Julius Caesar

Cheap way to get publicity: make something European set in Africa. Make as much controversy as possible.

And ironically, this ends up being kind of r@cist. Why not put some original content based on actual African history? That would be refreshing. Some nuanced story with different story structure than the usual Greco-Roman plays.

But no, let's rehash Julius Caesar one more time to save actual creative work.

BBC is just a shadow of its past.

This is an *incredible* adaptation. One of the finest filmed Shakespeare's I have had the privilege of watching. (And I've seen a few.)

I can only assume that the haters are purists who don't like when people deviate from the original staging. I, however, love a modern lens and in turn loved it. Classics get stale when done to death with no creativity. This adaptation brings it in spades.

This production takes place in South Africa immediately post-apartheid. The political upheaval makes a surprising, but apt parallel to a tumultuous Post-Pompey Rome. Again and again Director Gregory Doran flirts with injecting Rome into South Africa and South Africa into Rome. The wardrobe is military garb and period appropriate fabrics but we see a tribal take on the toga in one pivotal scene, The soothsayer is a show-stopping tribal wiseman, and the timeless concept of the village square is surrounded by a 20th century town suffering economic collapse.

Most notably of all- the *performances.* If this film had been black-box I would have watched with rapt attention. There are no stoic soliloquies. No level headed asides. The classic monologues are uplifted by open rage and sorrow, and Brutus flirts casually with madness as the consequences of his actions crash over him.

If you can find it in your heart to fall in love with a creative retelling of a classic, I cannot recommend this loudly enough.

Richly imagined, beautifully acted version of one of Shakespeare's great historical tragedies. I have seen many re-imaginings of the Bard's plays over the last several decades of my life, and found this one of the best I have had the privilege of seeing.

Julius Caesar

There have been many modern adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, with varying results. This version of Julius Caesar is by far one of the best. The setting is a small, dictatorial African country, the players are African-American, and the finished product is remarkable. In even the most successful modern adaptation, the delivery tends to be a mind-numbing drone of Shakespearean of the lines with little thought to the cadence of natural speech. Most of the time, these modern adaptations seem unnatural and forced. Here, the natural delivery of the play gives new meaning to the play itself, allowing the viewer to see the dynamics of the conflict between the players. Julius Caesar is a remarkable Shakespearean play in that the main character is killed off relatively early, and while the remainder of the play centers on his assassins, Caesar always remains on the assassins' mind. This quality of the play is clearly demonstrated by this version of the play. The acting is top-notch, and its setting in a Central African country divided with internal strife give new meaning to the play. The acting and delivery of the play will keep you engaged for the duration.

With The Hollow Crown currently screening, the BBC are in the middle of a bit of a Shakespeare festival, which explains the otherwise odd decision to screen this version of Julius Caesar. The last thing like this I watched was David Tenant in a TV version of his Hamlet, but that was months after it finished whereas this version is currently on tour in the UK. The plot is familiar to many, but in this version the political thriller is moved to a modern African dictatorship with an all black cast. Although some of it is filmed as it is delivered on a stage, the TV version sees it spread across other sets to make it more of a televisual experience.

It terms of the material, I did enjoy seeing this story again – I'm sure it will sound odd to those who are regular viewers of Shakespeare, but I cannot remember the last time I saw a version of Julius Caesar and I had forgotten how engaging the tale is and also how good the dialogue is. This version does it justice and it fits pretty well within the modern setting. The cut-throat violence of betrayal and cruelty works in the setting and the passion of the characters is complimented by the sweat on their skin, befitting the setting. The mixing of stage and locations is successful in some ways but not in others. It works when it comes to having a more intimate proximity or a more appropriate set but it must be said that the performances occasionally do not seem to recognise that the viewers are now within a few inches of their faces rather than in a large room.

This doesn't happen too often though and mostly the performances are good. The cast are all of Afro-Caribbean descent but this quickly becomes a non-issue as a "thing" because it doesn't matter in terms of enjoying the story. Paterson Joseph is not brilliant but he is better than I expected; after all this is the man that Theo Robertson described as having "less range than a water pistol", but yet here he delivers some complexity to his character and makes for a pretty good Brutus even if he never quite gets away from the feel of someone "acting" rather than "being". Nri's Cassius is better and is more convincing within his own skin. Fearon is strong as Mark Antony – in particular I thought he did a great job with his speech at Ceasar's funeral. Support is mostly good with solid turns from Andoh and Kissoon to name but two.

Overall this is not the best version of the play that you'll see but it does work pretty well. The modern setting fits the material really well and the delivery makes the most of it even if the change from stage play to television doesn't work in all regards. The performances are mostly good – none classic but mostly very good. A solid version then that is worth a look.