Michael Hudgens, Ph.D., who teaches philosophy and writing
composition at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has authored a new book “The Shakespeare
Films of Grigori Kozintsev.”
RAPID CITY, SD (Jan. 17, 2018) – Michael Hudgens, Ph.D., who teaches philosophy and writing
composition at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has authored a new book “The Shakespeare
Films of Grigori Kozintsev.”
Kozintsev is a
celebrated Soviet-era filmmaker and theater director. In 1964 he adapted Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to
film and in 1971 he finished an adaptation of “King Lear.” Kozintsev was born
in 1905 and died unexpectedly in 1973, only months after
King Lear was screened in America.
Critic Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe reviewed
Kozintsev’s work and wrote, “Paradoxically, the two most powerful films of
Shakespeare plays were made not in Great Britain but in the Soviet Union.” Sir
Laurence Olivier ranked the lead actor Innokenti Smoktunovsky as the best “Hamlet,”
better than his own portrayal.
Hudgens’ work has value not only for film directors
and scholars but for anyone who loves Shakespeare. The description of Hudgens’
work reads: “Sizing Shakespeare to the compressed view of the camera lens is no
small feat. This undertaking is covered in these pages, which reveal a
remarkable director’s kaleidoscopic vision as he takes a text from stage to
film. Out of this emerge new ways for an ordinary reader to view Shakespeare,
and a greater understanding for those who teach his plays, particularly the
challenging ‘King Lear.’”
“The Shakespeare Films of Grigori Kozintsev” is Hudgens’ latest work.
His previous books include “Sisters of
Fate: The Myths that Speak Themselves,” released in 2013.
“The Shakespeare Films of Grigori Kozintsev” is 158 pages in length and published
by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The book is available on Amazon.com.