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'''Blessed:''' GORDON'S ALIVE!! YES!! |
'''Blessed:''' GORDON'S ALIVE!! YES!! |
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− | '''Oan [v/o]:''' But sadly, he's generally much more restrained in these films.Oh, he's giant and jolly, but he has none of the campy bombast of his Blackadder days. Oh, but let's just get back to the film itself. There are some questionable choices such as Derek Jacobi's chorus, not that he doesn't deliver the lines beautifully. |
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' But sadly, he's generally much more restrained in these films. Oh, he's giant and jolly, but he has none of the campy bombast of his Blackadder days. Oh, but let's just get back to the film itself. There are some questionable choices such as Derek Jacobi's chorus, not that he doesn't deliver the lines beautifully. |
'''Chorus:''' O, for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. |
'''Chorus:''' O, for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention. |
||
Line 113: | Line 113: | ||
[Crowd of armored men cheer. Caption: "The conductor's having a seizure!"] |
[Crowd of armored men cheer. Caption: "The conductor's having a seizure!"] |
||
− | '''Oan [v/o]:''' It's well-performed, well-shot, and sets the tone of the war perfectly. Unlike Olivier's version, made in 1944 when the English were quite happy to sing about the praises of going to Europe and showing the continentals what for, Branagh's was made in 1989, when the British were reeling from the sad and pointless conflict in the Falklands. As such the leadup to war is treated with utmost severity, the battle shot with blood, fire, and mud, mud in particular. If you know anything about the Battle of Agincourt, you'll know how important mud was in securing English victory. And there's even plenty of gravity brought to the scene where Henry decides to hang a childhood friend for looting a town against his orders. And one of the most brilliant decisions Branagh decided to do, in my opinion, was to include flashbacks to Henry IV. The Henriad, as the plays about his time is even called, were essential to fleshing out Henry of Monmouth. Shakespeare's audience would have been well-aware of the character of Prince Hal, as he was called in Henry IV, and his character arc. Hal spent his youth fraternizing with rogues and ruffians, including one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, John Falstaff, whom he befriends but ultimately abandons. |
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' It's well-performed, well-shot, and sets the tone of the war perfectly. Unlike Olivier's version, made in 1944 when the English were quite happy to sing about the praises of going to Europe and showing the continentals what for, Branagh's was made in 1989, when the British were reeling from the sad and pointless conflict in the Falklands. As such, the leadup to war is treated with utmost severity, the battle shot with blood, fire, and mud, mud in particular. If you know anything about the Battle of Agincourt, you'll know how important mud was in securing English victory. And there's even plenty of gravity brought to the scene where Henry decides to hang a childhood friend for looting a town against his orders. And one of the most brilliant decisions Branagh decided to do, in my opinion, was to include flashbacks to Henry IV. The Henriad, as the plays about his time is even called, were essential to fleshing out Henry of Monmouth. Shakespeare's audience would have been well-aware of the character of Prince Hal, as he was called in Henry IV, and his character arc. Hal spent his youth fraternizing with rogues and ruffians, including one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, John Falstaff, whom he befriends but ultimately abandons. |
'''Falstaff:''' Banish plump Jack and banish all the world. |
'''Falstaff:''' Banish plump Jack and banish all the world. |
||
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'''Oan [v/o]:''' And the real set piece of the film is not the battle itself, but its aftermath, with a great longtake, and yes, I told you I would come to a long take, of the bloody Henry of Monmouth carrying the corpse of Little Baby Batman across the devastating field with a brilliant hymn by Patrick Doyle ending with ... a goofy little romantic meek cute scene between the dorky Welshman and the pretty French girl he has a crush on. The Bard has written much better endings. |
'''Oan [v/o]:''' And the real set piece of the film is not the battle itself, but its aftermath, with a great longtake, and yes, I told you I would come to a long take, of the bloody Henry of Monmouth carrying the corpse of Little Baby Batman across the devastating field with a brilliant hymn by Patrick Doyle ending with ... a goofy little romantic meek cute scene between the dorky Welshman and the pretty French girl he has a crush on. The Bard has written much better endings. |
||
− | '''Oan:''' Of course, that's not to say that Branagh and Thompson don't have good onscreen chemistry, which someone probably noticed. Which is why his next Shakespeare film has it brought |
+ | '''Oan:''' Of course, that's not to say that Branagh and Thompson don't have good onscreen chemistry, which someone probably noticed. Which is why his next Shakespeare film has it brought front and center. |
− | '''Oan [v/o]:''' And it's in Much Ado About Nothing that Branagh really starts showing his taste for the slightly silly. Sure, have your male characters fist-pump the title into gear. And why not |
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' And it's in "Much Ado About Nothing" that Branagh really starts showing his taste for the slightly silly. Sure, have your male characters fist-pump the title into gear. And why not start the film with a scene of people bathing that's homoerotic twice over. And why not include scenes of you and your wife frolicking like you're in a commercial for Maxipads. But, this is afterall a comedy, so this is all on par for the course. He's also surrounded by another great cast: Richard Briers, of course, Brian Blessed, of course, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Ben Elton, Robert Sean Leonard, pre-famed Kate Beckinsale,.... Keanu Reeves. |
'''Oan:''' Hmm.... Well, they're marketable at least. |
'''Oan:''' Hmm.... Well, they're marketable at least. |
||
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'''Oan:''' *sigh amorously* |
'''Oan:''' *sigh amorously* |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' She's always been a smart, witty performer, but it's in the role of Beatrice that she really shines. Her dry wit, her mastery of wordplay.... |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Benedick:''' Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Beatrice:''' A bird in my tongue is better than the beast of yours. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' Her personal strength, her buried sadness... |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Beatrice:''' I beseech your grace; pardon me: I was born to speak all mirth and no matter. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' Her bright eyes, and the brains behind them and OH MY GOD, EMMA, BE MY BRIDE!! |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan:''' Oh sorry, sorry, that's... that's not like me. I'll keep that to a minimum for now on. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' But she really is the highlight of the whole film. And her banter with Branagh is easily worth the watch. Add to that, the knowledge that you're watching a real-life couple who really did have this level of intellectual and personal meshing in real life makes the bashing crackle even stronger, even if they did divorce soon after. So yes, this film has something in common with Gigli. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Robert Sean Leonard as Claudio and Kate Beckinsale as Hero are pretty, but fairly forgettable, characters. But that's kind of the point. The play hinges on getting this boring couple together as an engine to drive the far more interesting characters into more and more trouble in the set of going back to Commedia dell Arte, so I won't fault the actors for being given stock characters. Denzel Washington, fresh of his triumph as Malcolm X, is strong and charming as Don Pedro. He's remarkably comfortable with Elizabethan prose and gives his character an affable strength, even if it wouldn't make sense for a man with African descent to ride such prominent position in nineteenth century Europe with all its imperialist racist glory. But hey, he's a fine actor and I'm glad he's here. Another cast member who shines in this film is Michael Keaton as the clownish, dit-witted lawman, Dogberry. [in the scene where Dogberry gallops with Verges, a caption appears "A Monty Python reference would be too obvious."] There's something truly inspired by casting a better scene-stealer than Keaton in the role. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Dogberry:''' Marry, sir. They have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' Shakespeare wrote great many fools in his works and few are more foolish than Dogberry and Keaton really delivers, pouring his Beetlejuice-iest mannerisms into the meaning of the role. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Dogberry:''' But masters, remember that I am an ass; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan:''' And then ......... Keanu Reeves. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Don Jon:''' I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan:''' ...... What? What do you want me to say? |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Borachio:''' And I can give you intelligence of an intended marriage. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Don Jon:''' Will it serve for any model to build mischief on? |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan:''' Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare. You can probably write your own jokes about that. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Don Jon:''' It must not be denied that I am a plain-dealing villain! |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' But thankfully, his Don Jon is generally put to the silence for the most of it, so he doesn't hurt the proceeding as much as he could have. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Don Jon:''' I am not of many words. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' And thank god for that. The film also looks great, with Branagh taking advantage of the beautiful Tuscan setting, Tuscany even though the play is set in Messina, Sicily, but whatever. And taking a cue from his last film, he ends it all with another long shot set to a song by Patrick Doyle, all blaring trumpets and "hey nonny nonny." |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Hymn:''' Hey, nonny nonny. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan [v/o]:''' But for all of it's great spots, Much Ado About Nothing feels rather wrote. The film often feels like it's pandering to middlebrow sensibilities with its pastoral generally acquaint signs, though there is monstrous wit being put at nothing of great importance. It's not great Shakespeare, but it's damn good Shakespeare. And really, that's all it needs to be. It's a comedy, and comedy has to be accessible, relatable, and fun. And that's why I think it works. |
||
+ | |||
+ | '''Oan:''' Especially Emma Thompson. [mouth out "Call me" while making a telephone gesture] |
||
'''The transcript appears to be unfinished. Please finish.''' |
'''The transcript appears to be unfinished. Please finish.''' |
Revision as of 17:56, 28 February 2016
[Brows Held High intro]
[Fade to Oancitizen reading "The Arden Shakespeare: Complete Works"]
Oan: Yes, of course you need a prostitute who's heart is so golden she can convert people in one afternoon. God, fuck this play! [Slams the book, places it down, and notices the camera.] Ahh, welcome to Brows Held High. Well, April the 23rd has come and gone and I'm sure you all celebrate that day with all the pomp and... Oh, what's that? You don't celebrate April 23rd? Well, you should because that's the day internationally recognized as the day William Shakespeare [Says the name in a sophisticated English accent] was born.
Oan [v/o]: William Shakespeare is of course the greatest writer in the English language. George Bernard Shaw accused his peers of "Bardolatry" for word spitting him so much. But a century later, Harold Bloom suggested that there should actually be a religion surrounding The Bard of Avon.
Oan: And why not? His words are powerful enough to be quoted by absolutely everyone.
[Cut to a clip from "Chimes at Midnight," an adaptation of Henry IV]
Falstaff: We have heard the chimes at midnight, Mister Shallow.
Oan: Everyone.
[Cut to an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Menage a Trois"; Captain Piccard recites lines from Shakespeare's sonnets. This one from Sonnet 141.]
Captain Piccard: I faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes...
Oan: Everyone.
[Cut to a video featuring Tommy Wiseau in a convention; he recites a line from sonnet 116.]
Tommy Wiseau: ...on tempests, and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark.
Oan: And if you lived through the late 20th and early 21st centuries, you're probably familiar with one of the most prolific Shakespeare quoters of our time... Kenneth Branagh.
Oan [v/o]: Oh, Kenny Branagh, a fine slice of Northern Irish ham, a man so over-the-top you can never expect that there was a top in the first place.
Oan: As a director, he could get away with some of the most uncommon accesses. And as an actor, he's singularly able to put every ounce of emotion in a line... whether it deserves it or not.
Oan [v/o]: Born in Belfast, trained by the World Academy for Dramatic Arts, his debut, Henry V, earned him Oscar nominations for both directing and acting in a lead role. And from that spectacular debut, he went on to adapt five of Shakespeare's plays. They are, in order, "Henry V," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Hamlet," "Love's Labor's Lost," and "As You Like It." And yes, he was in "Othello," but he didn't direct it, so I'm not counting it.
Oan: And since it's Shakespeare's Day, I'm talking about them all. Oh boy. I won't do the usual play-by-play of these films because we've all read over Shakespeare since middle school and we all know the plays back and forth. In case you need a refresher... [inhale]
[Breaks into song recapping all of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films; the melody is from William Tell Overture]
The, King of all England's Henry Five,
And from all the French he got some jive,
And after that burn he did contrive,
For all of their hands from them deprived.
Benedick and Beatrice bitch a lot,
And all of their friends decide to plot,
To get them together and tie a knot.
Don Jon screws it up, but he gets caught.
Hamlet's dad is dead,
His son start seeing dread,
So he tries to kill his uncle,
But he only does a bundle,
And he ends up killing everybody else instead.
Four couples are yet crossed,
But there's a novel cost,
When the war comes amok,
And the worlds start a ruck,
And it's a little hard and love's labor's lost.
The duke usurps his bro and then,
They flee to the forest of their den,
Two girls go and dress up just like men,
And I think this bit will come to an end.
[Cut back to Oan. Exhale. Oan takes a bow.]
Oan [v/o]: A few general notes, with the exception of the history play, of course, Branagh really likes to set the play up a few centuries, usually to a Romantic Era to make it slightly more modern. Where it works and doesn't work will be addressed later. He also has a thing for color-blind casting. Sure, why not cast Denzel Washington as Keanu Reeves's brother? [Caption: "Well okay, half-brother"] It's the same kind of honorable progressivism that would later piss off Odin-worshiping racists when he cast Idris Elba as Heimdall in Thor.
Oan: But hey, the more annoyed the racists get, the happier all of us with brain stems are, right?
Oan [v/o]: He's also a big fan of the long take, which I'm most certain to point out as they come and make comparisons to the opening shot of "Touch of Evil" and all that.
Oan: And also, as a director, he has something that most in Hollywood would give all their cocaine to have... Clout.
Oan [v/o]: Pretty much every movie of his can boast an all-star cast. Just look at his first film's lineup. Henry V had Derek Jacobi, Richard Briers, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Paul Scofield, Little Baby Batman [Christian Bale], Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, well she was his wife at the time, so she was easy to get a hold of I suppose, and, of course, Brian Blessed.
Oan: Or, as he's known to his fans... [Gets closer to the camera] BRIAN BLESSED!!!
[Cut to Blessed at "Have I Got News for You"]
Blessed: GORDON'S ALIVE!! YES!!
Oan [v/o]: But sadly, he's generally much more restrained in these films. Oh, he's giant and jolly, but he has none of the campy bombast of his Blackadder days. Oh, but let's just get back to the film itself. There are some questionable choices such as Derek Jacobi's chorus, not that he doesn't deliver the lines beautifully.
Chorus: O, for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.
Oan [v/o]: But it's still rather odd to see a guy in a dress code walking around amidst all these Fifteenth Century shenanigans. Plus, it's odd to refer the sound stage he's on as "a wooden O." But that's Shakespeare's own fault for including such a site-specific and self-deprecating introduction. When he has an epic war story and he starts off the play by saying, "Um sorry this play sucks so much. We did what we could. Don't hate me." Plus, being a film pretty much negates the role of the chorus entirely. In a film, you can shoot on location easily and you don't have to imagine things. While in Shakespeare's day, you had a uniform stage and the characters had to go, "So, we're in Birnam Wood alright. Sure is nice here in Birnam Wood," and all the audience could do is think...
Oan: Yep, Birnam Wood.
Oan [v/o]: But that's a problem with any medium transfer, so I won't get hung up on it, especially because it does a lot right. Yes, Branagh nails the Crispin's Day speech, even if he does let the score speak for him at times. Just listen to the string section.
Henry V: Whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day!
[Crowd of armored men cheer. Caption: "The conductor's having a seizure!"]
Oan [v/o]: It's well-performed, well-shot, and sets the tone of the war perfectly. Unlike Olivier's version, made in 1944 when the English were quite happy to sing about the praises of going to Europe and showing the continentals what for, Branagh's was made in 1989, when the British were reeling from the sad and pointless conflict in the Falklands. As such, the leadup to war is treated with utmost severity, the battle shot with blood, fire, and mud, mud in particular. If you know anything about the Battle of Agincourt, you'll know how important mud was in securing English victory. And there's even plenty of gravity brought to the scene where Henry decides to hang a childhood friend for looting a town against his orders. And one of the most brilliant decisions Branagh decided to do, in my opinion, was to include flashbacks to Henry IV. The Henriad, as the plays about his time is even called, were essential to fleshing out Henry of Monmouth. Shakespeare's audience would have been well-aware of the character of Prince Hal, as he was called in Henry IV, and his character arc. Hal spent his youth fraternizing with rogues and ruffians, including one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, John Falstaff, whom he befriends but ultimately abandons.
Falstaff: Banish plump Jack and banish all the world.
Henry [v/o]: I do ... I will....
Falstaff: But we have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Henry.
Henry [v/o]: I know thee not, old man.
Oan [v/o]: So, it would have been devastating for Shakespeare's audience to see the scene where his old friends mourn his departure. It would also have moved them to see the youthful Hal slowly turn from a roguish barfly into a chivalrous king, a chivalrous king goes onto war for tennis balls, kills old friends out of principle and threatens to put babies at the end of his damn spears.
Henry: Your naked infants spitted upon pikes, whilst the mad mothers with their howls confused do break the clouds!
Oan: And another dead baby scene narrowly averted.
Oan [v/o]: And since Branagh includes that angle, his Henry turns into something of a coming-of-age story, as well as a world-weary war film, and it is weary. As arousing as it is to hear the commoners that this day shall gentle their condition, when the battle's won, Henry doesn't lead a cheer, even if the lines ask him to.
Henry: [along with the caption] And to England then, where ne'er from France arrived more HAPPY men.
Oan [v/o]: And the real set piece of the film is not the battle itself, but its aftermath, with a great longtake, and yes, I told you I would come to a long take, of the bloody Henry of Monmouth carrying the corpse of Little Baby Batman across the devastating field with a brilliant hymn by Patrick Doyle ending with ... a goofy little romantic meek cute scene between the dorky Welshman and the pretty French girl he has a crush on. The Bard has written much better endings.
