The Scottish play" has bedeviled filmmakers for more than a century. The British Council is proud to support Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) 2016 in presenting a series of Shakespeare’s films to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death.
The interplay of fate and magic, human motivations and soul-wrenching questions of loyalty and destiny, even the core relationship of Macbeth and his lady have fascinated actors and actresses, directors and designers. Yet, the violence at the heart of the play, with battles, beheadings and assassinations, also imposes demands on players and audiences as powerful as the poetry of Shakespeare’s composition. Directors have taken charge and shifted the scene to modern gangs or American politics; actors and actresses have taken the key roles as career challenges. And across cultures, filmmakers have seen the universality as well as the differences underneath the moving forest, within the castle walls.
A Trio of Macbeth will be shown at the 40th HKIFF from 2 April to 4 April 2016. More film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, including Hamlet (1948), The Tragedy of Othello(1952), The Merchant of Venice (1969), Romeo and Juliet (1968), King Lear (1971), Prospero’s Books (1991), West Side Story (1961) and My Own Private Idaho (1991), will be shown at the HKIFF CineFan programme in April/ May 2016.
Post-screening Talk with Ian Haydn Smith
Date: Sunday, 3 April
Time: 16.30
Venue: The Metroplex, G/F., E-Max, KITEC, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay
Language: English
Remarks: Admission by ticket only.
Ian Haydn Smith is the editor of Curzon and BFI Filmmakers magazines. He is formerly the editor of the International Film Guide (2007-13) and the '24 Frames to World Cinema' series. A London-based writer he is also the editor of the BFI London Film Festival and Flare programmes. He regularly hosts BAFTA masterclasses and has represented the British Council internationally since 2011. His most recent book is 'New British Cinema: From Submarine to 12 Years a Slave'.