Film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays are increasingly popular and now figure prominently in the study of his work and its reception.This lively Companion is a collection of critical and historical essays on the films adapted from,and inspired by,Shakespeare's plays.An international team of leading scholars discuss Shakespearean films from a variety of perspectives:as works of art in their own right;as products of the international movie industry;in terms of cinematic and theatrical genres;and as the work of particular directors from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh.They also consider specific issues such as the portrayal of Shakespeare's women and the supernatural. The emphasis is on feature films for cinema,rather than television,with strong cov- erage of Hamlet,Richard Ill,Macbeth,King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.A guide to further reading and a useful filmography are also provided. RUSsELL JACKSON is Reader in Shakespeare Studies and Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute,University of Birmingham.He has worked as a textual adviser on several feature films including Shakespeare in Love and Kenneth Branagh's Henry V,Much Ado About Nothing,Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost. He is co-editor of Shakespeare:An Illustrated Stage History (1996)and two volumes in the Players of Shakespeare series.He has also edited Oscar Wilde's plays.Film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays are increasingly popular and now figure prominently in the study of his work and its reception. This lively Companion is a collection of critical and historical essays on the films adapted from, and inspired by, Shakespeare’s plays. An international team of leading scholars discuss Shakespearean films from a variety of perspectives:as works of art in their own right; as products of the international movie industry; in terms of cinematic and theatrical genres; and as the work of particular directors from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh. They also consider specific issues such as the portrayal of Shakespeare’s women and the supernatural. The emphasis is on feature films for cinema, rather than television, with strong cov￾erage of Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. A guide to further reading and a useful filmography are also provided. Russell Jackson is Reader in Shakespeare Studies and Deputy Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. He has worked as a textual adviser on several feature films including Shakespeare in Love and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost. He is co-editor of Shakespeare: An Illustrated Stage History (1996) and two volumes in the Players of Shakespeare series. He has also edited Oscar Wilde’s plays