The 25 best Shakespeare-to-screen adaptations

To film, or not to film, that is the question. We rank the answers.

By David Cote, David Fear, Adam Feldman, Joshua Rothkopf and Keith Uhlich Thu Oct 20 2011

  • JULIUS CAESAR (1953)

  • TWELFTH NIGHT (1996)

  • KING LEAR (1971)

  • THE TEMPEST (1979)

  • THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (2004)

JULIUS CAESAR (1953)

25. JULIUS CAESAR (1953)
Et tu Brando? Many thought that Marlon the mumbler would try to methodize Joseph L. Mankiewicz's adaptation of Shakespeare's historical drama. But the star's played-straight Mark Antony single-handedly injects passion and anger into this prestige project, blowing away cast members such as James Mason and John Gielgud.—DF

24. TWELFTH NIGHT (1996)
Shakespearean comedy being a tough sell, director Trevor Nunn's wintry, bittersweet adaptation of the Bard's cross-dressing romp doesn't strain for laughs—it earns them quietly. A lot of what's delicious about this somber-paletted treatment comes from pitch-perfect casting: Nigel Hawthorne's snobby Malvolio, Helena Bonham Carter's sultry Olivia and Ben Kingsley's touchingly dour clown.—DC

23. KING LEAR (1971)
Craggy, leonine Paul Scofield reprises his haunting onstage turn as the grief-maddened monarch in Peter Brook's film version (modeled after his groundbreaking 1962 Royal Shakespeare Company rendition). Shot starkly in black and white, minimally scored and imbued with an almost Beckettian gloom, the work has a raw, rough-hewn medievalism perfectly suited to the tragedy.—DC

22. THE TEMPEST (1979)
As was his nature, director Derek Jarman departed radically from the text—Shakespeare, you might recall, didn't write a musical number set to "Stormy Weather" involving a bunch of sailors—but the end result is full of feeling and true to the play's spirit of unruly magic.—JR

21. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE (2004)
The painterly lushness of Michael Radford's location cinematography and Renaissance costumes add heft to this carefully judged take on Shakespeare's Jewish-problem play. Al Pacino's Shylock is no stock blood-libel villain, but a tragic antihero driven by rage and hurt to become the monster that his Christian neighbors already believe him to be.—AF

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (2 ratings)

  • kozintesev should have been there in the list!

    pratik mitra Mon Mar 25
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  • Do some proofreading. Keanu Reeves is Don John, not Don Pedro.

    Travis Wed Oct 24 2012
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  • And what about Othello (1995) and As You Like It (2006)? You can't go wrong with Kenneth Branagh.

    Andrew Wed Oct 24 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • Although it's controversial, Olivier's 1965 "Othello" should have been included, and I would never have put Baz Luhrmann's desecration of "Romeo and Juliet" on the list. And what about the Orson Welles "Macbeth"?

    Albert Sat Aug 18 2012
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  • get <a href="http://www.chanelstore-online.com/">chanel bags online</a> for gift

    Zitheeri Thu Aug 16 2012
    Rated as: 1/5
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  • Despite the negative reviews, I'm actually rather pleased with this list - so much so, in fact, that I've been using it as a reference as to which Shakespeare adaptations to watch. Yet I too am not without my reservations. That the 1996 Hamlet should below the 2000 version, and that the 1990 version should not be included, is inexcusable. Of all the films on this list, the one I think least worthy of being included is that adolescent schizophrenic cacophony of gaudy ostentation Romeo + Juliet (1996), although I understand why it is included (not why it ranks so highly, however). Still, there are some notable films that have been unduly neglected, some of which other users have previously mentioned: West Side Story (1961), 10 Things I Hate about You (1999), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), and the grossly underrated The Tempest (2010). I have not seen Coriolanus (2011), though I'm sure it lives up to its hype.

    Andrew Thu Aug 16 2012
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  • A Shakespeare cinematic list that doesn't include Grigory Kozintsev's Hamlet (1964) and King Lear (1971) loses all validity.

    richard brooks Fri Jul 27 2012
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  • thnks

    praveen Mon Jul 9 2012
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  • The fact that Baz Luhrman's awful "Romeo and Juliet" and Ethan Hawke's dismal "Hamlet" are both on this list and Ralph Fiennes' superb Coriolanus, "West Side Story", and "10 Things I Hate About You" are not makes little to no sense. Also, Keanu Reeves was unwatchable in "Much Ado..."

    Rebecca E Mon Jun 18 2012
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  • I'm sorry, I can't trust a list that includes Forbidden Planet but not the BBC version of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart. Or a list that ranks Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet below the 1968 version.

    Pete Mon Jun 18 2012
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