# The best Shakespeare film adaptations

Kurosawa, Welles, Olivier, Kozintsev and Branagh: from Throne of Blood and Chimes at Midnight to the four-hour uncut Hamlet. The Shakespeare films picked by Esculpiendo el Tiempo, Libertad Digital and El Español.

- 118 votes · 16 items
- Jan 30, 2022 · miamipinceles
- https://even.best/en/l/4325/the-best-shakespeare-film-adaptations

## Top 15

1. **Throne of Blood (1957)** (14 · ▲14 ▼0) — Akira Kurosawa: Macbeth in feudal Japan, with Toshirō Mifune.
2. **Chimes at Midnight (1965)** (10 · ▲11 ▼1) — Orson Welles: Falstaff, assembled from several plays, shot in Spain.
3. **Ran (1985)** (7 · ▲11 ▼4) — Akira Kurosawa: King Lear with a warlord and his three sons.
4. **Othello (1952)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Orson Welles: Palme d'Or at Cannes, shot in Morocco and Italy.
5. **Macbeth (1948)** (7 · ▲7 ▼0) — Orson Welles: an expressionist, low-budget version.
6. **Hamlet (1964)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Grigori Kozintsev: the Prince of Denmark in Soviet cinema, with music by Shostakovich.
7. **King Lear (1971)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Grigori Kozintsev: the tragedy in a desolate land.
8. **Caesar Must Die (2012)** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — The Taviani brothers: Rebibbia prisoners rehearse Julius Caesar; Golden Bear.
9. **Julius Caesar (1953)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Marlon Brando as Mark Antony.
10. **Macbeth (1971)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Roman Polanski: the bloodiest version.
11. **West Side Story (1961)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins: Romeo and Juliet among New York gangs.
12. **Romeo and Juliet (1968)** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Franco Zeffirelli: two genuinely teenage actors as the lovers of Verona.
13. **Hamlet (1996)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Kenneth Branagh: the complete text in over four hours.
14. **Much Ado About Nothing (1993)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Kenneth Branagh: Benedick and Beatrice in Tuscany.
15. **Henry V (1944)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — Laurence Olivier: shot in wartime, in Technicolor.
16. **Hamlet (1948)** (1 · ▲3 ▼2) — Laurence Olivier: Oscar for best picture.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.