ABSTRACT
The Gnomeo and Juliet may not be mainstream William Shakespeare, but its introductory moments intervene explicitly in a conflict that saturates UK Shakespeare film: the anxiety over fidelity, characterized by a grand theatrical tradition, versus adaptation, the cinematic literacy exemplified by the conventions of Hollywood. The British tradition of filmed Shakespeare is torn between a desire to capture the perceived authenticity of the British stage and the simultaneous desire to entertain a broader audience, leading to the blurring of Jack Jorgens's categories of "theatrical," "realist," and "filmic" modes. It was not until the end of the twentieth century that UK Shakespeare film began systematically to engage with a more conventionally "realist" mode of presentation; and even then, the films of the New Wave often had their roots in theatrical productions. Similarly appropriative of live-performance energies within a filmic mode is Derek Jarman's The Tempest, which queers Shakespeare's play through its flamboyant camp and overt sexuality.
