ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers to the rich intercultural contexts and visual texts of Asian film adaptations of William Shakespeare, particularly those films' network of allusions to Eastern and Western visual sources, Shakespearean characterization, and Asian histories. The films considered recast Shakespeare and Asia as condensed collective signifiers of cultural values through their double marketability for audiences in different locations. The narrative of the James Ivory film Shakespeare Wallah may signal the collapse of Shakespeare's status in twentieth-century India. Depictions of the tension between the stage and the screen and metatheatrical frameworks are not unique to Shakespeare Wallah and The King and the Clown. The film's title marks its distance from the Shakespearean point of origin, and its opening sequence lays claim to Shakespeare but references a completely different Shakespearean play. A Spray of Plum Blossoms is not the only film that gives Shakespeare's women characters more agency and visibility.
