As You Like It
In the latter part of the 19th century, Japan opened up for trade with the West. Merchant adventurers arrived from all over the world, many of them English. Some traded in silk and rice and lived in enclaves around the 'treaty ports.' They brought their families and their followers and created private mini-empires where they tried to embrace this extraordinary culture, its beauties and its dangers... A dream of Japan, Love and nature in disguise, All the world's a stage.
Kenneth Branagh directs this new adaptation of William Shakespeare's comedy, AS YOU LIKE IT, set in 19th century Japan and starring Bryce Dallas Howard (Lady in the Water) as Rosalind, Romola Garai (Vanity Fair) as Celia, David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) as Orlando De Boys, Adrian Lester (Hustle) as Oliver De Boys, Kevin Kline (A Prairie Home Companion) as Jaques and Alfred Molina (Frida) as Touchstone.
The cast also includes Alex Wyndham (Rome) as Sylvius, Jade Jefferies as Phoebe, Janet McTeer as Audrey, Brian Blessed as Duke Senior/Duke Frederick, Richard Briers (Monarch of the Glen) as Old Adam, Jimmy Yuill as Corin, and Jotham Annan as Jaques De Boys.
The music is by Branagh's long-time collaborator, Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), the costume design by Susannah Buxton (Tipping the Velvet), and production design by Tim Harvey (Hamlet).
The film will be released in the UK on 21 September 2007.
Links
IMDb
Trailer
Production Notes
Pictures: Medusa Films
Related articles: The Kenneth Branagh Compendium
