“There was a star danced, and under that was I born.” - William Shakespeare
What a great quote!
That’s right folks… I couldn’t let Willy’s birthday pass without taking a moment to pay my respects.
And interestingly enough, there is a little bit of Shakespeare going on right here in Belgrade. Ralph Fiennes is in town directing a film version of his favorite Shakespeare play: Coriolanus.
Coriolanus is a pretty interesting choice for a feature length film because it’s one of those plays only Shakespeare-Nuts know or care about. Notably, this will be the 7th time Coriolanus will be put on film yet it could make history by being the first to be released to English speaking theatre audiences. And get this… it’s been 26 years since it was last produced.
First, in 1948, Studio One condensed the story of Coriolanus into one 60 minute episode.
Second, in 1963, the BBC produced a 9 part Mini Series based on the play. They called it “The Spread of Eagle”… because simply calling it “Coriolanus” wasn’t dirty enough for those cheeky bastards.
Third, a year later, in 1964, the Italian’s produced from what I’ve read, a horrible boring piece of rubbish based on the play.
Fourth, again, the following year, in 1965 the Brit’s finally realized “Coriolanus” is dirty enough to stand on its own and nine hours of iambic pentameter is more than any human being can take, so… They scaled down the production and relaunched it as a TV Movie of the week! Oddly enough, The Hallmark Cannel has not picked this version up for syndication.
Fifth, in 1979, Denzel Washington makes his film debut as “Roman Soldier” alongside future “Glory” co-star Morgan Freeman… who was playing the slightly more pivotal role of Coriolanus. The film went straight to video and was never heard from again. This film is so obscure that James Lipton hasn’t mentioned it on “Inside the Actors Studio”.
Sixth, in 1984, the BBC re-organized again and launched yet another production of “Coriolanus”. Incidentally, this is the ONLY version of the play available for purchase on Amazon.
Honorable mention: There have been two German “versions” of the play produced. One in 1950 and the other in 1978. However, they are based on an adaptation credited to Bertolt Brecht… sorry dude! It’s not your birthday… so you don’t count!
So, finally… here we are, 26 years later, gearing up for a brand spanking new installment of “Coriolanus” directed by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I’m totally stoked! Mainly because their filming in Belgrade… I’m really interested in seeing how he plans to use the city.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Ralph was on Serena and Gray’s flight to London in December. He flew over during a break in shooting the new Harry Potter movie to do some pre-production work. His British Airways flight was canceled and he ended up on Serena’s JAT flight.
But alas… Serena neglected to get a picture of Grayson sitting in his lap. HOW DOES THIS NOT HAPPEN?
1 comment:
The Royal Shakespeare Company did three residencies at University of Michigan while we were there. During the first one we saw the Henriad done over two days. We also saw them do a Salman Rushdie play and then the last year, we saw Antony and Cleopatra and the Tempest, both with Patrick Stewart.
Truly amazing stuff!
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