Muse of Fire (2013)
Funny, passionate, exciting, and smart: ‘Muse Of Fire’ will change the way you feel about Shakespeare forever. This unique feature documentary follows two actors, Giles Terera and Dan Poole, as they travel the world to find out everything they can about tackling the greatest writer of them all. Together they have directed and produced an inspiring film that aims to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare’s work for everyone: from actors, directors and students of all disciplines, right through to the? man on the street? Denmark with Jude Law, Baz Luhrmann in Hollywood, Prison in Berlin, and on the street with Mark Rylance. Think Shakespeare is boring? Think again!
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Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
I grew up NOT reading Shakespeare (I am lucky in that aspect, I cannot read any of the classics in my own language, so i can relate to the apprehension of the English/British) My first taste of Shakespeare was at The Globe theatre in London, Much ado about Nothing, and Shakespeare is imho best appreciated while watching on stage.Two young actors Dan Poole and Giles Terera (both have actually been in a Shakespeare production since) trying to find out how to tackle The Bard, they interview the great actors of this age to find out how they do it..Their documentary takes them to Denmark for Hamlet and L.A. for an interview with the director of Romeo & Juliet (with Leonardo) while they themselves hit a hard patch in their careers.It is a documentary to liberate Shakespeare from his reputation and make him into a pleasure - something I truly support.
Actors Dan Poole and Giles Terera conduct their own personal odyssey through the thicket of Shakespeare. Basing their documentary on the belief that the Bard is 'difficult' for most audiences - especially those schooled in the British educational system - they interview a series of people both famous and not famous in a quest to discover why Shakespeare still remains so popular today. The territory is familiar; many documentaries on television, radio, as well as in the cinema, have attempted to popularize the Bard through a variety of strategies. What makes MUSE OF FIRE so fascinating is the two actors' commitment to the cause - despite numerous obstacles (lack of finance, time-pressure), they manage to interview many famous actors including Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and John Hurt. For me the highlight of the documentary was the actors' trip to the United States, where they encounter Harold Bloom and Baz Luhrmann among others. Poole and Terera's enthusiasm is infectious; we share their delight as they encounter Shakespeareans in the most unlikely places in both Great Britain and the United States, and feel their sense of accomplishment when they at last manage to meet up with Luhrmann, their hero (whose ROMEO + JULIET (1996)) inspired them to become actors in the first place. Definitely worth a look.