The Winter's Tale/Making a Murderer/Serial
Saw the screening of The Winter's Tale last week, with Kenneth Branagh as Leontes and Judi Dench as Paulina. Much as I was keen to see Branagh (and to a lesser extent Dench), I was this close to not wanting to do it because I wasn't sure I could bear another three-hour experience (it was actually listed as 210 minutes, so there might have been a post-show doco we missed) of a relatively obscure Shakespeare play, especially after Hamlet. And I've only read The Winter's Tale once or twice, so I didn't know the plot off the top of my head. Although obviously I knew the famous, "exit, pursued by a bear" stage direction *g* and I did remember the "statue" scene at the end.
So, my expectations were really low, and maybe because of this, I loved it. It was so much better than I'd expected - I enjoyed it, rather than enduring it *g*. I did have a bit of trepidation going in wondering whether Branagh was actually still as good as I thought him, and he really is. It was like a sigh of relief just watching him. I just think he has the ability to make Shakespeare completely intelligible on cold hearing in a way that imo so few people are capable of. He inhabits the language, rather than just "delivering" it, as most actors seem to do. Dench, too, was amazing. I've never quite understood the fuss over Judi Dench - it's like she's so matter-of-fact about what she does that the moment I walk out of the theatre, I'm all, "wait, but what did she actually do that was so impressive?". But when I actually see her in something, then I remember that in a way just being is an art unto itself *g*. She was a perfect complement to Branagh - understated, but with that same knack of truly being inside the character. Whenever both of them were on stage together, interacting with each other, I swear the other actors almost literally faded into the background, they were so two-dimensional in comparison.
Basic plotline: King Leontes of Sicily (Branagh) thinks for absolutely no reason that his pregnant wife Hermione is carrying on an affair with one of his oldest friends, King Polixenes of Bohemia. He basically goes mad, and orders his trusted assistant Camillo to poison Polixenes, but Camillo refuses, instead warning Polixenes and fleeing to Bohemia with him to join his employ instead. King Leontes continues on his rampage, with the net result that his wife is imprisoned, his son dies (not his fault), he orders his newborn daughter banished, and then his wife dies of grief. Meanwhile, his daughter is rescued by some rustic types, and grows up in Bohemia. She's named Perdita (Lost). King Polixenes' son Florizel naturally falls in love with her, but hides the fact from King Polixenes, which enrages him, and the lovers flee to Sicily with homesick Camillo, and it all (mostly) ends happily. Paulina plays a noblewoman and friend to Hermione, who alternately pleads with and admonishes Leontes over his irrational behaviour. It's not technically even that pivotal a role, but she brought Paulina so vividly to life that I even felt bad for her at the end, when everyone ends up happy, but she's left without her husband Antigonus, who was sent to "abandon" Perdita and subsequent got eaten by the aforementioned bear.
Branagh and Dench aside, most of the acting was what I'd call "ordinary", where the actors are simply reciting lines while attempting to express the rudiments of the emotion underneath. But there were some other great performances, too: Autolycus (John Dagleish) as peddler, pickpocket, rogue and general comic relief was amazing. It was a showy role, sure, but he just owned the hell out of it and lit up the stage whenever he was on it. Perdita (Jessie Buckley) also shone as a completely thankless love interest - but she had such nuance and subtlety that I just loved her ability to deliver the words with actual feeling. The old shepherd (Jimmy Yuill) who takes in Perdita, and his son (Jack Colgrave Hirst) were also really solid. And some were dreadful - I wanted to giggle every time Prince Florizel (Tom Bateman) spoke. He was like the Prince out of Into the Woods (I was born to be charming, not sincere!), and listening to him was like, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. Oh, ouch. He was very big, broad and muscular, though, which is the only reason I can possibly see for casting him. It wasn't enough *g* And Hermione, Leontes' wife, was gorgeous, no question, but always had the air of: "I am saying the words? And I am saying them. Oh, I am definitely saying the words." She had the most amazing speech (theoretically) where she was telling Leontes how she only loved Polixenes inasmuch as he was a friend to Leontes, and she only showed him love as a mark of her respect and love for Leontes himself, but I had to reprocess the words to get the emotion. All the feeling was in the words, not in the performance. But she was great as the statue. (Sorry.) Oh, and the 10-15-minute introductory voiceover from Branagh was interminable - in this, the National Theatre is far, far more polished and interesting. The first five minutes about the history of the Garrick Theatre were great, but when he started talking about his "vision" or whatever I just wanted him to shut up and get on with it.
But, yeah, Branagh has still totally got it as far as I'm concerned. As always, his range of expression is just that little bit more overblown than I'm entirely comfortable with, but I kind of like that about him too. There was one moment, where he learns about the death of Hermione, when he crumples into a dramatic heap, and has to be almost literally dragged away by Paulina, and I did think, "...and would you like some cheese with that ham?". But he wouldn't be Branagh without it. Loved it, glad I saw it, and hope to be back to see The Entertainer when it screens.
Also watched Making a Murderer, that ten-part documentary about Stephen Avery, who was convicted of the murder of Teresa Halbach after having already served 18 years in prison for a sexual assault he was later proven NOT to have committed. I only started watching this because I needed a 'workout show', but was thoroughly hooked, and it's an amazing story. There was a comment I read/heard somewhere about "if this was fiction, I'd feel like the scriptwriters were maybe getting a bit unrealistic", and that was the way I felt watching this. It starkly showed the difference between "what happened" and "how it's presented" and how a confession can be anything but. Scary stuff.
