Shakespeare Lives in Films featuring best films adapted from Shakespeare’s works will be screened every Saturday from 8 October to 29 October in Vietnam. In Hanoi, showings will take place at TPD (The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents) while, in Ho Chi Minh City, films will be shown at Hoa Sen University.
Shakespeare Lives in Films is part of the global Shakespeare Lives programme launched by the British Council to celebrate 400 years since the death of the Bard of Avon.
Vietnamese audiences will be delighted by the timeless values in Shakespeare works through a fine collection of movies which include Romeo and Juliet (1968), Much Ado about Nothing (1993) and Richard III (1995). The 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet was praised by film critic Roger Ebert as the ‘the most exciting film of Shakespeare ever made,’ while Richard III (1995) which stars Robert Downey Jr. won two Oscars for Art Direction and Best Costumes and won five BAFTAs including one for Best British Film.
Much Ado about Nothing (1993) also received critical acclaim with Roger Ebert praising it as ‘cheerful from beginning to end,’ the film stars Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington and Michael Keaton – all Academy Award-winning actors.
For the first time in Vietnam, the British Council will present the film version of Hamlet – with BAFTA-nominated actress Maxine Peake in the title role – in its sell-out run at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre.
Please register for free tickets at http://svy.mk/2doA7t5 (Hanoi) or http://svy.mk/2cszYoc (Ho Chi Minh City).
Film listing
Romeo & Juliet (1968)
Two Oscars, three Golden Globe awards, one BAFTA and many other awards.
Shakespeare's classic tale of romance and tragedy. Two families of Verona, the Montagues and the Capulets, have been feuding with each other for years. Young Romeo Montague goes out with his friends to make trouble at a party the Capulets are hosting, but while there he spies the Capulet's daughter Juliet, and falls hopelessly in love with her. She returns his affections, but they both know that their families will never allow them to follow their hearts.
Richard III (1995)
Two BAFTA and Oscar nominee for the Best Arts Direction-Set Decoration.
William Shakespeare's classic play is brought into the present with the setting as Great Britain in the 1930s. Civil war has erupted with the House of Lancaster on one side, claiming the right to the British throne and hoping to bring freedom to the country. Opposing is the House of York, commanded by the infamous Richard who rules over a fascist government and hopes to install himself as a dictator monarch.
Much ado about nothing (1993)
Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture in 1994.
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer, Don Pedro, the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice -- a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.
Hamlet (Maxine Peak 2015) – Hamlet
From the production at the Royal National Theatre
Shakespeare’s most iconic work, Hamlet explodes with big ideas and is the ultimate
story of loyalty, love, betrayal, murder and madness. Hamlet's father is dead and Denmark has crowned Hamlet's uncle the new king. Consumed by grief, Hamlet struggles to exact revenge, with devastating consequences.
Trailer