Shakespeare in Performance: Film
Antony and Cleopatra (1980, Jonathan Miller)
| Title | Antony and Cleopatra |
|---|---|
| Year | 1980 |
| Release Locations | USA |
| Director | Jonathan Miller |
| Medium | Color video |
| Length | 2 hrs, 57 mins |
| Languages | English |
| Audience | college and university general public |
| Play Connections | Antony and Cleopatra (teleplay) |
| Series | The Shakespeare Plays |
Description
Although director Jonathan Miller sought to present the play as set down in the 1951 Peter Alexander edition of Shakespeare's plays, he did not hesitate to make alterations that he considered useful for pleasing the audience. As with his Taming of the Shrew, Miller also made bold casting decisions that in effect drastically revised traditional interpretations of the play. Colin Blakely and Jane Lapotaire in their middle-aged world weariness sharply contrast with the more glamorized, jet-set, Antony and Cleopatra portrayed, for example, by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in an earlier film (that owed as much or more to its scenarist than to Shakespeare and was only vaguely indebted to Shakespeare's play). Blakely himself was quoted as saying that by the time Antony met Cleopatra he was already "over the hill" and "physically past his prime" from the soft life at court. Director Miller embellished the image by presenting Antony then as a kind of "middle-aged psychological failure" (P.R. release)
Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14
Cast Overview
Production Team and Crew Overview
Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell