Bryce Dallas Howard, Romola Garai, Brian Blessed, Kevin Kline
2½/5An interesting and quirky adaptation of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy.
Briefly, the plot centers around the (in this case quasi-Japanese) Court of Duke Senior; recently deposed by his younger brother, Duke Frederick. The old Duke has fled to the Forest of Arden with his men, but his daughter Rosalind has been held at Court as the companion to her cousin Celia (daughter to usurping Duke).
However, after falling in love with the dashing young Orlando, Rosalind is banished from Court...so the two cousins decide to flee into the forest with the Jester, Touchstone (with Rosalind disguised as a young man, Ganymede, and Celia as 'his' sister Aliena).
And here's where the plot gets a bit weird...instead of seeking out Rosalind's father, the trio take refuge with a Shepherd and purchase a modest cottage in an attempt to adopt a 'simple life'. But Orlando, love sick and pining for Rosalind, has also fled into the forest to escape the wrath of his elder brother. Rosalind (as Ganymede) persuades Orlando to enter into a mock-courtship with him/her in an attempt to 'cure' the young man of his love sickness. What follows is a gender-confused farce...rife with love triangles and mistaken identities.
Of course, as with all Shakespeare comedies, the good end happily and all the young lovers are eventually married.
The acting is very over the top, though for the most part this isn't too objectionable. As always, I really enjoyed Romola Garai, who was sweet as Celia... Janet McTeer was another excellent choice, and I thought she was wonderful as Audrey.
Kevin Kline was good as Jaques, but I was a little disappointed by Alfred Molina's Touchstone (I think Molina is a great actor, but as the comic fool he is overly nasty and only occasionally funny).
Unfortunately, the love story is not told as well it could have been.
Little to no effort has been made to make Rosalind appear remotely male, which leads one to believe that Orlando is either very dim or in on the charade (not the latter, as it turns out...). This also means that much of the homo-erotic humour of the play falls flat, most notably in the mock wedding scene between Orlando and Ganymede.
And of course this also makes Phoebe's sudden infatuation for Ganymede even less believable...
Still, the film is cute and apart from strange and heavy-handed camera work on Branagh's part, very visually appealing.
The Japanese setting is an interesting choice, as is the time period (the late 19th century, shortly after the country opened it's boarders to the West).
Some reviewers have taken issue with the change in setting, complaining about the Shakespearean actors pretending to be Japanese (did these people not read the introduction?)...and while I certainly would have preferred it if more of the principle characters were Japanese, I thought Meiji era setting --and hence the use of Western actors-- was a good one since it allowed for very interesting style in the production design...
However, even though I liked the look of the film, I failed to see the point in setting this particular play in Japan. Considering that most of the action is played in a forest, the exotic setting seems to be wasted, especially since most of the actors are wearing European dress to begin with.
So for me the film is cute, but somewhat forgettable...
However, quite a few people (many of whom have a far greater knowledge of Shakespeare than I do) have enjoyed it immensely.
Give it a go...it's at least very pretty.
DVD Worthy? Depends on whether or not you a fan of Branagh's Shakespeare adaptations. Rent it first.
Extras: A short “Behind the Scenes” featurette.
Costumes: While I was disappointed by the general lack of traditional Japanese costume, I did like the eclectic 'East meets West' approach to the costume design.
I particularly enjoyed the combination of Kimono fabrics and Victorian fashion. My favourite examples are the petticoat and front panel of Celia's pale blue dress, along with Rosalind's Cream silk gown (the bustle of which is very reminiscent of the cho cho, or butterfly, style of obi).
This approach, of course, is most noticeable on the Ladies, but if you look closely you'll see that many of the men's suits (such as Touchstone's) are lined in colourful floral prints and other Japanese motifs. While others, like Orlando and Corin, wear outfits that are clearly quasi-Japanese in style.
***
Rosalind's Cream & Coral Dress
Rosalind's Brown Suit (as Ganymede)
Rosalind's Red Wedding Kimono
Celia's Blue Dress
Celia's Pale Blue Dress (as Aliena)
Celia's Ivory Wedding Kimono
Kevin Kline was good as Jaques, but I was a little disappointed by Alfred Molina's Touchstone (I think Molina is a great actor, but as the comic fool he is overly nasty and only occasionally funny).
Unfortunately, the love story is not told as well it could have been.
Little to no effort has been made to make Rosalind appear remotely male, which leads one to believe that Orlando is either very dim or in on the charade (not the latter, as it turns out...). This also means that much of the homo-erotic humour of the play falls flat, most notably in the mock wedding scene between Orlando and Ganymede.
And of course this also makes Phoebe's sudden infatuation for Ganymede even less believable...
Still, the film is cute and apart from strange and heavy-handed camera work on Branagh's part, very visually appealing.
The Japanese setting is an interesting choice, as is the time period (the late 19th century, shortly after the country opened it's boarders to the West).
Some reviewers have taken issue with the change in setting, complaining about the Shakespearean actors pretending to be Japanese (did these people not read the introduction?)...and while I certainly would have preferred it if more of the principle characters were Japanese, I thought Meiji era setting --and hence the use of Western actors-- was a good one since it allowed for very interesting style in the production design...
However, even though I liked the look of the film, I failed to see the point in setting this particular play in Japan. Considering that most of the action is played in a forest, the exotic setting seems to be wasted, especially since most of the actors are wearing European dress to begin with.
So for me the film is cute, but somewhat forgettable...
However, quite a few people (many of whom have a far greater knowledge of Shakespeare than I do) have enjoyed it immensely.
Give it a go...it's at least very pretty.
DVD Worthy? Depends on whether or not you a fan of Branagh's Shakespeare adaptations. Rent it first.
Extras: A short “Behind the Scenes” featurette.
Costumes: While I was disappointed by the general lack of traditional Japanese costume, I did like the eclectic 'East meets West' approach to the costume design.
I particularly enjoyed the combination of Kimono fabrics and Victorian fashion. My favourite examples are the petticoat and front panel of Celia's pale blue dress, along with Rosalind's Cream silk gown (the bustle of which is very reminiscent of the cho cho, or butterfly, style of obi).
This approach, of course, is most noticeable on the Ladies, but if you look closely you'll see that many of the men's suits (such as Touchstone's) are lined in colourful floral prints and other Japanese motifs. While others, like Orlando and Corin, wear outfits that are clearly quasi-Japanese in style.
***Costumes In Detail
*Additional Screen-Captures & Production Photos*
*Additional Screen-Captures & Production Photos*
Rosalind's Cream & Coral Dress
Rosalind's Brown Suit (as Ganymede)
Rosalind's Red Wedding Kimono
Celia's Blue Dress
Celia's Pale Blue Dress (as Aliena)
Celia's Ivory Wedding Kimono
Pheobe's Outfits
1 comment:
As you like it.. yeah. After enjoying this movie I can say like William Shakespeare " Shall I compare thee...lily hand"
Thank you for your post.
Have a nice time.
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