excited for Henry times

[angevin2]

So I finally got a chance to watch the next installment of The Hollow Crown! I hadn't had a chance previously because I was visiting family, and then I kept getting distracted by the fact that Richard II was in the same file folder and I kept thinking "oh, hey, I could watch that again!" Plus it's been really good for taking my mind off of the

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[doreyg]

I think my main problem was with how much they cut. Which I'd actually, weirdly, say is a testament to how good the rest of it was - because I was left clawing at my screen and yelling "WHY ISN'T THERE MORE OF THESE FLAWLESS FOLK BEING FLAWLESS WHYYYYYY?" (But, seriously, I would've loved to watch more banter between Simon Russell Beale and Hiddleston. Since they both proved that they could handle it in the other scenes! (I'm also wondering how emotionally affected I'll be at the end of Part II without all the banter building the relationship up. But, then, saying that I'll probably end up sobbing like a baby anyway. SO.))

(I also disapprove of them cutting out the decoy bit. Which is, again weirdly, one of my favourite bits - because it actually happened and I have fond memories of flailing all other my mother when I saw the Globe version of it.)

AND HIDDLESTON'S JEREMY IRONS IMPRESSION! That was pretty much my favourite thing ever, to be honest.

I also loved Henry's excellent timing. "Vicious rebel army, possibly going to get slaughtered, still plagued by guilt - GONNA COUGH UP BLOOD NOW, OVER TO MY SON!" XDD

(And, er, on a faintly random note: I was also very fond of Doll! I think I may implode when it gets to the bit where she has actual lines. This may be embarrassing and painful.)

[angevin2]

I can't remember if it was you I was telling about this, so if it was, you can ignore me, but one great thing about 2H4 is that the big scenes at the end still pack a wallop even if the rest of the play is crummy. I saw an otherwise-terrible production a few years ago in which nobody could act and all the chainmail was poorly-knitted stuff that was the color of Winnie-the-Pooh, and Henry IV wore a sparkly nightgown the whole time, and yet his last scene was still pretty effective, so I can only conclude that those parts of the play are essentially actor-proof.

Also, I always get so outraged when they don't do the decoys! BECAUSE. SO VERY SYMBOLIC. (Another production I saw went to the trouble of actually casting someone as Blunt who resembled Henry and then they still didn't do it. Bah.)

[doreyg]

I don't think it was me, but... Oh god, that sounds absolutely awful. Sparkly nightgown? I have the fashion sense of a particularly oblivious tortoise but even I can tell that that's NOT A GOOD IDEA.

And I'm not sure how I'll react to the Falstaff scene yet, though by the reviews coming in I'll probably be eating my words while crying loudly, but I'm pretty sure that the last Henry IV scene will have me on the point of hysteria. I love Jeremy Irons, I want more of Jeremy Irons all the time.

THE DECOYS ARE AMAZING AND EVERYBODY SHOULD DO THEM! Because, yeah, it jsut says SO MUCH about Henry's character - you wouldn't really see Richard doing that, or Hal. And so it's very important and character defining and JUST KEEP IT IN, IT IS A GREAT SCENE! ;;

[angevin2]

And seriously, Henry IV is possibly the least likely character in Shakespeare -- or at least in the histories -- to wear a sparkly nightgown. ;) My local Shakespeare company makes very poor costume choices, and I would forgive them for it if I'd ever seen a decent performance there.

Also, I think it's so telling that the other person in Shakespeare's histories who does the decoy thing is Richmond in Richard III! I've never felt that RIII is just straight-up Tudor propaganda at all, and that is one of the suggestive bits in that regard. (I mean, I also am apparently a distinct minority among medieval English history fans, because I also don't think Henry VII was History's Greatest Monster, but that's a complicated topic. Maybe if this does well enough that they decide to do the other tetralogy. /pipe dream)