the heart is a beating drum
I watched Danny Boyle's stage production of Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller yesterday. Spoiler alert: It was incredible.
Unlike most notable adaptations of the story, this one is very from the Creature's point of view, and so the play begins with him being born and learning to use basic motor functions. To see a little toddler flop and flail about is cute, even possibly endearing, but to see a grown man do it for nearly ten minutes is so, so uncomfortable and difficult to watch. Jonny as the Creature, OH MY GOD. He gave such a rich, not to mention incredibly physical, performance, as he showed both the character's struggles as well as his childlike wonder and innocence. There was a behind the scenes featurette that was shown just before the play where Benedict and Jonny discussed how the latter modeled parts of his performance after his two year old son... could you be a more perfect human being, Jonny?
I know that Danny Boyle has said that he wanted his two lead actors to switch roles every night so as to emphasis how Frankenstein and his Creature are one, both father and child, both master and slave, but to be honest I don't see how one actor could play the Creature night after night without collapsing from exhaustion. It's such a physically demanding role, from the sudden and jerky movements to the way Jonny deliberately lowered the register of his voice when he spoke. There were scenes where he was just drenched in sweat and saliva (again echoing a small child learning how to talk); it was incredible yet difficult to watch. Seriously, this play is not for the faint of heart. It is the most intense theatre experiences I've ever witnessed, and I wasn't even watching it in person.
As for Frankenstein, well, he was even more unsympathetic here than he was in the novel, and I found myself wanting to bitchslap him so many times while reading it. (Truth be told, I haven't actually finished it; I've about 50 more pages to go. It's kind of a drag in certain parts and like I said, Frankenstein is an annoying character.) Of course, Benedict was a natural in the role. Frankenstein is cold and unfeeling, more focused on pride and his own genius more than anything else, and we all know that Benedict can probably play those kinds of roles in his sleep.
The best and most powerful scenes by far were the confrontation scenes between Frankenstein and the Creature, particularly the first one where Frankenstein learns that his creation that he abandoned has learned not only to move and speak, but the ability to reason, form logic, and philosophize. The dialog was cutting and sharp and sometimes downright haunting (the excerpt from the trailer is a good example), and the roiling of emotions between both creator and creation was so palpable. ALL THE AWARDS AND GOLD STARS TO BOTH JONNY AND BENEDICT.
That said, I feel like the arrangement of Benedict as Frankenstein and Jonny as the Creature is the more obvious casting choice given their past work: Benedict as haughty, standoffish characters, Jonny as more sensitive and thoughtful, not to mention the fact that he has a stockier build and so he looks like he's more capable of brute force. I somewhat wish I had seen a showing where the roles were reversed; don't get me wrong, I loved the performances I did see, but it would have been interesting to see a casting that goes against the conventions.
I really, really hope that both arrangements will be released on DVD because I'm dying to see what acting choices Jonny and Benedict made for their opposite roles.
To whom it may concern:
Please make this happen.
Regards,
Anne
After this I went shopping near Union Square, which happened to be around the time a lot of people were leaving Wonder Con, which took place only a few blocks away, for the day. It was pretty hilarious to see bystanders bug out upon seeing a person dressed up as Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe wandering around the mall.
Let's see... I also watched Source Code.
There have been rumblings of how this movie is like an action version of Groundhog's Day. I wouldn't argue against that. It's taut and it has fine momentum as Jake's character uses the ability, thanks to a technology known as Source Code, to relive the last eight minutes aboard a train that's about to be bombed in order to find the perpetrator. After the first few passes, though, it begins to feel like a video game. When your character dies, you go back to the beginning of the level and start again, although you now have some knowledge of what lies ahead. While there are tweaks and differences between each outcome, it does feel repetitive after awhile. The more interesting story was the one outside of Source Code, of how Jake's character came to be involved with the program, which the movie dealt with to decent degree, I suppose, but had it dug deeper, this movie would have had a greater impact.
Poor Michelle Monaghan, though. She didn't have much to do but be cute and sometimes question what Jake was up to. Because that's the kind of entry this is, have another open letter:
Dear Male Screenwriters,
Having ladies in your films is great. Having ladies in your films to simply fill the role of "The Male Lead's Love Interest," however, is not so great. It is just plain lazy, and if you see it as a cheap ploy to get more females into theater seats because "women don't care for action films unless there's a romance subplot," know that we see through that shit a mile away. Just give your female characters something to do. It's not that much to ask for, is it?
Sincerely,
Anne
I went to Candystore Collective to get that fox cuff I mentioned about a week ago, but they didn't have it in stock so they're going to send one to me once their new shipment comes in. I don't know if I've said this yet, but I'm making some awesome sartorial choices this year. Yessir.
Question: Is there any reason to watch The Borgias besides pretty, somewhat incestuous siblings? I'd say Jeremy Irons, but I heard that he phones it in in this.