Oan: Of course, that's not to say that Branagh and Thompson don't have good onscreen chemistry, which someone probably noticed. Which is why his next Shakespeare film has it brought front and center.
Oan [v/o]: And it's in "Much Ado About Nothing" that Branagh really starts showing his taste for the slightly silly. Sure, have your male characters fist-pump the title into gear. And why not start the film with a scene of people bathing that's homoerotic twice over. And why not include scenes of you and your wife frolicking like you're in a commercial for Maxipads. But, this is afterall a comedy, so this is all on par for the course. He's also surrounded by another great cast: Richard Briers, of course, Brian Blessed, of course, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Ben Elton, Robert Sean Leonard, pre-famed Kate Beckinsale,.... Keanu Reeves.
Oan: Hmm.... Well, they're marketable at least.
Oan [v/o]: But the real star of the film, even more than Branagh, is Emma Thompson.
Oan: *sigh amorously*
Oan [v/o]: She's always been a smart, witty performer, but it's in the role of Beatrice that she really shines. Her dry wit, her mastery of wordplay....
Benedick: Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher.
Beatrice: A bird in my tongue is better than the beast of yours.
Oan [v/o]: Her personal strength, her buried sadness...
Beatrice: I beseech your grace; pardon me: I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.
Oan [v/o]: Her bright eyes, and the brains behind them and OH MY GOD, EMMA, BE MY BRIDE!!
Oan: Oh sorry, sorry, that's... that's not like me. I'll keep that to a minimum for now on.
Oan [v/o]: But she really is the highlight of the whole film. And her banter with Branagh is easily worth the watch. Add to that, the knowledge that you're watching a real-life couple who really did have this level of intellectual and personal meshing in real life makes the bashing crackle even stronger, even if they did divorce soon after. So yes, this film has something in common with Gigli. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag. Robert Sean Leonard as Claudio and Kate Beckinsale as Hero are pretty, but fairly forgettable, characters. But that's kind of the point. The play hinges on getting this boring couple together as an engine to drive the far more interesting characters into more and more trouble in the set of going back to Commedia dell Arte, so I won't fault the actors for being given stock characters. Denzel Washington, fresh of his triumph as Malcolm X, is strong and charming as Don Pedro. He's remarkably comfortable with Elizabethan prose and gives his character an affable strength, even if it wouldn't make sense for a man with African descent to ride such prominent position in nineteenth century Europe with all its imperialist racist glory. But hey, he's a fine actor and I'm glad he's here. Another cast member who shines in this film is Michael Keaton as the clownish, dit-witted lawman, Dogberry. [in the scene where Dogberry gallops with Verges, a caption appears "A Monty Python reference would be too obvious."] There's something truly inspired by casting a better scene-stealer than Keaton in the role.
Dogberry: Marry, sir. They have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.
Oan [v/o]: Shakespeare wrote great many fools in his works and few are more foolish than Dogberry and Keaton really delivers, pouring his Beetlejuice-iest mannerisms into the meaning of the role.
Dogberry: But masters, remember that I am an ass; though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.
Oan: And then ......... Keanu Reeves.
Don Jon: I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace.
Oan: ...... What? What do you want me to say?
Borachio: And I can give you intelligence of an intended marriage.
Don Jon: Will it serve for any model to build mischief on?
Oan: Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare. You can probably write your own jokes about that.
Don Jon: It must not be denied that I am a plain-dealing villain!
Oan [v/o]: But thankfully, his Don Jon is generally put to the silence for the most of it, so he doesn't hurt the proceeding as much as he could have.
Don Jon: I am not of many words.
Oan [v/o]: And thank god for that. The film also looks great, with Branagh taking advantage of the beautiful Tuscan setting, Tuscany even though the play is set in Messina, Sicily, but whatever. And taking a cue from his last film, he ends it all with another long shot set to a song by Patrick Doyle, all blaring trumpets and "hey nonny nonny."
Hymn: Hey, nonny nonny.
Oan [v/o]: But for all of it's great spots, Much Ado About Nothing feels rather wrote. The film often feels like it's pandering to middlebrow sensibilities with its pastoral generally acquaint signs, though there is monstrous wit being put at nothing of great importance. It's not great Shakespeare, but it's damn good Shakespeare. And really, that's all it needs to be. It's a comedy, and comedy has to be accessible, relatable, and fun. And that's why I think it works.
Oan: Especially Emma Thompson. [mouth out "Call me" while making a telephone gesture]
The transcript appears to be unfinished. Please finish.