Revenge Ends
A modern mashup of Shakespearean proportions.
Once upon a time, Dreaming Tree Films- the production company behind Fresh Films and Girls in the Director's Chair- wanted to make a new movie based on the works of Shakespeare. But they wanted something different- I mean, you pretty much can't beat Franco Zeffirelli when it comes to Romeo and Juliet you can show in the classroom, and Kenneth Branagh is making a career out of the war tragedies!
My producer and I took a long walk when we were in on a shoot in Mystic, Connecticut, to talk about fresh ways to approach the Master. And as we're walking, I think... so what happens when you mashup David Bowie and the top names in Hip-Hop? You get a brilliant remix album called Thuggy Stardust and the Hustlers from Mars. So- what happens if we mashup Shakespeare with himself?
What happens is that Hamlet encourages his dad to fight his brother for Gertrude's love- and dad loses. No wonder Hamlet's so torn up about the state of affairs in Denmark. He feigns insanity, confronts his mother, and bloodies his hands trying to reclaim his birthright. When he realizes the throne there is a lost cause, he and Ophelia fake their deaths, and run away together to Scotland, assuming the names of Lord and Lady MacDuff.
Unfortunately, they're not immune to ambition- he used to be a prince! She should have been a queen! Following that thinking to a tragic conclusion, it turns out that the world is not quite so big as Hamlet and Ophelia had believed. You can outrun your past, but you can never outrun yourself.
Revenge Ends is an experimental film- a mashup of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and MacBeth- set in the present, and shot entirely on greenscreen by young adults- former participants in the Chicago's Afterschool Matters and Fresh Films programs. It took four years to create it, and in 2008, it premieres on the festival circuit.
If you would be interested in screening Revenge Ends for your high school classroom, please contact Executive Producer and Creative Director Estlin Feigley.
More music mashups from Mashup Town
My favorite mashup, Kelly Clarkson v American Analog Set - Since U Been Hard 2 Find
King Lear in the Hood- teens translate King Lear to modern language.
Teens remix Ghostbusters with dialogue by Shakespeare for their English class.