Unlike most notable adaptations of the story, this one is very from the Creature's point of view, and so the play begins with him being born and learning to use basic motor functions. To see a little toddler flop and flail about is cute, even possibly endearing, but to see a grown man do it for nearly ten minutes is so, so uncomfortable and difficult to watch. Jonny as the Creature, OH MY GOD. He gave such a rich, not to mention incredibly physical, performance, as he showed both the character's struggles as well as his childlike wonder and innocence. There was a behind the scenes featurette that was shown just before the play where Benedict and Jonny discussed how the latter modeled parts of his performance after his two year old son... could you be a more perfect human being, Jonny?
I know that Danny Boyle has said that he wanted his two lead actors to switch roles every night so as to emphasis how Frankenstein and his Creature are one, both father and child, both master and slave, but to be honest I don't see how one actor could play the Creature night after night without collapsing from exhaustion. It's such a physically demanding role, from the sudden and jerky movements to the way Jonny deliberately lowered the register of his voice when he spoke. There were scenes where he was just drenched in sweat and saliva (again echoing a small child learning how to talk); it was incredible yet difficult to watch. Seriously, this play is not for the faint of heart. It is the most intense theatre experiences I've ever witnessed, and I wasn't even watching it in person.
As for Frankenstein, well, he was even more unsympathetic here than he was in the novel, and I found myself wanting to bitchslap him so many times while reading it. (Truth be told, I haven't actually finished it; I've about 50 more pages to go. It's kind of a drag in certain parts and like I said, Frankenstein is an annoying character.) Of course, Benedict was a natural in the role. Frankenstein is cold and unfeeling, more focused on pride and his own genius more than anything else, and we all know that Benedict can probably play those kinds of roles in his sleep.
The best and most powerful scenes by far were the confrontation scenes between Frankenstein and the Creature, particularly the first one where Frankenstein learns that his creation that he abandoned has learned not only to move and speak, but the ability to reason, form logic, and philosophize. The dialog was cutting and sharp and sometimes downright haunting (the excerpt from the trailer is a good example), and the roiling of emotions between both creator and creation was so palpable. ALL THE AWARDS AND GOLD STARS TO BOTH JONNY AND BENEDICT.
That said, I feel like the arrangement of Benedict as Frankenstein and Jonny as the Creature is the more obvious casting choice given their past work: Benedict as haughty, standoffish characters, Jonny as more sensitive and thoughtful, not to mention the fact that he has a stockier build and so he looks like he's more capable of brute force. I somewhat wish I had seen a showing where the roles were reversed; don't get me wrong, I loved the performances I did see, but it would have been interesting to see a casting that goes against the conventions.
I really, really hope that both arrangements will be released on DVD because I'm dying to see what acting choices Jonny and Benedict made for their opposite roles.
To whom it may concern:
Please make this happen.
Regards,
Anne
After this I went shopping near Union Square, which happened to be around the time a lot of people were leaving Wonder Con, which took place only a few blocks away, for the day. It was pretty hilarious to see bystanders bug out upon seeing a person dressed up as Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe wandering around the mall.
Let's see... I also watched Source Code.
There have been rumblings of how this movie is like an action version of Groundhog's Day. I wouldn't argue against that. It's taut and it has fine momentum as Jake's character uses the ability, thanks to a technology known as Source Code, to relive the last eight minutes aboard a train that's about to be bombed in order to find the perpetrator. After the first few passes, though, it begins to feel like a video game. When your character dies, you go back to the beginning of the level and start again, although you now have some knowledge of what lies ahead. While there are tweaks and differences between each outcome, it does feel repetitive after awhile. The more interesting story was the one outside of Source Code, of how Jake's character came to be involved with the program, which the movie dealt with to decent degree, I suppose, but had it dug deeper, this movie would have had a greater impact.
Poor Michelle Monaghan, though. She didn't have much to do but be cute and sometimes question what Jake was up to. Because that's the kind of entry this is, have another open letter:
Dear Male Screenwriters,
Having ladies in your films is great. Having ladies in your films to simply fill the role of "The Male Lead's Love Interest," however, is not so great. It is just plain lazy, and if you see it as a cheap ploy to get more females into theater seats because "women don't care for action films unless there's a romance subplot," know that we see through that shit a mile away. Just give your female characters something to do. It's not that much to ask for, is it?
Sincerely,
Anne
I went to Candystore Collective to get that fox cuff I mentioned about a week ago, but they didn't have it in stock so they're going to send one to me once their new shipment comes in. I don't know if I've said this yet, but I'm making some awesome sartorial choices this year. Yessir.
Question: Is there any reason to watch The Borgias besides pretty, somewhat incestuous siblings? I'd say Jeremy Irons, but I heard that he phones it in in this.