Comparison of Shakespearean Adaptations - Essay Example

? Comparison of Shakespearean Adaptations Full Shakespearean stories are always considered intelligently crafted so that consequently, they are immortal and are even more preserved through the adaptations of the narrations in modern movies. The 1996 film entitled “Twelfth Night” and the more recent adaptation of the Shakespearean story, entitled “She’s the Man”, are two great movies showing how the story is told in the modern era. The two films use different techniques which are obviously made not only for entertainment but for different audiences as well. In this paper, the films will be compared and contrasted according to audience, plot, telling of the story, revelation of character, conflict, opposing forces and camera angles. “Twelfth Night” did not change much of the Shakespearean story when it comes to the setting and the use of the old English language. This makes the film look and sound very Elizabethan. It has been created for audiences who appreciate the great works of the genius and would rather watch adaptations set in a theatrical manner. The film presents the performers having long and boring conversations that viewers really have to listen intently for them to be able to follow and understand the story. On the contrary, “She’s the Man” has been created for the modern viewer who appreciates not only the story but also the use of technological advancements. The conversations are short and scenes change more often than the former movie. There is a lot of editing made which makes the film more interesting and there is also a modification of the story to match modern settings for it to be more believable, considering the modern culture in America. “Twelfth Night” tells the story of a woman, Viola and her identical twin brother, Sebastian, who thought they have lost each other in a shipwreck. To get to the man she loves, Viola acts as a man and names herself Cesario. She then becomes the trusted friend of Count Orsino, the love of her life. However, the count was hopelessly in love with the beautiful Olivia and he asks his new friend to persuade the woman for him. Contrary to what was expected, Olivia fell in love with the disguised Viola. Meanwhile, Sebastian has come to town with a friend who rescued him during the shipwreck and when Viola/ Cesario was fighting with another admirer of Olivia, Sebastian’s friend came along, saving the pitiful young woman. When the admirer went after Cesario, he found Sebastian instead who courageously fought Olivia’s admirer. When Olivia came out, the other men dispersed and Sebastian and Olivia were left behind. Overwhelmed and naturally attracted by Olivia’s beauty, the man followed the woman to the priest without question and they got married. However, just after a few moments, Count Orsino and Cesario came and all the characters met at the front of Olivia’s house and the twins came to realize that they both survived the shipwreck after all. Count Orsino learns that his trusted friend loves him and proposes that she become his mistress and the comedy ends with the conflicts being settled. “She’s the Man” presents a different story without getting rid of all the important elements of the story. Viola is a part of a women’s soccer team at Cornwall which gets cut. Due to her love for the sports, the young lady cannot accept what happened and proposes that they join the men’s team. However, that is not allowed. Meanwhile, trying to escape his mother, Viola’s identical twin brother tells her his plans and asks her to do something for him in order to cover for his absences in school. Viola then comes with the bright idea of taking the place of his brother while he is away in order for her to get to the soccer team and she does so quite successfully. However, she fell in love with his roommate, Duke who was so deeply in love with the school’s hottest girl, Olivia. The woman on the other hand falls in love with the sensitive Viola/Sebastian but since s/he showed no interest in the woman, Duke asks Viola to help him get near Olivia. The disguised woman helps Duke quite reluctantly and has to endure the pains of seeing the two together when Olivia finally crafts her own story, showing her interest to Duke when all she was actually doing was make Sebastian jealous in order for the woman to have his attention. Concurrently, the real Sebastian decided to get home a day earlier, when conflicts between the main characters have already gone to the peak. Still, the game has to continue the next day and when it does, Sebastian plays the first half awfully. During the break, her sister gets to him and takes his uniform, plays the second half of the game and helps the team win. However, Duke became so angry at Viola that he could not reconcile with her. Still hoping against hope, Viola sends Duke an invitation to the Debutantes’ party. The story did not end quite easily but the two lovers reconciled. This plot makes the modern viewer think that it is nothing Shakespearean but obviously, it is an adaptation that has not changed much the names of the characters. As mentioned earlier, “Twelfth Night” is narrated more by the words of the characters than the actions performed by the characters. The setting did not even help much in telling the story because it is very limited, a feature very common in theatrical shows. There was not much movement from the characters also so that the camera did most of the moving, focusing on the emotions shown by the characters. On the other hand, the other film used all of the elements of film to tell the story, starting from the conversations, actions, setting and use of camera. This makes the movie more interesting and action-packed. There are even scenes wherein the characters did not have to speak to tell the part of the story but the actions themselves tell what is happening in the story. For instance, Viola’s determination to be in the soccer team is shown by her practices, alone or with Duke. The passing of days is told by the change of the time where Viola is shown playing alone while it was still dark then the scene changes with her practicing with Duke, then the team and her, alone again. The revelation of characters in the theatrical adaptation resembles much the way the plot is told. It is through the conversations of the characters that their attributes and personalities are revealed. The other film on the other hand discloses the characters as early as the film starts by using the same techniques used in telling the story. In the first film, there was some suspense because the main characters did not know that their twin sibling is still alive while the other movie shows the circumstances as the story unfolds. The older adaptation of Shakespeare’s story shows the four kinds of conflicts. Firstly, there is the psychological conflict in the main character, knowing that she is hiding her personality and her love for the Count, there is always the possibility of her secrets being discovered. This has put Cesario in a dilemma which she alone has to face. Her conflict with the other suitor of Olivia is not only shown through their conversations but also wit them fighting against each other. Conflict with society appears in the scene where Sebastian’s friend gets arrested while he was trying to save Cesario and her hero she is her brother whom he saved in the shipwreck. Classical conflict also is seen the same scene mentioned above, when circumstances brought all the characters together and the secret of the protagonist had to be made known. The other film similarly presents personal, social, classical and physical conflicts however, personal conflict is not observed so much. On the contrary, with the plot, physical and classical conflicts are used more often. The opposing forces are varied in both films and as expected, they created much interesting scenes. The use of camera tricks in the “Twelfth Night” is not much. There is not much editing done as well. Although the film was created recently, the movie was made in such a way that it resembles a classical film. Since the setting did not change much to help the unfolding of the story, the camera had to focus more on the characters, revealing their emotions. There are many long shots when it is necessary to show all the characters or to follow the characters who are moving. There are also medium shots that show one or two characters and sometimes, from medium shots, the camera is moved to focus on the face of the character speaking or another character whose emotion needs to be revealed as the conversations go on. In the second film, camera shots are also varied but most of the scenes are shot from afar. There is not much close up shots compared to the first film and the same could also be said about medium shots. In general, the first film shows the quality of theatrical films while the former shows the use of various technical elements in modern films. Read More