This year the British Council has commissioned a series of films using Shakespeare's works as inspiration as part of Shakespeare Lives 2016; an unprecedented global programme celebrating William Shakespeare’s work and his influence on culture, education and society on the 400th anniversary of his death.
Adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale', and starring Joseph Mawle as Leontes (Game of Thrones, Ripper Street, The Passion) the final film in our #ShakespeareLives series uses the otherworldly landscape of Crosby beach and Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ sculptures to create a fantastical modern version of the play.
Director Carl Hunter said of the project;
Frank and I wanted to keep in the spirit of the original text. The Winter's Tale, was Shakespeare's first 'special effects’ play - written not for the open air Globe, but for the candle-lit Rose theatre, where he could experiment with sound and light. Shakespeare goes out of his way to draw our attention to time’s passing and the way time can often appear to stand still. The film tries to preserve the optimism and hope of Shakespeare’s late romances.
We both live close to the Gormely statues in Crosby and I often walk that coast line taking photographs, observing the landscape as it changes through the seasons.
I wanted a painterly approach to capturing the scenery and nature is a very good production designer. The play is also famous for being set on “the sea coast of Bohemia”. Bohemia, of course, has no coast. It must be “another place”, to use the title of Gormley’s installation.
The film's score reflects both the alien nature of the fantasy setting and the cinematic landscape in which the story takes place. It was inspired Bebe and Louis Barron's score for The Forbidden Planet which was a re telling of The Tempest.
You will be able to find all current and future Shakespeare Lives videos on the specific playlist on the corporate YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/1r4XFVD