Film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are increasingly popular and now figure prominently in the study of his work and its reception. This Companion is a lively collection of critical and historical essays on the films adapted from, and inspired by, Shakespeare's plays. Chapters have been revised and updated from the first edition to include the most recent films and scholarship. An international team of leading scholars discuss Shakespearean films from a variety of perspectives: as works of art in their own right; as products of the international movie industry; and as the work of particular directors from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh. They also consider specific issues such as the portrayal of Shakespeare's women and the supernatural. The emphasis is on feature films for cinema, rather than television, with strong coverage of Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.

'A fascinating analysis of a wondrous subject, this book is an essential contribution to the library of all serious film buffs and Shakespearean anoraks alike. From the Italianisation of Shakespeare via Franco Zeffirelli, right through to the rigorous historicising and politicisation of Shakespeare's media configurations (of which there are indeed many), these seventeen essays are simply crucial.'

David Marx