Center Stage: An Exploration of Theater & Performance on Screen
Isabella, directed by Matías Piñeiro is a film that deals with a theater troupe and their staging of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.” The main actress, Mariel (María Villar), is conflicted in her personal life. She turns to her brother and then his lover, Luciana (Agustina Muñoz), for financial support during tough times. Luciana is a more successful actor than Mariel, so she serves as a figure that keeps Mariel doubting her ambitions throughout the film. Luciana’s constant reappearances in Mariel’s life drives her further into doubt. Piñeiro jumps around in time, from days before the crucial audition, to Mariel’s life after. The ongoing themes of doubt and ambition are constantly at a push and pull in Isabella. Film festivals have celebrated Piñeiro’s work, not just for Isabella, but for his other films such as Hermia and Helena, which is another Shakespeare inspired film. The selections for this watchlist have won awards for their important contributions to both the conversation around theater and innovation in film.
FACETS’ cinema will host screenings of Isabella from November 19-21 & 26-28, 2021. To accompany these screenings, we have created a watchlist filled with Shakespearean film adaptations and films that observe the world behind theater. These choices are as unique as Piñeiro’s Isabella. Often when we think of Shakespeare adaptations, we think of plays being translated word for word. This type would be considered a close transfer of the text. In our selection, we chose to include a variety of film adaptation types (close, loose, intermediate, etc). We have chosen Shakespeare adaptation films and some that simply use the theater as a backdrop. Some choose to take a different approach to filmmaking by examining the lives of theater actors. We hope this watchlist serves you well to prepare for the screening, and hopefully inspire you to come to the FACETS’ screening of Isabella because it is one you won’t want to miss.
Without further ado, here are films adapted from The Bard & about theater!
RAN (1985)
DIRECTED BY AKIRA KUROSAWA
“In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” – Hidetora Ichimonji. Akira Kurosawa’s Ran is a partial adaptation of the play King Lear, in which an elder father abdicates to his three daughters. In the film, a father abdicates to his three sons, which results in betrayal. Throughout the film, Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), succumbs to madness because his eldest sons betray him. The film begins with his youngest son Saburo arguing with his father as he is abdicating his rule to Taro (the eldest son) and Jiro (the second son). This argument results in Saburo’s exile from the kingdom. As it comes out, Saburo is right, and each son ends up betraying Hidetora. Hidetora was a ruthless warlord who vanquished enemy castles and captured enemy daughters as wives for his sons. The title of the film means “chaos,” which ties in with the anti-war message of the film.
Ran is filled with vibrant color and contains extremely realistic and brutal battle sequences. The absence of sound during battle sequences creates a strong atmosphere for this film. Kurosawa directed these scenes using authentic battle strategies and techniques to create these sequences. This is a grand epic, one that is often considered Kurosawa’s masterpiece. As a Shakespearean adaptation, it takes the basic principles of the story of King Lear and comments on post-war Japan through Jidaigeki.
If any of this interests you, Ran is available to rent at FACETS.
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (1991)
DIRECTED BY GUS VAN SANT.
My Own Private Idaho is based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. The film follows two friends Mike Waters (River Phoenix) and Scott Favor (Keanu Reeves) who go on a journey around the United States, Rome, and Italy. Scott’s story is a contemporary version of the King Henry plays and is considered a landmark in the new queer cinema movement of the 90s. The film depicts these characters looking for their respective arenas in life. They both go through self discovery as they work as male sex workers, with a clientele of mostly men. When Mike tells Scott he loves him, they take a different approach to their personal discovery. Scott is in search of his mom, and he does sex work to be able to get across the country and to Italy.
This is an interesting take on the King Henry plays and surely makes for a landmark piece of film. It is an experience that creates a whole new reality with the source material. This film is considered experimental for its editing style and tackles topics that were considered taboo at the time, which now have been seen by many of the LGBTQ+ community as ahead of its time.
If this sounds worth your time, it’s available to rent at FACETS.
CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1966)
DIRECTED BY ORSON WELLES
It wouldn’t be a Shakespearean watchlist without at least one film from Orson Welles’ oeuvre. Chimes at Midnight’s plot revolves around one of Shakespeare’s most well-known characters, Sir John Falstaff (played by Orson Welles himself). Prince Hal must decide whether to be loyal to his father King Henry IV or his friend Falstaff. The play, Henry IV part I, goes into detail about Prince Hal and his drunk and disorderly behavior with Falstaff, which his father despises. The script contains lines from five of Shakespeare’s plays: Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Richard II, Henry V, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Welles ambitiously combines these texts and is able to demonstrate the intertextuality of Shakespeare’s plays.
The film follows many of the same events in the play, with the main conflict surrounding that of Hotspur and Prince Hal. The dynamic between Falstaff and Hal changes dramatically after King Henry the IV, Hal’s father, dies, and like the play, Hal rejects the lifestyle he lived during the early scenes in the film. Welles creates a fantastic adaptation which is considered among many critics to be Welles’ best work and according to Welles himself, it was his best film.
If this sounds like an enjoyable time, rent Chimes at Midnight at FACETS.
CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA (2014)
DIRECTED BY OLIVIER ASSAYAS
Clouds of Sils Maria is about a middle-aged actress Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) who gets a role in a romantic lesbian drama. She plays the older lover opposite a rising actress Jo-Ann (Chloë Grace Moretz). The older actress fights jealousy and her own personal insecurity while starring in this theater play called “Maloja Snake.” All of this occurs while there is sexual tension between her and her assistant Valentine (Kristin Stewart). As a film about the inner workings of stardom and theater performance, Clouds of Sils Maria is a fantastic film to add to this list with its look at the aging star compared to the rising star.
Juliette Binoche, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Kristin Stewart give compelling performances. Their characters are in conflict with each other from beginning to end, showing the dynamic of their impulses, their dreams, and their desires. Clouds of Sils Maria is a wonderful look at the underbelly of acting as a professional occupation.
If you are interested in films with the backdrop of theater, rent Clouds of Sils Maria at FACETS.
MACBETH (1971)
DIRECTED BY ROMAN POLANSKI
For the final Shakespeare adaptation on this list, we have chosen the 1971 adaptation of Macbeth. Macbeth (The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a production funded by Playboy Enterprises that ended as a failure in the U.S. but has since been reconsidered as an admirable adaptation of the Shakespeare play. The film stars Jon Finch as Macbeth, Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth, and was written for the screen by Polanski and the English Theater Critic (and Shakespeare expert) Kenneth Tynan. According to film legend, the director Polanski had made the film bloodier and more gruesome to cope with the murder of his wife Sharon Tate. In 1969 Polanski was working in England when the Manson Family cult murdered his wife and three others, and the chosen adaptation came to cope.
The film tells the same story as the play about a Highland lord who climbs up the ladder to King of Scotland through murder and deception. He becomes power hungry with Lady Macbeth, his wife, who pulls the strings in the background. Macbeth falls into a state of moral decline as he sets his sights on the throne. The film is presented in a more realistic style with some additional thematic elements that the writers added into the Shakespeare play. Polanski chose to search for actors who were young and good looking in an attempt to attract younger generations at the time. Macbeth makes our list because it thoroughly researched the play to create a vivid film that is well worth your time.
If you are interested in Macbeth and its adaptations, rent the 1971 film at FACETS.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942)
DIRECTED BY ERNST LUBITSCH
To Be or Not to Be depicts a Warsaw theater troupe in the heart of Poland during the Nazi occupation of 1939. The film opens with a depiction of the Nazis, which we slowly realize is a satirical play called “Gestapo” done by this Polish theater troupe. The film is a dark comedy that shows both the front of the stage as well as what happens behind the scenes. In one scene an actor recites the famous Hamlet “To be or not to be” soliloquy, which is the chosen title of the film.
The film works doubly with the theater troupe having to disguise themselves as Nazis later in the film when the occupation is in full thrust. The theater troupe outsmarts the Nazis in comical ways, which is a meta look at actors who play actors. This film is not just about theater. An aviator named Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack) falls in love with theater actress Maria Tura (Carole Lombard). Maria is married to Josef Tura (Jack Benny), who is the actor that gets a lot of attention and fame apart from her. When the Lieutenant and Maria first meet, Josef thinks that the person who walked off during his soliloquy was doing so because they disliked his performance. This person was in fact Sobinski walking off to go to Maria, which is a nice bit of dramatic irony. This is what many consider an Ernst Lubitsch masterpiece, so if you are interested in Polish history or films that look at the theater this film is for you.
Rent the classic Hollywood film To Be Or Not to Be (1942) at FACETS.
OPENING NIGHT (1977)
DIRECTED BY JOHN CASSAVETTES
Opening Night depicts the psychological state of an actress named Myrtle Gordan (Gena Rowlands) who witnesses the death of a teenage mega fan. This occurrence has haunting effects on the actress’ mental state and she slowly succumbs to binge drinking before her performances. Myrtle begins to change up her lines, throw props, and break the fourth wall, and the cast is not impressed with her behavior and see her as a troublemaker. Eventually, the writer Sarah Goode expresses her desire to replace Myrtle because she deems her psychologically unfit. Myrtle later has an apparent vision of Nancy, the teenage fan who her driver ran over, attacking her. Myrtle ends up slashing herself in this attack that in reality is just a figment of her imagination.
This film shows the pressures of stardom in a way that is inextricably tied to the psychological. Myrtle represents an aging star who is pushed into a play in which she doesn’t connect with the character she is playing. She becomes unhinged as a person but in the end, her performance has the entire audience roaring in applause at opening night. We at FACETS recommend Opening Night as an important depiction of theater performance and the difficulties associated with stardom.
If you are interested in the work of John Cassavettes and Gena Rowlands, rent Opening Night at FACETS.
BIRDMAN (2014)
DIRECTED BY ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU
Riggan Thomas is a forgotten actor who played a superhero named Birdman in a trilogy of films. He has a split personality in that the birdman voice follows and belittles him. The film follows Riggan as he tries to regain his notoriety by directing a Raymond Carver short story for Broadway. Despite this, the voice that follows him wants to return to his former Birdman glory. The film takes place in the city of New York and looks, for the most part, as if it was filmed in a single shot. People around Riggan seem to both support his attempt at Broadway, but some dismiss it as his vanity project.
Birdman is a look into the mind of stars who are forgotten and attempt to regain their following through any means necessary. For Riggan, a suicide attempt is what gets others talking about him again. The film is a look at Riggan Thomas’s fifteen minutes of fame, who is tormented by his appearance as Birdman in the 90s, and how one role can define an entire career and is extremely difficult to break away from.
If this film sounds interesting, rent the film at FACETS.
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
DIRECTED BY JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ
A film that received fourteen academy award nominations and won six, All About Eve is often considered one of the greatest films of all time. This film is about the chase some people will attempt to reach stardom. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a top-billed star who worries about her age affecting her career as a Broadway actress. This allows for Eve (Anne Baxter) to manipulate her way into Margo’s social circle and life. By the end of the film, history repeats itself as Eve herself gets a rival, Phoebe. Eve, now on her way to Hollywood, uses her social circle to her advantage and makes a name for herself playing in Margo’s place in a Broadway production.
All About Eve depicts the constant search for new talent in the theater and film industry that is run by connections and luck, and these characters are willing to take advantage of friendships for their own gain. The anxiety of the aging star is a recurring motif that carries over to most of the films that we have talked about on this list. It seems All About Eve was one of the first to talk about such a topic (Sunset Boulevard came out the same year). If you appreciate films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, give All About Eve a try!
Rent All About Eve at FACETS.
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (1999)
DIRECTED BY PEDRO ALMODÓVAR
Named after our previous pick, All About Eve, we find ourselves in a story quite unlike what we have shown before. Director Pedro Almodóvar deals with subject matter to reflect the life of his own mother and all mothers in general. Much of the film deals with LGBTQ+ themes while also questioning existence with Estaban’s death and his father’s departure. The film openly shows the realities of living with HIV. Rosa (Penélope Cruz) is a figure of faith, but ultimately questions faith as difficult circumstances overtake her life.
Interestingly, Almodóvar pays homage to Opening Night in the opening scene. The son, Estaban, is struck by a car as he runs into the street to get an autograph from Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes) after her performance of A Streetcar Named Desire. This death haunts his mother Manuela (Cecilila Roth) throughout the film. Maneula begins performing in A Streetcar Named Desire, her performances are acclaimed and overshadow the character Nina, who deals with drug abuse. The film has a very theatrical style and covers topics that are as colorful as the film itself. No one does it quite like Almodóvar.
If you like comedies that are not afraid to push boundaries, rent All About My Mother at FACETS.
Christian Mietus is an Editorial Assistant Intern at FACETS. He is a Senior working towards a B.A in English General Writing (Creative and Professional) at Lewis University with minors in Film Studies and Russian Language and Culture. In 2019, his poetry was published in both the WINDOWS fine arts magazine and in the City Brink literary magazine. In May 2019, his collaborative project, “Assimilation through Sound” was chosen for the Stephany Schlachter Award at Lewis University. Christian is a film lover, some of his favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrzej Wajda, and Krzysztof Kieslowski.
Ān Kassel is an Media Production Assistant Intern at FACETS. They received their BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where they concentrated on Film, Screenwriting, VR, and Performance Art. They were the director, producer, and screenwriter for She Became Visible that screened in the FVNMAS Festival 2021. Currently, their work advocates for new kinds of representation of East Asian transracial adoptees and explores queer and East Asian intersections.