When there is no staging of a Shakespeare play accessible, the next best thing is to watch a good movie of it (if there is one).  Keep in mind that Shakespeare wrote the plays to be seen on the stage, not to be read.  As they must be heard, having been written for the voice, not the eye, a good movie can be very useful in understanding the works.  As printing the plays was not a serious undertaking, at least one Shakespeare play seems to have  disappeared, and of the others, some    were not printed during Shakespeare’s lifetime, but included in the Folio collection of 1623.  Usually, if a play was very popular, like “Richard III,” a printer asked Shakespeare’s company, which owned the script (not the playwright) for permission to print it as a  Quarto.  “Richard III” went through many editions.  Shakespeare’s company (The Lord Chamberlain’s Men and later the King’s Men) would sell the play to the printer for a price of around six pounds, or twelve dollars in today’s currency.  Some of the plays that were not printed individually might not have been preserved were it not for the collected works, the Folio, published in 1623, six years after Shakespeare died.

 Here are some of the best movie versions, including those shown at Stratford-upon-Avon this past summer as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company Complete Works Festival, running from April 2006 through March 2007.  There a number of subsidiary events added to the enjoyment of Shakespeare’s plays on the main stages by the host company and by invited production teams from around the world.  These included, at the Cube – an intimate, 100-seat studio transformed from the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theater – from October 25 to November 18, the tiny Ninja Theater presenting “Hamlet” by an inch-high cast.  New plays at the Cube are “One of these Days,” by Leo Butler, a dark love story written in response to “The Tempest,” and Rona Munro’s “The Indian Boy,” a response to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Lectures and post-show discussions were held at the Swan and Courtyard theatres in September, while at the Swan, leading drama schools presented a “Young People’s Shakespeare,” offering five plays.

During the past summer, one of the most popular Festival events was the series “Shakespeare on Film,” showing six outstanding films of Shakespeare’s plays.  Free showings were held on weekend evenings and were presented on a large outdoor cinema screen on the banks of the River Avon, in the Stratford Recreation Ground, across the river from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  Here are the films shown, plus some I would recommend.

Romeo and Juliet, directed by Baz Luhrmann, inaugurated the series, with Mr. Luhrmann’s now-familiar imprint of gaudy colors and MTV imagery.  Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes play the star-crossed lovers in a setting of Verona Beach, California, with the two houses as warring gangs, the Capulets led by “fiery” Latino Tybalt John Leguizamo), who confronts the Montagues at a gas station, draws his pistol (named “Sword”), lights his cigarette, flicks away the match, and literally proceeds to set the surroundings on fire.  Lady Capulet, a skinny society woman, presides at her costume ball dressed as Cleopatra, while ardent suitor Paris (Paul Judd) is an astronaut featured on the cover of Time magazine. Miriam Margolyes is brilliant as the comforting, Italian Nurse. Lord Capulet (Paul Sorvino) is a local Mafioso, whose treatment of Juliet, when she rejects marriage with Paris, befits such a character. Mr. Di Caprio and Ms. Danes play their roles straight, and as such are convincing and sympathetic as the young lovers.  The messenger of Friar Lawrence (Peter Postlethwaite) appropriately drives a FedEx truck to carry word to Mantua, and when no one is at home at Romeo’s trailer, drives away, taking the envelope with him.

With so many imaginative touches, though some of them are overdone, like the hundreds of candles in the tomb scene, it is a pity Mr. Luhrmann could not find more time for the dialogue that, albeit well spoken, is somewhat sparse.  This is a good introduction to the play, especially for young audiences, who might then move on to a movie version of Romeo and Juliet that offers more of the text, like that directed by Franco Zeffirelli in 1968, with Leonard Whiting as Romeo, Olivia Hussey as Juliet, Milo O’Shea as Friar Lawrence, and John McEnery as Mercutio.  The beautiful musical score is by Nino Rota, and it was filmed in Verona.

