Where's My Juliet?

[thisnewday]

Jeezus, I'd forgotten what bloody fucking affairs Bill Shakespeare's tragedies are! (Though not how confoundingly convoluted his Elizabethan English is!) So last night Ihappened onto something called "Titus" on the indy film channel.

It stars (Sir) Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange and it's a sort of futuristic remake of the circa 1593 play "Titus Andronicus." And as much as I hated teaching that shit to 11th graders (a couple years or so after it was written), I was amazed at how compelling the plays on words, how absorbing the complications of plot still are. And, despite the fact that you're sometimes sure that you're listening to some dialect of Cantonese, the language is still poetic and beautiful.

I also thought the production was excellent and actually finds advantage in the mind-bending shift from centuries-old play to modern film. (It really killed me, for instance, when Andronicus' brother got up for the traditional "tidying-up" speech at the end. Fucking genius! It was like you were seeing it done for the first time ever because you don't see it that often in modern film.)

Then again, maybe there's a certain sad relevance, owing to the fact that we're once more living the final days of empire, our lives witness to the lies and bloody treacheries of an unravelling Pax Americana...

So, where's my Juliet, who shames the feeble light now rising in the east? And who will kiss from these bitter lips the last sweet poison, to then lie down with me for our eternal sleep...

Have a nice day...

LPK
LiveJournal
11.23.2003

Comments

[amandagayle.livejournal.com]

that reminds me of 9th grade, when i was trying to explain the just-released movie version of "romeo and juliet" to a life-long friend of mine. i'd already had the pleasure of trying to explain a local, traditional production of "taming of the shrew" to her two or three years before, so i should have known better...
when "understanding shakespeare" comes to mind, my first emotions are confusion and sorrow. why DON'T people understand even the basics of what he's trying to say, and why don't they care? this shit is timeless.
at the same time, i never had much respect for shakespeare. he's a bit too typical. but maybe that's the point you're aiming for: it's the times, come full-circle...

[olbuksings.livejournal.com]

yeah, that captures it so nicely... and makes me wonder if laura has ever tried explaining shakespeare to dubya... nah...

olbuksings