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English
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Antigone was one of Oedipus' four children. She had two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, as well as a sister, Ismene. One day, her sister informed her that her two brothers, who were heirs to the throne of Thebes, were fighting each other for power. They had agreed to take power alternately, but when the time came for Eteocles to hand his crown over to Polynices, he refused. An inevitable war ensued. Antigone rushed to try to reason with them, but...
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English
Description
We all know about Heracles' unequalled strength, and the twelve labors he had to carry out, but we know a great deal less about the way in which his life was turned upside down by a series of terrible curses. Born from the union between Zeus and Alcmene, Heracles was a target for Zeus' wife Hera's jealousy, and she sent snakes to kill him while he was still in his cradle. Hera manipulated Heracles once again when he killed his wife Megara and their...
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English
Description
Don Quichot is a dazzling display of high spirits, virtuosity and Spanish temperament. The flamboyant leaps, dizzying pirouettes and crisp pointe work that are standard features of the production give the performers every opportunity to show off their technical prowess. But at the same time, the comic story based on Cervantes' masterpiece makes strong demands on the dancers' acting abilities. The leading Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky drew...
Language
English
Description
It might be seen as racist, antifeminist, perhaps even militaristic, depending on one's ideology. For Shakespeare, there were likely no such scruples. He borrowed the plot from a 16th-century Italian poet, along with, possibly, a geographical history of Africa and a translation of the Roman historian Pliny. But out of those scholastic ingredients he fashioned one of the most entrancing, agonizing studies of jealousy in the whole of English literature....
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English
Description
This 1939 musical about plantation life in the antebellum South features lyrics by the great African-American poet Langston Hughes. The movie is a curious period piece with a somewhat unrealistic attitude toward the treatment of African-American slaves, but the perspective is fascinating and the music and singing memorable.
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English
Description
On his quest to find the Golden Fleece, Jason asked the cruel King of Colchis and his daughter Medea, a powerful sorceress, for help. Medea fell in love with Jason, helped him to find the precious Fleece, and fled with him. Numerous adventures and misfortunes stemmed from this passionate encounter, and poor Medea seemed to be at the origin of them. The two young lovers took refuge in Greece, got married, and Medea gave birth to two children. But one...
9) Othello
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None
Description
The classic of German silent cinema is a fine (though very loose) adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. It stars two legendary German actors: Emil Jannings as Othello and Werner Krauss as the evil Iago.
Language
English
Description
This program presents excerpts from the Japanese dance-drama Noh play Tale of Genji, from the 14th century, performed by Tatsuo Minagawa, Tei Ko, Shizu Nakamura, and Yuki Shimoda, with commentary by the leading Japanese scholar Donald Keene. The performance is in Japanese, with English explanation. As seen by Keene, Noh plays had a status, not unlike classic Greek drama. The Tale of Genji - in form, a long novel - has been compared to The Decameron,...
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English
Description
After a wretched childhood, orphaned Jane Eyre yearns for new experiences. She accepts a governess position at Thornfield Hall, where she tutors a lively French girl named Adèle. She soon finds herself falling in love with the brooding master of the house, the passionate Mr. Rochester. But when she saves him from an eerie fire, she begins to suspect that there are many mysteries behind the walls of Thornfield Hall.
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English
Description
In Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, a handsome young aristocrat descends into evil and debauchery under the influence of an intelligent friend with a cynical outlook on life. The corruption of Dorian Gray's soul is represented by a portrait of him that grows uglier at the years pass, even as Dorian himself retains his perfect beauty. This 1945 film adaptation, shot mostly in black and white but with occasional bursts of Technicolor, is remarkably...
13) King Lear
Language
Russian
Description
This Russian adaptation of King Lear, based on Boris Pasternak's translation, is considered one of the greatest of all filmed versions of Shakespeare. It was the final film of the renowned Soviet director Grigori Kozintsev. The masterful black-and-white cinematography and the memorable score by Dmitri Shostakovich make the film all the more powerful.
14) King Lear
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English
Description
This 73-minute television adaptation of King Lear stars the great Orson Welles in the title role. The play was condensed by omitting the characters Edgar and Edmund entirely to focus on Lear himself.
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English
Description
This program presents an abbreviated version of a Commedia Dell'Arte Hamlet, with farce and improvised dialogue interpolated into the play as written by Shakespeare. Based on the text of the First Folio, this approach emphasizes the relationship of old Italian slapstick to Elizabethan drama. Characters introduced into this version include Arlecchino, Captain, and Doctor- well-known in medieval Italian comedies and prototypes of the Punch and Judy...
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English
Description
Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone may be 2,500 years old, but can still grip and shock modern audiences. This translation by Don Taylor was filmed in 1986. Sophocles' Antigone is set in the aftermath of the death of Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polyneices by each other's hands.
17) Jungle Book
Language
English
Description
This 1942 live-action adventure film is a loose adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's children's classic. The young actor Sabu stars as the jungle boy Mowgli. The film was nominated for a number of Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Also starring Joseph Calleia.
Language
English
Description
It's easy to assume that Hamlet has always enjoyed global popularity, but only within the last century and a half has Shakespeare's great tragedy achieved iconic status. Why does it resonate so deeply with modern audiences? This video helps viewers contemplate that subject, recording students from top London drama schools as they work on Hamlet's most famous passage-Act III, Scene 1, in which the Danish prince must decide whether to be or not to be....
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English
Description
Scholars and stage directors the world over have searched for clues to Shakespeare's true feelings toward Shylock. Was The Merchant of Venice intended to comment on mistreatment of the Jewish people? Was the Bard simply pandering to the anti-Semitism of the day? Or is there a more nuanced answer, found not through textual analysis but by giving the play breath and movement and therefore the most honest reading of its soul one can hope for? This program...