Henry V, directed by and starring Laurence Olivier in the title role, was the second film to be shown at the Festival, released in 1944, during World War II.  The adaptation was notable for capturing the patriotic tone of the original, especially in the “St. Crispin’s Day” oration delivered by Mr. Olivier, whose beauty of voice no actor has yet equaled.  Because of the war and the dearth of materials to create sets,  it was decided to use colored drawings of the countryside, creating a charming effect of make-believe to surround “the star of England.”  Renee Asherson was a delightful Princess of France, Max Adrian was suitably distasteful as the Dauphin, and Robert Newton was perfect in his outsize portrayal of the bombastic Pistol.  Known for his daring physical stunts in portraying Shakespeare’s heroes (like his leap from above in the final scene of his “Hamlet”), Olivier in one battle scene opted to perform a leap from a tree branch – and broke his leg.  But the stunt was breathtaking.   For contrast, check out Kenneth Branagh’s realistic Henry V film, which gives the audience not the glamour, but all the mud and slog of battle.  This is a Henry believable, but cut down to size, not a hero but one of the regular guys.  Because of its realism, it is especially relevant today with the U.S. and the U.K. both at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Emma Thompson is the Princess of France.

Titus offers a chilling view of the horrors of war in Shakespeare’s earliest tragedy, Titus Andronicus, with Antony Hopkins in the title role.  Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), who directed and designed this film, does a heroic job in bringing to life the story of this Roman general.  Hopkins runs the gamut of emotions, from his unbending refusal to show mercy to the captive Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Jessica Lange), to his grief at the mutilation and rape of his daughter, and finally his madness as the cycle of revenge killings ends with an atrocity that destroys them all.  Miss Taymor states that she chose this play as she wished to demonstrate for modern audiences the cause and effect of violence.

In Kenneth Branagh’s four-hour Hamlet of 1996 he fails to achieve the heroic stature of Laurence Olivier in the role.  Although a fuller text is here, plus some visually stunning scenes of court splendor and snow-filled battlefields, the central character is somewhat sterile and cold, maybe the effect of all that snow.  Both the women characters are excellent.  Kate Winslet’s Ophelia is young, bewildered by Hamlet’s behavior, and truly sympathetic in her mad scenes, certainly the best screen Ophelia and better than most stage ones.  Instead of the mad scene being somewhat embarrassing, Ms. Winslet is appealing, almost heartbreaking in her portrayal.  Julie Christie’s Gertrude suggests the Queen’s infatuation with Claudius, superbly played by Derek Jacobi, whose four-hour Hamlet by the BBC again demonstrates that actor’s brilliance in Shakespeare, although that early production lacks quality.  Catch him as the Chorus in Branagh’s “Henry V”.

Surprisingly, Fortinbras’ arrival in Denmark at the end – having been given permission to march through Denmark on his way to invade Poland – is depicted as an invasion of Denmark, with hordes of soldiers breaking into the court and much broken glass of the mirrored doors used to good effect earlier in the play as a substitute for the arras behind which Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop on Hamlet and Ophelia.

Laurence Olivier’s black-and-white Hamlet filmed in 1948, states in the introduction that it is “the story of a man who could not make up his mind,” but actually Olivier’s performance itself has great depth.   Although it shortens much of the text, and omits the “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” soliloquy, for the delivery of the rest of the great soliloquies, Olivier has no equal.  There is much running up and down steps in Roger Furse’s scenery  (note that the “arris” or curtain behind which Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop is based on an actual, contemporary drawing), Jean Simmons’ Ophelia is beautiful but sleepwalks through the role, and Terence Morgan’s Laertes is totally unconvincing, but watch and listen to Olivier.

 Despite the fact that he is older than Hamlet should be, and therefore so is Norman Wooland’s Horatio, the film also is worth seeing for its Freudian interpretation, started by Freud himself and much in vogue at the time, here played out with a vengeance from the first scene to that on Gertrude’s bed.   Portraying Gertrude, Eileen Herlie is outstanding at demonstrating that her heart is “cleft in twain” between her love for her son and her husband.  Ms. Herlie was 27 at the time.  Basil Sydney is fine as Claudius and Felix Aylmer a triumph as Polonius.

