AFI Silver concludes its Shakespeare Cinema series with one of the greatest screen adaptations of the Bard by one of his greatest interpreters: Sir Laurence Olivier's HAMLET. In a lighter vein, look for Tom Stoppard's clever gloss on the same play, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, as well as Gus Van Sant's trailblazing cult classic, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, a delirious love letter to, among other things, Henry IV Parts I and II.

For more information on the city-wide celebration, SHAKESPEARE IN WASHINGTON, visit ShakespeareInWashington.org

Films include MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, HAMLET, and ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD.

"[A] decade-defining punk of a movie."--Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO

Gus Van Sant audaciously transposes Shakespeare's Henry IV into a male hustler's demi-monde in Portland, Oregon. River Phoenix gives a heartbreaking performance as a dreamy--narcoleptic, in fact--gay prostitute in love with rich kid Keanu Reeves--a naive and penniless Ned Poins to Reeves' calculatedly slumming Prince Hal. Cult star William Richert impresses as "Bob Pigeon," the boys' bad-influence Falstaff figure. Comically trashy and achingly poignant, Van Sant's vision remains true to the larger themes of the source material.

DIR/SCR Gus Van Sant, based on the Henry IV plays by William Shakespeare; PROD Laurie Parker. US, 1991, color, 102 min. RATED R

Saturday, May 12, 9:15; Sunday, May 13, 9:30; Wednesday, May 16, 9:30

Laurence Olivier Centennial May 22!
HAMLET

May 22 marks the 100th birthday of legendary stage and screen star Sir Laurence Olivier. We commemorate by screening one of his finest achievements, Hamlet. Despite many notable screen versions of the play, Olivier's sets the standard with its psychological probing and Noir sensibility. Look for Hammer Films icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in two of their earliest roles, and for Jean Simmons as Ophelia. Seven Oscar nominations and four wins, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Olivier.

DIR Laurence Olivier; SCR William Shakespeare. UK, 1948, b&w, 155 min. NOT RATED

Saturday, May 19, 4:30; Sunday, May 20, 1:00; Tuesday, May 22, 7:00

ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD

Tom Stoppard directs the screen adaptation of the play that made his reputation 25 years earlier. Gary Oldman and Tim Roth dazzle as the ill-fated pair, relegated in Shakespeare's original Hamlet to the sidelines but here taking the lead, comically uncomprehending as the familiar story plays out around--and just a step ahead of--them. Laurel and Hardy meet Beckett and the Bard in this freewheeling and clever farce, winner of the Golden Lion at the 1990 Venice Film Festival.

DIR/SCR Tom Stoppard; PROD Emanuel Azenberg and Michael Brandman. UK/US, 1990, color, 117 min. RATED PG

Saturday, June 23, 9:30; Monday, June 25, 9:20; Wednesday, June 27, 9:20