BardVids from Ian McKellen's 1978 Macbeth
January 20, 2010 by Debra Murphy
Filed under Bard Vids, Bardfilm, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Macbeth, Macbeth Vidclips, Trevor Nunn
Here are a couple of wonderful vidclips from Trevor Nunn’s 1978 Macbeth, starring Ian McKellen and Judi Dench. The video quality isn’t great, but it should give you an idea of what this wonderful production has to offer, starring two of the greatest actors of our time:
“It was the owl that shrieked…”
The Banquet Scene:
Click [...]
Macbeth (1978) starring Ian McKellen & Judi Dench, directed by Trevor Nunn
January 20, 2010 by Debra Murphy
Filed under Bardfilm, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Macbeth, Macbeth film reviews, Trevor Nunn
© 2005 John Murphy
The set is sparse, dark, perpetually fog-filled. A Caravaggio-inspired lighting scheme picks out the actors’ faces from the deep shadow around them. Shakespeare’s words, in this context, take on a visionary vividness. As with Kevin Kline’s filmed stage production of Hamlet, the words in Trevor Nunn’s Macbeth are emphasized and given life [...]
Othello (1989) starring Ian McKellen, directed by Trevor Nunn
February 2, 2009 by John Murphy
Filed under Actors, Bard Vids, Bardfilm, Ian McKellen, Imogen Stubbs, Othello, Othello film reviews, Othello vidclips, Tragedies, Trevor Nunn, Willard White, Zoe Wanamaker
Starring Willard White, Imogen Stubbs, and Ian McKellen
In my review of Oliver Parker’s handsome yet ultimately unrewarding production of Othello (1995), I bemoaned my inability to recommend any other, better filmed version of the play. Well, here it is. This is the one to see. Though less money was spent on the production values for [...]
McKellen's LEAR on PBS…fully clothed
January 15, 2009 by Debra Murphy
Filed under Bardfilm, Ian McKellen, King Lear, Trevor Nunn
The news has been making it around the web that PBS, which is broadcasting a performance of the Trevor Nunn production of King Lear starring Ian McKellen on March 23, had decided to Bowdlerize the televised version by eliminating McKellen’s full frontal nudity in one scene, presumably the “Blow, winds!” mad scene. Sir Ian, with [...]
The Plague of Jealousy: more on Othello at OSF, 2008
September 4, 2008 by Debra Murphy
Filed under Bard Northwest, Dan Donohue, Imogen Stubbs, OSF, Othello, Othello stage reviews, Vilma Silva
Having seen the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 2008 production of Othello twice now, I have two strong recommendations: 1) See it while you still can—it only plays in the outdoor Elizabethan through early October, and, 2) Get seats as close to the stage as you can beg, borrow or steal.
The Elizabethan is a big outdoor venue, [...]
Richard III (1995) starring Ian McKellen
January 2, 2008 by John Murphy
Filed under Annette Bening, Bardfilm, Histories, Ian McKellen, Jim Broadbent, Richard Eyre, Richard III, Richard III film reviews, Robert Downey, Jr.
Directed by Richard Loncraine
Starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, and Robert Downey Jr.
Bunch-Back’d Toad
Audiences nowadays most likely know him as either Magneto from the X-Men movies or (if you have better taste) as Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He’s known to a smaller but equally devoted crowd as one of the [...]
