Book reviews

Vol. 39 (2018)

Filmowe czytanie Szekspira. Adaptacja jako interpretacja. O książce "Lustra i echa. Filmowe adaptacje dzieł Williama Shakespeare’a", red. O. Katafiasz, Kraków 2017, ss. 434

Mariola Marczak

Pages: 173 - 183

PDF (Język Polski)

Abstract

FILM READING OF SHAKESPEARE. ADAPTATION AS INTERPRETATION

The text is a review of a book entitled Lustra i echa. Filmowe adaptacje dzieł Williama Shakespeare’a Mirrors and Echoes. Film Adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Works edited by Olga Katafiasz. The monograph is a compilation of studies and essays prepared by filmologists, theatre studies and culture studies scholars referring to various film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s works. At the beginning the reviewer reminds film theories concerning film adaptation and the output of filmology on the topic of film adaptations of Shakespeare’s works. The author situates the book in view within the map of past and update researches of both types and evaluates their quality as a part of them. She underlines that the variety of points of view and research approaches to Shakespeare himself and to his oeuvre in Olga Katafiasz’s elaboration highlight the distinctive place of Shakespeare in nowadays culture, including pop-culture. Moreover, the variety of scholar and artistic approaches to the master from Stratford reveals also cognitive and creative abilities of film art and makes clear cultural productivity and actuality of Shakespeare. The latter means first of all possible achievement of historical and cultural accommodation to different discourses as well as of being a tool of update cultural communication. Namely in Marczak’s opinion Mirrors and Echoes… provides a practical implementation of the film theory of adaptation as interpretation of the source text and endeavors to be a response to those who ask whether Shakespeare remains a vivid author, delivering important questions and important answers for human beings of 21st century.