Shakespeare retellings have long been popular—from Kiss Me Kate and West Side Story to Throne of Blood and even Forbidden Planet. In that sense, this 2005 BBC series, which offers radically modern adaptations of four of the Bard's plays, hardly breaks new ground, but it does serve up considerable entertainment. Perhaps the most surprising entry is a version of Macbeth that turns the tale into a film noir, situating it in a posh London restaurant with up-and-coming star James McAvoy as a chef prodded to murder his boss (kind of an upscale update on the slacker Macbeth take-off Scotland, PA, which was set in a diner). Almost as clever is a revision of Much Ado About Nothing that recasts Beatrice and Benedick as rival TV news anchors, and a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew in which Kate (played with hilarious venom by Shirley Henderson) is an MP with a vitriolic temper and Rufus Sewell's Petruchio is the smug aristocrat who woos and weds her. Some of the romantic twists in the latter two plays—especially involving secondary characters—don't entirely satisfy in this contemporary setting, but no missteps are fatal. The least engaging of the group is a take on A Midsummer Night's Dream that transposes the action to a rustic vacation park: the play's fantastical elements simply don't fit comfortably into the modern milieu. Even here, however, it's still enjoyable watching pros like Bill Paterson and Imelda Staunton deal with their characters' magical change of affections. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Shakespeare Retold
BBC, 2 discs, 360 min., not rated, DVD: $34.98 Volume 22, Issue 6
Shakespeare Retold
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