The Philadelphia Film Society finish off their two-week Shakespeare-in-Film showcase with Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V (1989) at the Prince Music Theater at 7:30 P.M. next Wednesday. Following the screening, Dr. Matt Kozusko, associate professor of English and an editor of Borrowers & Lenders: the Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation will moderate discussion on the film.

It is only appropriate when talking about film adaptations of Shakespeare’s works to mention Kenneth Branagh. After all, Branagh is best known for his films in which he directs and stars in Shakespeare plays adapted for the screen. To date, Branagh has directed and starred in five adaptations: Henry V ,  Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Hamlet (1996), Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000) and As You Like It (2006). He also played the part of Iago in Othello (1995), but Oliver Parker directed that adaptation, not Branagh. Branagh’s name is almost synonymous with adaptations of Shakespeare. Which is why the filmadelphiaClassis is featuring one of his works in the Shakespeare-in-Film showcase.

Specifically his directorial debut, Henry V. Before first tackling a film adaptation of a Shakespeare play, Branagh had had quite a bit of experience both acting in and directing Shakespeare’s works on the stage. It only seemed natural to cut his film directing teeth on an Shakespeare adaptation. Indeed this first filmmaking effort led to two of Branagh’s four Academy Award nominations, for directing and for lead actor.

The film (which was shot entirely in sequence) also featured many other firsts. It marked the first film two-time Academy Award-nominated Patrick Doyle served as music composer on, and also as the first film collaboration he had with Branagh (he has scored almost every film Branagh has directed). Branagh had brought him on board having worked with him two years earlier on a stage production of Twelfth Night, which Doyle had written an original score for. Henry V was also the first of nine films Branagh directed and acted in with actor Richard Briers. It was also the first film he directed Emma Thompson in — his future ex-wife.

Branagh has received much acclaim in his career, but many point back to Henry V as an example of his finest work; it having been the only adaptation of a Shakespeare work where he was nominated for an Academy Award in acting and directing. Hence the film’s selection as a screening in the Philadelphia Film Society’s filmadelphiaCLASSICS showcase featuring Shakespeare. But these screenings are about you the members! Do you enjoy another one of Branagh’s adaptations of Shakespeare more than Henry V? Is there another film or TV adaptation of Henry V you particularly like more than Branagh’s version? What is your favorite film based on a work of Shakespeare? Do you have a favorite film about Shakespeare the man? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

It seems apropos that just a few months ago the Philadelphia Film Society screened Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) as part of the filmadelphiaCLASSICS series, and is now screening Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956), being that Tarantino considered Dogs to be his version of, and an homage to, The Killing. For those unfamiliar with either film, both are about a complicated heist that is told by cutting in and out of different points in time of the story (read the previous blog concerning Reservoir Dogs here). The Killing, which will be showing at the Prince Theater on Wednesday, December 16, at 7:30P.M. (tickets here), is truly unique as Kubrick’s breakout film, and one of his many genre films.

Like Tarantino with Reservoir Dogs, The Killing is what earned him attention as a director to be able to go on and make several of his other films, but the film’s production was very troublesome for Kubrick. Firstly, Kubrick was given a paltry budget from United Artists (estimated around $320,000 – $200,000), with the rest of it raised by his producer, producer James B. Harris. Because of the low budget and the hiring of Sterling Hayden as the star for $40,000 (which encouraged the studio to give Kubrick a little more financing), Kubrick deferred his fee as director. Also, since this was the first union film production Kubrick was working on, he could not serve as both director and cinematographer, so Lucien Ballard was hired, with whom Kubrick had constant arguments with about camera and lighting choices.

Despite these challenges, Kubrick managed to get the film in the can, but that was just the beginning of his problems. Initial test screenings indicated that audiences had a problem understanding it because of its nonlinear structure, so Kubrick was forced by United Artists to go back and edit the film in a linear structure. However, since the script was written and designed with this nonlinear structure in mind, the film became more confusing with certain elements of the linear story seemingly missing when in fact they had not been filmed, since the nonlinear telling of the story did not rely on them for it to make sense. The film was returned to its original structure, but with a narration added at the insistence of United Artists. Kubrick hated this device however, so he purposefully made the narrator unreliable, having him sometimes provide false information. Ultimately, United Artists didn’t believe in the film, and disappointingly released it as the second half of a double feature with Richard Fleischer’s Bandido as the preceding film.

Despite all of this, The Killing still managed to be a success for Kubrick, as it has gained more and more critical acclaim since the year it was released, and also got Kubrick his next jobs. Kirk Douglas and Marlon Brando were both impressed by the film and both sought Kubrick to work on projects of their own. Indeed, Kubrick’s next two films would be starring Douglas (Paths of Glory (1957) and Spartacus (1960) — which was the film that made Kubrick a household name. Eventually Kubrick work with Marlon Brando on Brando’s project, One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Kubrick and Brando reportedly had constant disagreements over casting, and Kubrick left the project, having acquired the rights to make a film adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s book, Lolita. Brando ended up directing One-Eyed Jacks himself.

What excites you most about the screening of Kubrick’s The Killing? Seeing one of Kubrick’s first films in its original form? Or perhaps experiencing the stark blacks and whites that only a film screening of a film noir can provide? Can you think of other pioneer films in nonlinear storytelling before Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs? Respond in the comments below!

Last Wednesday, December 2nd, the Philadelphia Film Society kicked their filmadelphiaCLASSICS series back into high gear with a 35mm screening of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. One of director Stanley Kubrick’s most highly regarded films, it was the perfect choice for one of two installments showcasing Kubrick’s work in the Classics series, the other being The Killing, which was Kubrick’s breakout film, and will be shown on Wednesday, December 16th at 7:30PM in the Prince Theater (tickets here).

As much as the Classics series is about seeing your favorite classic films projected in their original 35mm format, it is also about discussing those films with others and sharing your appreciation for them. As always, there was engaging discussion immediately following the screening, featuring a specific moderator. This screening’s moderator was Professor Gregory Wolmart, a professor in the film department at Drexel University. Wolmart began the discussion by providing some interesting background information on the development of Dr. Strangelove, such as the fact that Kubrick initially intended it to be a very serious adaptation of Red Alert, the thriller novel by Peter George who worked on the screenplay with Kubrick. When Kubrick came to realize the sheer ridiculousness of a nuclear doomsday, he approached the film as a black comedy, bringing on writer Terry Southern to give the script a more satirical tone. Additionally, Kubrick felt intimidated by another nuclear disaster film that was being made, Fail-Safe, which was serious in tone and had big talent attached and would have hurt (at least Kubrick thought) Strangelove’s box office, so he filed a lawsuit against the film, citing that it plagiarized Red Alert, which effectively delayed production.

Wolmart then opened it up to discussion, and those in attendance spoke on how the film seems to have a universal appeal despite being specific to the Cold War era; there are general humorous comments on how politicians and governments work, along with the relationship between men and weapons and violence, and how it closely ties into sexuality for them. Similarly, the film has a very specific humor pertaining to those that understand the context in which it was released. Which, shockingly enough, was at the height of tensions within the Cold War – making the fact that the film was a comedy even more astounding to both people today and people then.

Perhaps the most interesting discussion point touched upon was the sexuality present in the film. From the opening scenes of two planes seemingly mating in the sky to the tune of “Try a Little Tenderness,” to Dr. Strangelove’s last scene in which he suggests the male-centric fantasy of a ratio of ten women to each man in rebuilding society, to the naming of such characters such as Jack D. Ripper, Mandrake, Premier Kissov, President Merkin Muffley, and Buck Turgidson, the film is dense with sexual innuendo and suggestion. This largely makes the connection between men’s fascination with violence and war and how it almost serves as an aphrodisiac, especially in the case of Turgidson and Ripper.

What are your thoughts on Kubrick and Strangelove? Is there more  to the sexual wordplay and innuendo in the film then just humor? Do you think Strangelove has a general appeal or is more specific to an older generation that understand the context in which it was released? Continue the discussion in the comments section below!