Julius Caesar

Certainly Worth Your Time, But Beware The Amazon Description
Not quite the classical production of Julius Caesar which one might expect, although the togas do make a brief appearance. Still, the choice to have the actors speak in (according to the behind-the-scenes featurette) an east African accent, and the transposition of the play from a recognizable Rome to a more or less African setting, jars for mere seconds in what is a truly worthy addition to the RSC.

Unfortunately the DVD on offer is the UK release, which is Region 2 in spite of Amazon's description. Not Amazon's fault: the back of the DVD case says the disc is "Region 0." Also, the running time is listed as 191 minutes, when in fact it is 150 minutes. There is no US release, nor is there likely to be. So be sure to have access to a device which supports Region 2 playback before purchasing.

Just to clarify, this film version is adapted from the RSC stage performance. It is not a recording of a live theatre performance. The RSC has, to my knowledge, done...

Bravo!!
There have been many modern adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, with varying results. This version of Julius Caesar is by far one of the best. The setting is a small, dictatorial African country, the players are African-American, and the finished product is remarkable. In even the most successful modern adaptation, the delivery tends to be a mind-numbing drone of Shakespearean of the lines with little thought to the cadence of natural speech. Most of the time, these modern adaptations seem unnatural and forced. Here, the natural delivery of the play gives new meaning to the play itself, allowing the viewer to see the dynamics of the conflict between the players. Julius Caesar is a remarkable Shakespearean play in that the main character is killed off relatively early, and while the remainder of the play centers on his assassins, Caesar always remains on the assassins' mind. This quality of the play is clearly demonstrated by this version of the play. The acting is top-notch, and its...

The Once and Future Julius Caesar
This ingenious and appropriate updating of Julius Caesar isn't just suggestive of modern republics on the verge of nervous breakdowns, or conversely downfalls of tyrants when worse may be yet to come. Gregory Doran's direction is brilliant: he has trusted in his magnificent cast to make every word urgent, contemporary, dignified, natural, with the result that Doran had to cut almost nothing from the script, and the film never drags, retaining the viewer's interest throughout with meanings made clear and resonant, diction belonging perfectly in some post-colonial African nation. The costuming (tropical wear and national attire) is realistic and lifelike, not just a whimsical change from sandals and togas, or briefcases and three-piece suits. The locations (an abandoned shopping mall) likewise are eerily appropriate. Ralph Fiennes accomplished a similar anachronistic ventriloquism or ethnic transfiguration with his Balkan Coriolanus (2010), but that is a play writ with the same Late...

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