Top Ten Shakespeare Films Currently Available for Streaming on Netflix:

10. Much Ado About Nothing

This should be much higher on the list, but I'm making a quick edit to drop the previous number ten
(Shakespeare High, not currently available on Netflix) in favor of this. Joss Whedon's marvelous
and beautiful black and white film version of Much Ado About Nothing is destined to become a
classic. Watch it now.
9. Macbeth

I have not yet seen this film in its entirety. Patrick Stewart stars as Macbeth in this very bloody
modernized version of the play. Those who have seen itonce they stop twitchingsay that it's
really very good.
8. The Tempest

I hate to admit it, but I haven't yet found the time to watch this filmed version of a stage play.
Christopher Plummer stars as Prospero. What am I waiting for? Well, I suppose I'm waiting for the
grading to be done, but that needn't stop you from watching it!
7. Hamlet

I really enjoy this Hamlet. Set in New York City in the early 2000s, the film traces the turmoil
surrounding the Denmark Corporation. Its postmodern use of images to restructure the narrative is
intriguing. And it has Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles. Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.
6. Love's Labour's Lost

I don't care what anyone says, I still think this clunky, bizarre, not-terribly-well-performed Branagh
film is a lot of fun. As an added bonus, we get Cole Porter songs and synchronized swimmers!
What's not to love? Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.

5. Coriolanus

Ralph Finnes' film had far too limited a theatrical release. But the world can make up for it now by
streaming it ad infinitum or at least ad terminum from Netflix. It's another very bloody film. If it
gets to be too much, switch to Love's Labour's Lost for a few minutes of light relief.
4. Shakespeare in Love

This is the film that snatched the Academy Award away from Anonymous (to hear the Oxfordians
tell it). In reality, this film deserves even greater honors that it has receivedthough you should take
it with a historical grain or two of salt. Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.
3. King Lear

Ian McKellen's King Lear is unspeakably deep, and the supporting cast helps make the jewel of his
performance shine all the brighter. Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.

2. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Although this film could have been edited more fullyit's about thirty minutes too longI still enjoy
it every time I watch it. Tom Stoppard's play about what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are like
when they exit from Shakespeare's play into their own world has here become an extremely wellacted, astonishingly interesting film. All college students should read this play and watch this film
while in college (and I try my best to make that happen); everyone else should also read it and see
it! Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.
1. Slings & Arrows

I'm thrilled that this Canadian show is so readily-available. It's one of my very favorite Shakespearerelated productions. Watch the first two episodes, and you'll be hooked. The story is about actors at
a famous Canadian Shakespeare festival, their intriguing lives, and the Shakespeare they
enact! Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.
Five Most Unusual Shakespeare Films Currently Available for Streaming on Netflix:
5. Otello

I suppose I have to admit that this production isn't all that unusual, but it is wonderfuland I was a
bit surprised to find it available on Netflix. I still remember the first time I heard this opera. I was in
college, and I happened to find an LP in the free bin at Vintage Vinyl. Those first notesso full of
energyknocked me sideways.
4. Siberian Lady Macbeth

This is also operatic, but in a different sense. It's an odd, dark, black and white film, set in Russia
and directed by a Polish director. If you like Kurosawa, you'll like this.

3. Machete

I cannot believe that Netflix has this. For several years, I've searched for a DVD of Macheteto
absolutely no avail. Yet here it is, streaming live on Netflix. I have not yet seen it, but it is
an Othello-related film filmed in Puerto Rico in 1959.

2. Royal Deceit

I've seen thisbut it was years ago! It's a Hamlet film that is primarily based not on Hamlet itself
but on the source material for Hamlet. I remember it being fairly violent and having scenes that you
wouldn't want to watch with your grandmother sitting on the couch next to you.

1. Measure For Measure

I had high hopes for this film because Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare's most underrated
plays. This film version of the play isn't fabulous, but it does help get the play into the public eye.
The production takes Shakespeare's Vienna and puts it in the British military. I wish they had
provided a better sense of the purposes for making that switch, but it's still a highly-watchable film.
The only DVD available is in Region 2 formatNorth American watchers, rejoice! You can stream it
from Netflix instead! Click here for a post by Bardfilm on the film.
Four Worst Shakespeare Films Currently Available for Streaming on Netflix:
4. Rome & Jewel

Oh, but this is bad. It's Romeo and Juliet as terrible MTV music videocomplete with terrible
music. It's so bad I watched it and then was so embarrassed to have watched it that I never wrote a
review of it.

3. Private Romeo

I haven't seen this, but I've seen the trailersthey were enough to convince me that I did not want to
see it. It looks very contrived and very poorly acted.

2. The Comedy of Terrors

I haven't yet seen this, either, and perhaps I'm doing it an injustice in putting it in this category. But
I've seen the cast list, and it doesn't appear to have even one Dromio. Still, I will try thisI gather
that one of the characters recites some lines from Macbeth.

1. The Tempest

Derek Jarman's Tempest gave me more nightmares than The Comedy of Terrors is likely to. I know
that a lot of film buffs and Shakespeare scholars speak highly of this, but it's poorly lit, the lines are
mostly mumbled, and that makes the film on the incomprehensible side. Try the Christopher
Plummer film listed above instead.