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Shakespearean Moments in Non-Shakespearean Films

post #1 of 24
8/13/07 at 2:33am
Thread Starter 
Kind of weird and specific but... throw out a scene from a movie that gives you the same feeling or impression as a scene from Shakespeare.

For example: When Walter and The Dude get to the Big Lebowski's house towards the end, realizing that Bunny has just been cruisin' around - reminds me of the revelation scene in Twelfth Night.

My friends gave the example of Dicaprio getting it in The Departed as making him think of Mercutio in R&J.
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post #2 of 24
8/13/07 at 3:58am
The Lion King has Shakespeare all over it. The death of Mufasa and the subsequent shaming of Simba, along with Scar's comeuppance are all very Hamlet.
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post #3 of 24
8/13/07 at 6:04am
I don't suppose 'Theatre of Blood' is quite what you're looking for...
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post #4 of 24
8/13/07 at 6:23am
Half of Star Trek 6?

FIRE!
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post #5 of 24
8/13/07 at 6:26am
I don't think that throwing in a dozen Shakespeare quotes qualifies as Shakespearean. I like that movie, and even I thought the quotes were getting tiresome and annoying toward the end.
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post #6 of 24
8/13/07 at 6:34am
I'm just in a silly mood and wanted an excuse to bring up my second favorite Kirk moment.
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post #7 of 24
8/13/07 at 6:53am
I'm guessing that the first is either "KHHAAAAANNNN!" or "I...have had...enough of you!".
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post #8 of 24
8/13/07 at 7:03am
"Let them die!" is third, your first guess is numero uno.
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post #9 of 24
8/13/07 at 11:32am
I always thought some of Scarface played like one of Shakespeare's tragedies. The subplot with his obsessive over-protectiveness (is that a word?) of his sister, culminating in him killing his best friend is very Othello-ish. In fact, I recently had the idea to write a little Shakespearean parody called Scarr'd Face.

"Bid welcome to my little friend!"
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post #10 of 24
8/13/07 at 11:49am
I always thought that John Travolta was acting like he was doing Shakespeare in Battlefield Earth, but that's probably not what you're looking for.
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post #11 of 24
8/13/07 at 12:04pm
The best example is the Godfather Trilogy. The first one plays a lot like King Henry IV Part I and II, with Michael the unlikely Prince Hal-like successor to his father's "throne" (for different reasons, of course - Prince Hal appears to most as a lazy petty criminal and carouser, and Michael is not criminal enough, seemingly too upright to be don). The second is kind of a dark imagining of Henry V, but also a little like Macbeth or Othello, where the hero loses his soul for the sake of ambition and/or paranoia.

The flawed third entry is an obvious Lear riff, and it's this obviousness that's one of its weaknesses (among others). The first two movies came by their grand Shakespearean-ness seemingly on accident. By the time Coppolla got around to making the third one, this had become the default view of the series, and it seems like he and Puzo decided that they'd keep it up.
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post #12 of 24
8/13/07 at 12:12pm
I've always found myself puzzled by Laura Linney's transformation into Lady Macbeth at the end of Mystic River. Talk about your outta-left-field character turnarounds.
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post #13 of 24
8/13/07 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark
I've always found myself puzzled by Laura Linney's transformation into Lady Macbeth at the end of Mystic River. Talk about your outta-left-field character turnarounds.
Hell yes, that's a great pick.

I'll think about this for a bit, but so far the only thing that came to my mind when I read the thread title was Jose Pablo Cantillo's tape at the beginning of CRANK.
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post #14 of 24
8/14/07 at 1:29am
Disney apparently asked the guy who polished Lion Kings script to "borrow" from Hamlet so I see it as more of an adaption than an original work
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post #15 of 24
8/14/07 at 1:36am
People keep saying that, but I think it's a little silly. There's a thick line between taking inspiration from something and being an adaptation of it. The Lion King simply doesn't have enough in common with Hamlet to be an adaptation. Hamlet doesn't banish himself for several years and hang around with a couple of slobs until he comes back, for one thing.
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post #16 of 24
8/14/07 at 2:05am
True enough I guess, but for better or worse a Disney adaption of about anything jettisons the complicated and not relating to the main character and replaces it with something often more cliche.
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post #17 of 24
8/14/07 at 5:32am
When it was released, Katzenberg freely admitted the thing has major shades of Hamlet. I can't possibly remember the wording, but they were certainly owning up to it.

HBO often puts me in a Shakespeare frame of mind. Deadwood obviously, with the dialogue. The Sopranos, the first two or three seasons in particular, had the feeling of a Shakespeare tragedy. Generally any Rise and Fall story owes something to Shakespeare, particularly ones about crime and politics. Casino is an excellent example. You can see how DeNiro could have kept his paradise, save for a couple key fuckups along the way involving trust and pride.
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post #18 of 24
8/14/07 at 6:49am
Oooh, prime example of New Zealand gothic that puts me in mind of Shakespearian (nay, even Greek) Tragedy is In My Father's Den. Sadly I think to explain further would be to spoil the twist, but there're lots of Hamletic (word!?) and Oedipal devices to the characterisation and the plot structure. Probably hard to get in the wider world (it's only in R4 release as far as I can discern) but I think well worth the effort.
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post #19 of 24
8/14/07 at 7:35am
Was Forbidden Planet supposed to be "The Tempest In Space"?
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post #20 of 24
8/14/07 at 8:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luca S.
Was Forbidden Planet supposed to be "The Tempest In Space"?
Yup, they admitted to borrowing a lot from The Tempest.

I think it works, but then again I apparently like that movie more than I should.
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post #21 of 24
8/14/07 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus
Yup, they admitted to borrowing a lot from The Tempest.

I think it works, but then again I apparently like that movie more than I should.
I don't remember a robot that produces whiskey in the 'Tempest'...!
(j/k)...so Caliban is Robby?
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post #22 of 24
8/14/07 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
I don't suppose 'Theatre of Blood' is quite what you're looking for...
No comments?
No snark?
Disappointed...

Maybe you don't recognise the name...so...
A thousand words...
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post #23 of 24
8/15/07 at 5:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexus
Yup, they admitted to borrowing a lot from The Tempest.

I think it works, but then again I apparently like that movie more than I should.
It is not possible to like that movie more than you should.
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post #24 of 24
8/15/07 at 12:21pm
Why has no one mentioned MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO yet?
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