for Cassius is aweary of the world
I'm watching the Shakespeare marathon on TCM, as mentioned a few posts back, and right now they're airing the 1953 Julius Caesar, aka The One With Marlon Brando. Who plays Antony and is not generally very good. Nor is the guy playing Brutus (I'm not sure who it is, but I think someone famousish. Okay, credits inform me it's James Mason), but I'll cut him a bit more slack (not a whole lot more, but a bit) because Brutus has got to be one of the most difficult roles in Shakespeare to do well. (I've only ever seen one I thought was decent.) However, the movie is better than it has any right to be because it has John Gielgud as Cassius, and the thing about movies with Gielgud in them is that you always know that there's going to be one thing about them that doesn't suck.
*does the Happy Dance of Giiiiiiielguuuuuuuud Looooooove*
In general, btw, I think that my relationship with Julius Caesar is becoming more complicated than the sort of allergic reaction I used to have to it -- I've gone from strongly disliking it, to still not much liking it but wanting to work through my issues with it. I think this is partly because I've never really seen a production that worked entirely, and feel like, even though it's not a great favorite of mine, as a text it deserves better. Like, it's interesting without really gripping me, or like in general it feels like it's less than the sum of its parts (because there are, I've always recognized, some really amazing parts). I would rather like to direct it, actually.
Next up is the Olivier Henry V, which I do have on DVD and can therefore watch any time, but will watch now anyway, because, really, it's Olivier! And sometimes he wears eyeliner and looks disconcertingly hot!
*does the Happy Dance of Giiiiiiielguuuuuuuud Looooooove*
In general, btw, I think that my relationship with Julius Caesar is becoming more complicated than the sort of allergic reaction I used to have to it -- I've gone from strongly disliking it, to still not much liking it but wanting to work through my issues with it. I think this is partly because I've never really seen a production that worked entirely, and feel like, even though it's not a great favorite of mine, as a text it deserves better. Like, it's interesting without really gripping me, or like in general it feels like it's less than the sum of its parts (because there are, I've always recognized, some really amazing parts). I would rather like to direct it, actually.
Next up is the Olivier Henry V, which I do have on DVD and can therefore watch any time, but will watch now anyway, because, really, it's Olivier! And sometimes he wears eyeliner and looks disconcertingly hot!