SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Feature film adapted by Michael Palin from the travel diaries of his greatgrandfather. Francis Ashby, a fellow of Oxford College, falls in love with Elinor, an American girl of 17, while on a walking holiday in Switzerland. Back in Oxford, Elinor becomes pregnant by Sykes, a colleague of Ashby and Ashby turns down the offer of college presidency to marry her. A recurring motif is a college production of King Lear. In the final Lear scene a storm interrupts the play (during the storm scene).

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

1991

Duration

95 mins

Credits

Director

Tristram Powell

Producer

Patrick Cassavetti; Steve Abbott

Cinematographer

Philip Bonham-Carter

Screenplay

Michael Palin; Tristram Powell

Music

Georges Delerue

Art Direction

Chris Townsend

Cast

Jo Stone-Fewings	undergraduate ‘King Lear’ (Lear)
Alfred Molina	Oliver Syme
Michael Palin	Rev. Francis Ashby
Trini Alvarado	Elinor Hartley

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

King Lear

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Amateur theatre

Notes

Awards

Palin and Powell’s screenplay won the 1991 Writers Guild of Great Britain Award.

Reviews

Lanier, Douglas ‘Film Spin-Offs and Citations’ in Burt, Richard (ed). Shakespeares After Shakespeares: an Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006 (p. 195, entry 807).

Variety (January 1st 1991).

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Name

British Screen

Name

Mayday Productions

Name

Millennium Films

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets