If you sat down members of the of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literature department, what do you think they'd find in common? A 400-year-old Englishman probably isn't too high on that list. But, as it turns out, that's just what happened. The professors found that whether it was Russian, German, Hindi or Japanese, William Shakespeare's influence could be found in some way, shape or form. "Almost every country and culture and language that is taught in my department . has an adaptation of Shakespeare," said Prof. Harleen Singh (GRALL). This realization would lay the foundation for the yearlong film series "Shakespeare in World Cinema," co-sponsored by the Mandel Center for the Humanities and the Center for German and European Studies. The most recent of these screenings, held just last Thursday in the Mandel Center, was of the film Omkara, a Hindi adaptation of Othello. While not a straight adaptation of Shakespeare's classic, Omkara follows Othello's overall plot closely. Set in modern-day India, Omkara follows its titular character, a half-caste "political enforcer" for a local parliamentary candidate who plans to marry the high-caste Dolly. Meanwhile, Langda, Omkara's disgruntled and power- hungry lieutenant, plans to bring Omkara down by spreading false rumors of Dolly being unfaithful.

After the screening, the audience was invited to a discussion about the movie led by Singh. There, it was explained that director Vishal Bhardwaj uses this story as a launchpad for an exploration of India's current society. Omkara is no longer a general like Othello but a bahubali, a cross between political aide and gangster. The bahubali are actually common in India, where corruption is rampant in every level of government. Likewise, the issue of race, prominent in Othello, is replaced by that of caste. Omkara is the son of a high-caste man and a low-caste woman, and Dolly's family is disgusted with the thought of the daughter marrying someone of a lower class than her.

In the tradition of Bollywood, there are a few scattered musical numbers; but in an interesting break with tradition, Omkara is decidedly not family-friendly. Bhardwaj uses Shakespeare to look at the gritty truth of lower-class life with language and violence unseen in mainstream Indian cinema. Also discussed was the film's use of Hindu motifs, with characters filling roles common in Hinduism but unheard of in both Shakespeare and the West in general.

This mixing of traditional Shakespearean stories with another culture's ideology and values encapsulates what "Shakespeare in World Cinema" is all about. Plays that were very much products of their time, in this case 17th-century England, are taken up by people from around the world. Singh explained that this is due to the universality of the plays' themes. She said Shakespeare's plays have themes "about family, about power, about love, about racial, ethnic and religious conflict. . It strikes a nerve all over the world."

Looking at the lineup for the rest of the year, it becomes obvious how global Shakespeare has become. On Feb. 16, The Banquet, a Chinese adaptation of Hamlet, will be screened. On March 17, Kurosawa's Japanese-language Kumonosu-jo, based on Macbeth, will be shown. Finally, The Kebab Connection, a German version of Romeo and Juliet, is scheduled to screen March 31. The shows will be in Mandel G03 and admission will be free for everyone. All you'll need is an open mind.