December Books 6) and 2008 films 7) Much Ado About Nothing

[nwhyte]

6) Much Ado About Nothing, by William Shakespeare; and film version directed by Kenneth Branagh

Comments

[djm4]

The 1984 BBC TV Shakespeare version with Cherie Lunghi as Beatrice, Robert Lindsay as Benedick and Michael Elphick as Dogberry is also very well worth a look. And Vernon Dobtcheff as an underplayed but quietly malevolent Don John.

One thing I liked about the Branagh version is that they made the Claudio/Hero story work, which is a difficult thing to do as to me it's probably the least plausible part of the story.

[smellingbottle]

Mmm, I agree - Claudio has to turn in two seconds from a likeable, hot-headed youth in love, to an implacable bastard bent on publicly shaming the woman he adored, without so much as asking her to account for what he appeared to see. Lots of versions I've seen - even the utterly brilliant NT one from earlier this year, with Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale as Beatrice and Benedick and a generally excellent cast - had trouble with that. I agree that Robert Sean Leonard does a decent job of appearing sufficiently broken as well as vindictive. I think if I were directing, I'd try to show that Claudio is a bit unstable even in at his happiest, and has a tendency to idolise or demonise others - you'd have to work with the bit where he thinks the Prince has wooed Hero for himself.

[liberaliser]

I liked the Branagh version, but I remember finding it unduly fluffy. Quite apart from Keanu "you can tell he's evil because of the music" Reeves, they could have made a lot more out of the dark parts of the story. I saw it not long after seeing a stage production in London, which not only had a hilariously spunky Benedict and Beatrice, but also made the dark bits really very very dark and authentically scary. After that, both the humour and the darkness in Branagh's version felt rather flat.

I also did a May week production in Cambridge, which was just silly of course. I played Leonato, and spent most of my time on stage trying to make the other actors giggle. With some success.

[sammywol]

Leather pants! All the baddies wear leather pants.

[sammywol]

i like the Branagh version too. I agree that the chemistry between Beatrice and Benedick starts too soon but I find myself not caring overmuch. I also love the casting of Blessed as the uncle who does a properly scary job of what is usually something of a pastiche scene of threatening bloody vengeance. Although the symbolism of the Prince being played by the only black actor has worrying Othello-esque overtones for me but I suppress, I suppress. I think Keanu was hired because in those days British actors seem to enjoy torturing him (accounts of what Hopkins et al did to him in the actorly bonding sessions of Coppola's Dracula read like nasty schoolboy bully stories). Day 1 riding English style in leather pants apparently resulted in chafing that created the distinctive walk for the character for the rest of the movie. ... Have just realised where I saw that handsome Dr Wilson in House before. Thanks!

Maggie Smith version 1967

[anonymous]

I was wondering where you saw the 1967 version with Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens and where i could buy it. I love Maggie Smith and I could not find it anywhere. Thank You! Please let me know in a comment ASAP. THANKS!!!!!!!!

Re: Maggie Smith version 1967

[nwhyte]

Sorry to say I never saw it; just got the details off IMDB. I had a look for commercially available versions a few months ago but came up empty-handed.