1. Shakespeare in Latin American Cinema Mariah Price Dr. Peter Parolin English Department PROPOSED RESEARCH PROJECT Purpose Statement William Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted across cultural and linguistic boundaries, and it is interesting to notice how they can be made relevant and accessible to these other cultures. There are many things that have to change in order to make the play accessible, like setting, references, characters, and sometimes the focus has to gesture toward a highly valued aspect of the new culture. For this research I will explore how an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet can become accessible to another culture even when the language changes and when the genre changes from tragedy to parody. The 1943 Mexican film Romeo y Julieta parodies William Shakespeare’s original play in order to comment on Anglo-culture and to show that Romeo and Juliet is accessible to other cultures even in the form of comedy. This film is used as more than a statement on Shakespeare but as a comment on Latin American culture, and the ways in which they view themselves in contrast with American and British culture. Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Dr. Peter Parolin, the McNair Scholars Program, as well as Zackie Salmon, Susan Stoddard. Importance of Study The importance of this research is to show how smoothly Shakespeare’s plays, with an emphasis on Romeo and Juliet, can be adapted to cinema, cross- culturally, to make an entirely new statement about American and British society. Moreover, this project may answer the question of a culture’s ability to understand Shakespeare and make one of his plays their own through the use of their language and their different approaches to Shakespeare from the dominant modes in the Anglo-American world. Introduction Objectives Shakespeare has been adapted in order to reach all kinds of people across the globe. My objective is to find out why and how Shakespeare is adapted; furthermore, to understand the way in which Shakespeare finds his way into Mexico in the Mexican adaptation of Romeo y Julieta in 1943. Another important aspect that I wish to address is what happens to a story that is written for live performance in the theatre when it is adapted into a film. I also want to see how this makes a statement on Latin American culture as well. Methods My study will be conducted by using the 1943 film of Romeo y Julieta directed by Jaime Salvador, as well as the 1936 version of Romeo and Juliet and William Shakespeare’s original play, Romeo and Juliet. I will be looking at the 1943 film in terms of its use of both of the previous texts. The parody will also be used to examine the different ways in which it plays with the film (and American culture) and the text (and British culture). Also, I will use literary and film criticism as well as adaptation theory to apply a more historical approach in looking at the questions of cross-cultural Shakespearean adaptations. William Shakespeare’s plays have an important role throughout the world. I would like to study their effects when adapted by and for different cultures. In my project, I will explore the ways in which Shakespeare can be made accessible to an audience in a different culture. In studying the phenomenon of intercultural adaptation of Shakespeare, my project will center around three key texts: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595), George Cukor's Hollywood film version, Romeo and Juliet (1936), and, crucially, Miguel Delgado's Romeo y Julieta, scripted by Jaime Salvador (1943). Miguel Delgado’s film is a parody of both of these previous texts. With the release of Romeo y Julieta in 1943, something new was being created. The film makes many changes in order to adapt the classic Romeo and Juliet. Through changing the language from English to Spanish, and using more slang, by making the film essentially a play within a play, and making it a comedy the filmmakers make it more relevant to theiraudience without trying to do an exact remake of the 1936 Hollywood film. I would like to see how these changes make a statement about the American and British cultures while creating something new and original within Latin American culture. This film shows that Latin American culture could fully understand Shakespeare’s play in such a way as to comment on it and make it their own comedy. www.movieposterdb.com/movie/0037232/R omeo-y-Julieta.html http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.mx/MLM- 418092375-romeo-y-julieta-cantinflas-_JM http://www.ahoramismo.com.mx/noticia.aspx?id=25693 http://www.classicfilmguide.com/index5267.html http://hudsonshakespeare.org/Shakespeare%20Library/Main%20 Pages/main_romeoandjuliet.htm