On the back of that, I finally listened to the Serial podcast (I'd been recced, but ignored it *g*), which is similar-not-similar in following the case of Adnan Syed, a teenager who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. This one was also compelling, but murkier, and less damning than MaM. I guess for what it's worth, I think the Avery case is highly suspect, but with Syed - I guess I still have reasonable doubt, but less so. And just as I finished listening, I heard that Syed's appeal is happening in court right now.
If you've seen/heard either, I'd love to know what you thought! :)
So, my expectations were really low, and maybe because of this, I loved it. It was so much better than I'd expected - I enjoyed it, rather than enduring it *g*. I did have a bit of trepidation going in wondering whether Branagh was actually still as good as I thought him, and he really is. It was like a sigh of relief just watching him. I just think he has the ability to make Shakespeare completely intelligible on cold hearing in a way that imo so few people are capable of. He inhabits the language, rather than just "delivering" it, as most actors seem to do. Dench, too, was amazing. I've never quite understood the fuss over Judi Dench - it's like she's so matter-of-fact about what she does that the moment I walk out of the theatre, I'm all, "wait, but what did she actually do that was so impressive?". But when I actually see her in something, then I remember that in a way just being is an art unto itself *g*. She was a perfect complement to Branagh - understated, but with that same knack of truly being inside the character. Whenever both of them were on stage together, interacting with each other, I swear the other actors almost literally faded into the background, they were so two-dimensional in comparison.
Basic plotline: King Leontes of Sicily (Branagh) thinks for absolutely no reason that his pregnant wife Hermione is carrying on an affair with one of his oldest friends, King Polixenes of Bohemia. He basically goes mad, and orders his trusted assistant Camillo to poison Polixenes, but Camillo refuses, instead warning Polixenes and fleeing to Bohemia with him to join his employ instead. King Leontes continues on his rampage, with the net result that his wife is imprisoned, his son dies (not his fault), he orders his newborn daughter banished, and then his wife dies of grief. Meanwhile, his daughter is rescued by some rustic types, and grows up in Bohemia. She's named Perdita (Lost). King Polixenes' son Florizel naturally falls in love with her, but hides the fact from King Polixenes, which enrages him, and the lovers flee to Sicily with homesick Camillo, and it all (mostly) ends happily. Paulina plays a noblewoman and friend to Hermione, who alternately pleads with and admonishes Leontes over his irrational behaviour. It's not technically even that pivotal a role, but she brought Paulina so vividly to life that I even felt bad for her at the end, when everyone ends up happy, but she's left without her husband Antigonus, who was sent to "abandon" Perdita and subsequent got eaten by the aforementioned bear.
Branagh and Dench aside, most of the acting was what I'd call "ordinary", where the actors are simply reciting lines while attempting to express the rudiments of the emotion underneath. But there were some other great performances, too: Autolycus (John Dagleish) as peddler, pickpocket, rogue and general comic relief was amazing. It was a showy role, sure, but he just owned the hell out of it and lit up the stage whenever he was on it. Perdita (Jessie Buckley) also shone as a completely thankless love interest - but she had such nuance and subtlety that I just loved her ability to deliver the words with actual feeling. The old shepherd (Jimmy Yuill) who takes in Perdita, and his son (Jack Colgrave Hirst) were also really solid. And some were dreadful - I wanted to giggle every time Prince Florizel (Tom Bateman) spoke. He was like the Prince out of Into the Woods (I was born to be charming, not sincere!), and listening to him was like, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM. Oh, ouch. He was very big, broad and muscular, though, which is the only reason I can possibly see for casting him. It wasn't enough *g* And Hermione, Leontes' wife, was gorgeous, no question, but always had the air of: "I am saying the words? And I am saying them. Oh, I am definitely saying the words." She had the most amazing speech (theoretically) where she was telling Leontes how she only loved Polixenes inasmuch as he was a friend to Leontes, and she only showed him love as a mark of her respect and love for Leontes himself, but I had to reprocess the words to get the emotion. All the feeling was in the words, not in the performance. But she was great as the statue. (Sorry.) Oh, and the 10-15-minute introductory voiceover from Branagh was interminable - in this, the National Theatre is far, far more polished and interesting. The first five minutes about the history of the Garrick Theatre were great, but when he started talking about his "vision" or whatever I just wanted him to shut up and get on with it.
But, yeah, Branagh has still totally got it as far as I'm concerned. As always, his range of expression is just that little bit more overblown than I'm entirely comfortable with, but I kind of like that about him too. There was one moment, where he learns about the death of Hermione, when he crumples into a dramatic heap, and has to be almost literally dragged away by Paulina, and I did think, "...and would you like some cheese with that ham?". But he wouldn't be Branagh without it. Loved it, glad I saw it, and hope to be back to see The Entertainer when it screens.
Also watched Making a Murderer, that ten-part documentary about Stephen Avery, who was convicted of the murder of Teresa Halbach after having already served 18 years in prison for a sexual assault he was later proven NOT to have committed. I only started watching this because I needed a 'workout show', but was thoroughly hooked, and it's an amazing story. There was a comment I read/heard somewhere about "if this was fiction, I'd feel like the scriptwriters were maybe getting a bit unrealistic", and that was the way I felt watching this. It starkly showed the difference between "what happened" and "how it's presented" and how a confession can be anything but. Scary stuff.
On the back of that, I finally listened to the Serial podcast (I'd been recced, but ignored it *g*), which is similar-not-similar in following the case of Adnan Syed, a teenager who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. This one was also compelling, but murkier, and less damning than MaM. I guess for what it's worth, I think the Avery case is highly suspect, but with Syed - I guess I still have reasonable doubt, but less so. And just as I finished listening, I heard that Syed's appeal is happening in court right now.
If you've seen/heard either, I'd love to know what you thought! :)