage fans this month since the release of the wonderful audiobook Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel by A.J. Hartley and David Hewson and narrated by our versatile and amazingly talented Richard Armitage.

So as I slowly savor this wonderful audiobook and Richard's one man audio theater company,  I've been thinking of my own introduction to Shakespeare.

I first became aware of Shakespeare's work through the films of Laurence Olivier, one of my mother's favorite actors.  Now my mother's native language was not English but Spanish and as a very young woman she first saw Olivier's films, including his Shakespeare films, in our native country. When we came to live in the United States many, many, years later, she would always say to people who were speaking to her too fast in English for her to fully understand  "speak to me as a Shakespearean actor" because that way of speaking English she could fully understand.  (Of course, since we lived in the U.S., this was often seen as a very strange request! But that's another story, LOL.)

By the time I came around, and was old enough to watch and somewhat understand these films, they were on television. Now in those  TV days  of the 60's and 70's we didn't have cable, or even the technology to record and watch VHS tapes, we had to wait for these movies to be schedule for viewing on one of the three or four channels we had (sometimes less).  Luckily for my childhood classic films were very popular on afternoon television for many years. 

Whenever any Olivier films were on, my mother would watch religiously, and I along with her of course. I think I probably saw these films as a baby, and somehow through my childhood slowly absorbed them until I was old enough to view them on my own and understand and appreciate them fully. 

Later I read some of the plays at school, Hamlet of course among them. I have the collected plays in two or three volumes at home, but I confess not having read all of them, and not having looked at them for years.  Throughout my life I have been lucky to see many Shakespeare plays, dramas and comedies, on stage, including our wonderful Shakespeare Theater  here in DC.  

But whenever I think of Shakespeare and his plays I always first think of Olivier's films.  To this day they remain favorite film versions of Hamlet, Henry V, and Richard III.  

Laurence Olivier directed and acted in all three, filmed in the 40's and 50's. After several successful films in Hollywood, Olivier was approached by investors to bring Shakespeare to film audiences and the result were these three movies, filmed in three different styles. 

Henry V is interesting to me in the way Olivier approaches the play for film, because he goes back and forth between the play being performed on a theater stage, and the "real" action taking place in the palaces and battlefields in England and France.  It was also filmed at the end of World War II with England still at war.  My favorite of the films is Hamlet, filmed in black and white, in a "Scandinavian modern" style, and who can ever forget Olivier as Richard III. 

Below are my favorite moments and soliloquies from the films.

Henry V (1944)

Hamlet (1948)

Richard III (1955)

You can probably find all three films online or on YouTube. 

Shakespeare, War of the Roses, and Game of Thrones

My “appointment television” for Sundays is HBO’s Game of Thrones.  I’ve been following the development of the series from the time it was only a twinkle in the eye of HBO – before the pilot was made – and now finally the series has started and it is living up to more than my expectations.   Though I’ve read three of the four books that are so far part of A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)  by George R. R. Martin (GRRM), and am now on the fourth,  I’m very much a novice in this fantasy world.

When I first heard about the possible TV series, and contemplated reading the first book, “A Game of Thrones,” I had my doubts I would read them all.   When I reach for a good read, I don’t tend to reach for fantasy fiction.   But aside from the obvious reason I became interested in GRRM’s books (the casting of Sean Bean as Lord Eddard Stark, one of the Point of View (POV) characters in the novels), my interest was also sparked when I read that the author was inspired by a real historical event,  The War of the Roses.

http://www.warsoftheroses.com/

I’m not a historian by any means, but I have an interest in certain historical periods, and I love a good historical novel.  The thought of reading a series of fictional novels based on a historical period I knew a little about, with political intrigue, and swords and castles was irresistible to me.  But in the last few weeks as I’ve watched Game of Thrones on Sunday I realized that most of my knowledge of the War of the Roses comes not from historical facts, but from William Shakespeare.  

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2902

For as long as I can remember I have watched or read the plays from Richard II to Richard III, and the Henry’s in between (Henry IV Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, Henry V, Henry VI).  I’ve seen the plays performed by legendary actors in film and on television, and have seen the plays on stage by amateur and professional actors.  I can’t say that I can recite every line of every performance, but I can’t separate the historical facts I learned in school, from Shakespeare’s characters.

Though set in a totally fictional world, with unique and fascinating totally fictional characters, I can see how the ASOIAF books and the Game of Thrones series were and are inspired by English history, and by Shakespearean drama.    

Below are a few videos of Shakespeare’s War of the Roses or related to the history plays that I've thought about in the last few weeks while watching Game of Thrones.  

 Would love your comments as always.


One of my favorite films and a favorite speech from Richard III (Laurence Olivier):

In 1964 The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) filmed the War of the Roses series of plays, and I was lucky enough to see them a couple of decades later thanks to U.S. Public Television. Below are two clips from the RSC plays:

Sir Ian McKellen made a series of videos to help audiences better understand Shakespeare's language. Reminds me of his one man play/show, "Acting Shakespeare":

Many actors and directors have been interviewed about what Shakespeare means to them or how they prepare to play Hamlet or Macbeth, but in 1996 Al Pacino made a unique and fun film with several of his friends, including Kevin Spacey, about directing and performing Richard III, and here's a video clip from the film "Looking for Richard" (with Spanish subtitles!)

I have to say, there's something about that title, 
Looking for Richard, that really inspires me :)

Two of my favorite scenes in another of my favorite Shakespearian films,  Henry V, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Kenneth Branagh:

Click on the link below to revisit an earlier post that includes Kenneth Branagh talking about directing:

http://whiterosewritings.blogspot.com/search/label/Kenneth%20Branagh

I'll finish my tale with a scene from Game of Thrones with Mark Addy and Sean Bean: