Mario,
Re your question below:
> Do you feel the same way about, say,
Kurosawa's
> versions of
> Shakespeare, or about Polanski's film version
of
> Macbeth?
Haven't seen either THRONE OF BLOOD or Polanski's MACBETH.
That said, Kurosawa, strictly speaking, wasn't adapting
Shakespeare's play. He was taking the same historical events,
transposing them to Japan, and then telling the story his own
way.
Moreover, the fact that the dialog and setting were so
radically different was sufficient "notice" that this wasn't
going to be a Shakespearean film. Just as the musical theater
genre, and the "mean streets of Manhattan" setting was
sufficient notice that WEST SIDE STORY wasn't going to be
Shaekespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET. It's worth noting that, in
both of those cases, MACBETH and ROMEO AND JULIET,
Shakespeare wasn't using an original plot, but retelling
well-known stories in his own style.
I'm not familiar enough even with the Polanski film's
reputation to comment.
Altman, by contrast, calls his film THE LONG GOODBYE, says it
is "based" on the novel by Raymond Chandler, sets it in Los
Angeles, and uses a PI protagonist named Philip Marlowe. All
of that suggests that his public intention is to do a
faithful adaptation of the novel. He didn't. Instead he used
it as a vehicle for displaying his contempt for the novel,
the character, the author, and the genre.
JIM DOHERTY
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