Shakespeare Fans discussion

Can Shakespeare be translated into other languages, or can only an English reading really give you the "Shakespeare experience"? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I've often wondered about this. I remember a professor of German (he was English) telling me how much easier S was to follow at the theatre in German than in English. The German was modern and all the difficulties and complexities of language had, to some extent, been translated out. Did the German enthusiasts for S of the late 18th century read S in German or English? If the latter, how much of the language did they really understand?

A huge amount is written on S in other cultures. (In Marder's "His exits and his entrances" for example). But the translation issues seem never to be discussed. A good example is this youtube lecture,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgpHrJ...

which is about Hamlet in Arabic culture. The work of its author is highly regarded, and yet she never once discusses how the language of the play is turned into Arabic. For exampe, is the blank verse translated into poetry and the prose sections into Arabic prose? To me that would be the essential starting point of any discussion.

A huge amount must be lost in translation, nuances, not to mention the whole scan of the poetry.
I remember reading Pushkin's comment on Shakespeare's wonderful characters, so unlike Byron's one dimensional ones. I suppose, French being the court language in Russia a the time, he had read him in French. I wonder how well it translates into French (mine isn't advanced enough to be able to tell).

I will talk from the on-screen perspective. I have asked myself this a lot when it comes to Akira Kurosawa's amazing adaptions of the Bard. While he does not try to adopt the dialogue literally he had an uncanny ability to keep the plot and feel of the play in tact. I will give two examples (these are my own opinions). I feel his adaptations of King Lear (Ran) & Macbeth (Throne of Blood) are superior to the original plays BUT while they gain in storytelling and overall action they lose in dialogue especially in his adaption of The Scottish Play. What I would not give to hear Toshiro Mifume quote Act 5 scene 5 just be for the climax, damn! I really wish Throne of Blood had more of the original dialogue in it.