The most recent Shakespeare film of the Stratford series was The Merchant of Venice (2004), starring Al Pacino as Shylock and Jeremy Irons as Antonio.

 It makes no bones of the implication that Antonio’s underwriting Bassanio’s venture to marry money in Belmont is due to the older man’s homosexual interest in his young friend (Joseph Fiennes).  The costumes and scenery are sumptuous, and Al Pacino is an excellent Shylock, a clever business man who sees a chance to profit from Antonio’s eagerness to obtain a loan.  This Shylock reveals subtly how he has been hurt by Antonio’s insults in the past and he lets loose emotionally only when he discovers his daughter’s elopement was engineered by Antonio’s youthful friends.  His delivery is excellent, especially when he recounts how she traded – for a monkey - his engagement ring from her mother. There is quite a bit of cutting and in its place, a long, unnecessary introduction on how Shylock and his brethren were regarded in Renaissance Venice.

Probably the RSC organizers of the film series chose the 1935 Hollywood film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream  over the company’s own acclaimed version of the play, now on DVD, because they realized that the earlier film would be irresistible, shown at night, on the banks of the Avon, to the strains of Mendelssohn.  This is Max Reinhardt’s famous version first seen in Germany and brought to the Hollywood Bowl when the director had to flee the Nazis.  Enchantment reigns as Titania’s dancing fairies, played by children, are accompanied by a chorus and that wonderful score composed for the play.  The acting, however, is uneven, as James Cagney as Bottom and Mickey Rooney as Ariel struggle with their lines, even while one admires Reinhardt’s inventive touches, as in Bottom’s awakening after his dream.

Macbeth, directed by Roman Polanski in 1971, with a screenplay by Kenneth Tynan, is the best film version of this work, with Jon Finch in the title role and Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth. It was an excellent choice for the festival. The set tells us this is ancient Scotland, with everyone wearing fur skins and inhabiting a wooden castle with dirt floors. The film early on involves the audience in Macbeth’s own horror, both before and after his killing of Duncan.  Shakespeare’s metaphorical use of blood and darkness is echoed in the impressive visual effects, and in the nightmarish atmosphere that prevails.

Regarding the witches, there is never a doubt by the audience, although there is doubt by Macbeth, whether they are good or evil, as he wonders if their “supernatural soliciting… be good…or ill.”  The three scary witches who draw magic circles and conjure up horrid visions are brought into the film again at the end to suggest that evil continues to threaten the unwary traveler.  At the beginning, Francesca Annis and Jon Finch suggest well the mutual love between the pair, a love that disintegrates as Macbeth’s ambition grows.  Ms. Annis is brilliant in the sleepwalking scene as she gives voice to her troubled soul.  The black and white television film of Macbeth, directed by Trevor Nunn, with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench, does not give as full a sense of the play itself, for it is mostly in closeup, made for television without scenery, but their acting is impressive.

Also directed by Mr. Nunn for television, is the RSC seventies Antony and Cleopatra, using the same closeup technique.  As it is the only version we have, and is available in DVD, we should be grateful, but while closeups are fine for Janet Suzman, who does a splendid job as Cleopatra, Richard Johnson as Antony is hardly “the triple pillar of the world.”  Corin Redgrave, as the cold-blooded Octavius Caesar, is excellent.  The clarity of this version is helpful in indicating the swings of the action from Egypt to Rome and back again, though the drunken scene on shipboard and the battles in the second half have been better depicted on stage.

For comedies, highly recommended is Kenneth Branagh’s musical version of Love’s Labour’s Lost that includes well known numbers as the score, highlighted by Nathan Lane singing “No Business Like Show Business.”  And Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing, in which he plays Benedick to Emma Thompson’s Beatrice, is a real delight.