Cymbeline
A gritty story adaptation of a take-no-prisoners war between dirty cops and an outlaw biker gang. Now, drug Lord 'Cymbeline' (Harris) is driven to desperate measures in this explosive film based on Shakespeare's late masterpiece.
Director:
Michael Almereyda
Cast:
Ethan Hawke, Ed Harris, Milla Jovovich, John Leguizamo, Penn Badgley, Dakota Johnson
Screenplay:
Michael Almereyda
Screening Date:
Mar 07, 2015
Studio:
Lionsgate
Running Time:
97
| Excellent | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.2% | 21.6% | 16.2% | 27.0% | 18.9% |
“Wonderfully done - from the words of Shakespeare to a
great film. Great acting.”
“I wish I had read a synopsis before this.... I was so
confused! Okay, what did I like? Ed Harris, John
Leguizamo, Delroy Lindo, Curtis Vondie, Ethan Hawke
and Bill Pullman. So wonderful to see these fabulous
character actors all in one place. What didn’t I like?
The heavy handed violence, grayness and unfortunately,
ultimately the movie. But, boy did I want to like this!”
“Shakespeare proves his timelessness yet again, helped
out by great actors and a no-nonsense straightforward
presentation style.”
“Exposition with ipads, very quirky to fill information,
very cool! Loved the skateboards. Campy approach to
CYMBELINE. Loved the casting and fabulous locations,
NYC hooray! Where is the location for the bodies being
buried? Beautiful. Tensions reminiscent of ROMEO
AND JULIET, OTHELLO, very enjoyable. Betrayal, love,
mixed genders, lost children brought fade into the fold.”
“SO much more approachable than Baz Luhrman’s
ROMEO AND JULIET excesses in acting, direction
editing. Let Shakepeare be Shakespeare.”
“Michaell Almereyda may be one of the most articulate
guests ever at MEA.”
“Profoundly misconceived, starts going wrong right away.”
“Interesting and successful contemporary adaptation. Good
touches, the white house with missing pieces above the
porch. The silver and chocolate kisses as tribute, clever.”
“I found it quite enjoyable and I was not familiar with this
play. The casting was great. Beautifully visual and stark
and eccentric.”
“Knowing a little about the play helped to understand the
movie.”
“Not my cup of poison.”
“Tremendous adaptation of one of the Bard’s not so
tremendous works. Ed Harris actually was a memorable
presence.”
“At first I thought another gangster adaptation of
Shakespeare but I was pleasantly surprised by the
production and script. Actors – excellent cast and
performances. For me some of the violence was off putting
and there are some things that are difficult not to see. I
didn’t get a sense of the king’s passionate feelings for his Queen. Great integration of current ipad technology into the film. Thanks for the film.”
“Bad joke.”
“If it takes Mila and Ed and Dakota and biker gangs and
corrupt cops to bring Shakespeare to today’s youth so be
it. It worked for a couple of Romeo and Juliets, maybe
Cymbeline will do the same.”
“A good appetite suppressant.”
“Reading the credits is important. It told us that the only
addition to Shakespeare original language is the song sung
by Mila Jovovich and written by Bob Dylan, surely today’s
best living wordsmith.”
“Thought I was watching a poorly directed high school
play.”
“Nice try, but real Shakespeare is better. Barrow Street
was a much better deal. Fun, engaging play with a great
cast, but what a bust!”
“Biker gangs, machine guns, graffiti, tattoo’s unnecessary!
Fortunately the play will survive this horrendous concept
and worse acting.”
“A little too hard over the top.”
“Clever but I can’t imagine who the audience for this film
would be, Certainly Shakespeare aficionados won’t like it
and Shakespeare reluctant types will say what the h---?”
If you'd like to know more about the film...
Heres an article from PBS that talks about the use of Shakespeare in films.
http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/film/indepth.html
Shakespeare Uncovered is a series that ran on CBS that combines history, biography, iconic performances, new analysis to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Below is a link to watch these episodes online.
