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Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564 - April 23, 1616) is reputed to be the greatest of all writers in the English language, or indeed in any language. His ability to capture and convey the most profound aspects of human nature is regarded by many as unequalled, and the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespeare". He was among few playwrights who have excelled in both tragedy and comedy and several of his plays contain songs that are among the finest lyric poems in English. His prolific output is especially impressive in light of the fact that he lived only 53 years. "A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." - Will Shakespeare

As You Like It (2006)

6.3/10
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Alfred Molina, Brian Blessed, Janet McTeer, Kevin Kline, Richard Briers, David O...

Kenneth Branagh adapts and directs this playful version of Shakespeare's comedy, setting the action in a time and place resembling 19th-century Japan.... Read more

As You Like It (BBC) (1978)

6.3/10
Director: Basil Coleman
Starring: Helen Mirren, Brian Stirner, Richard Pasco

One of Shakespeare's favourites throughout the ages. A fairy tale of tangled love and political intrigue lavishly staged by Canada's renowned Stratfor... Read more

Coriolanus (2011)

6.2/10
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Starring: Brian Cox, James Nesbitt, Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler, Jessic...

For his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes adapts Shakespeare's tragedy "Coriolanus", transposing the action from ancient Rome to present-day Eastern Eu... Read more

Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight) (1965)

8.6/10
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, John Gielgud, Margaret Rutherford, Orson Welles, Norman Rodway

Henry IV (John Gielgud) usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion... Read more

Feast of Love (2007)

6.7/10
Director: Robert Benton
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, Billy Burke, Selma Blair, Alexa Da...

As college professor and writer Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) sits quietly in the coffee shop of his tight-knit Oregon community, the local residen... Read more

Forbidden Planet (1956)

7.6/10
Director: Fred M Wilcox
Starring: Robby the Robot, Warren Stevens, Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis

'The best of the science fiction interstellar productions of the fifties', according to Pauline Kael. The action takes place in the year 2257 on the p... Read more

Hamlet (Branagh) (1996)

7.8/10
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi

Murder and violence, revenge and intrigue, sex and desire, paranoia and madness - the heady brew of passion and emotion that makes up Shakespeare's Ha... Read more

Hamlet (Gibson) (1990)

7.8/10
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Starring: Alan Bates, Glenn Close, Mel Gibson, Paul Scofield, Ian Holm, Helena Bonham Cart...

'God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another' wrote William Shakespeare in his classic tale of vengeance and obsession. Franco Zeffire... Read more

Hamlet (Hawke) (2000)

7.8/10
Director: Michael Almereyda
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Diane Venora, Kyle MacLachlan, Julia Stiles, Bill Murray, Liev Schr...

Shakespeare's tragedy is turned into a modern morality tale with Ethan Hawke as the title character, now an angry film student suspicious of widowed m... Read more

Hamlet (Olivier) (1948)

7.8/10
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney

A brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's play about the Danish prince 'who just couldn't make up his mind'. Hauntingly photographed in Elsinore, Denmar... Read more