Leonard, an independent scholar and author of articles and another book on music, examines film versions of Shakespeare's three political tragedies--Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear--and their
musical treatment of madness. Each chapter considers one character--Hamlet, Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, King Lear, and Edgar--and the differing musical treatments of madness in several widely known
adaptations, including Laurence Olivier's, Grigori Kozintsev's, Franco Zeffirelli's, and Kenneth Branagh's versions of Hamlet; Orson Welles' and Roman Polanski's adaptations of Macbeth, Akira
Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, and Billy Morrisette's Scotland, Pa; and Kozintsev's and Peter Brook's King Lear and Kurosawa's Ran. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
