Love's Labours Lost [VHS]
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VHS Movie Reviews of Love's Labours Lost [VHS]
Movie Review: British DVD is much better
Summary: 4 Stars
Okay, so this film is an acquired taste. I won't deny its enormous flaws. In order to make a 90 minute movie, with at least a third of that time devoted to musical numbers, far too much of the play is cut for it to make any sort of sense. Most of all, the fact that the actors were not trained singers or dancers or, for the most part, Shakespearean actors, shows, especially in the embarassingly amateur performances given by the two lead Americans, Alicia Silverstone and Matthew Lillard.
In spite of all this, however, I can't help but love this wacky little film. It just has such an infectious sense of joy, and such gorgeous music. No matter how much I may know, logically, that it is hopelessly flawed, I end up grinning as I watch it.
I do want to let people know, however, that there is a better alternative to this Miramax DVD. The British DVD, if you are able to play foreign discs, has much richer colors and also boasts an extremely informative and chatty commentary track by Kenneth Branagh, as well as one or two extra deleted sceens not on the American disc. It's available for about ten bucks at amazon.co.uk and is highly recommended for a fun, light Shakespeare experience.
Movie Review: Nice treatment of the Baird.
Summary: 5 Stars
Set in a european neverland with a kind of drifting and pleasent lifestyle the film mirrors the original text and Europe in the 1930's with equal astuteness. The feeling of the 30's is mirrorred further by the use of classic 30's music and Hollywood musical styles, the sets have a flavour of Astaire and Rogers; as do the costumes and choreography.
A worthy little film with a lively, engaging and romantic cast.
To me it demonstrates Branagh is better behind the lens than infront of it.
Movie Review: Fun blend of genres, not for Shakespeare purists.
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with most of the other reviewers - Branagh is great! I loved his Henry V, Benedict in Much Ado, Hamlet (bummed its not on DVD!) and his Iago in Othello was pretty good although it could have been a touch more evil. In those films he stayed quite true to the text. While I've claimed to be a Shakespeare purist in other reviews, unlike most purists, I have to say I liked this film.
I think I get where Branagh was coming from. He, like most Bard fans, believes Shakespeare was one of the greatest mirrors of the human condition of all time. In this film, Branagh stays true to that aspect of Shakespeare but takes it a step further by incorporating the works of other great portrayers of the human condition, albeit musically - the great song writers of the early 20th Century. Understood on that level, I think Branagh succeeded in blending these two mediums of commentary on love and the human condition and thereby pays homage to both in a very unique way.
If you're looking for a strict representation of Shakespeare's work, this isn't your film and there are plenty out there. But if you're looking for a fun, whimsical, and heart-warming film that pays homage to two great artistic genres and outstanding artists, one from the 16th century and several from the 20th century, this will do the trick.
Movie Review: Why not?
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm being generous with four stars, but Amazon won't let you rate with halves and I couldn't bear to give this delightful little bit of fluff three or less.Let's take the elements here: 1)Shakespeare - YAY! Love 'im, he's great, and I don't much care how much is taken away in terms of volume of lines as long as the actors can put the necessary omph behind them. 2) 30s hits - HOOO BABY, yay! Cole Porter, Gerswhin, delightful music. Can't really go wrong. 3) Kenneth Branagh -- good. He likes to go over the top, push the envelope, whatever cliche you want to use to say that he is a daring filmmaker, and that sort of daring is necessary both for musicals and for Shaekspeare productions. Sure, he oversteps every now and then, but it doesn't detract from all that he gets right. Stupid things like having the Don kick his lackey in the crotch are easily overlooked in light of the hilarious fun Branagh ocassionaly has with adapting a modern setting to the original text.
Do you actually need to know the plot? Nope, not really, it's doesn't matter much. The film is a vehicle to get four attractive men paired up with four attractive women and have a lot of rollicking good times, singing and dancing in between. In short, though, the king of Nevarre and his three chums have agreed to devote themselves to study for the next three years, forgoing food, drink, sleep, and women. Then -whoops!- four women, headed by the princess of France, drop into town. Shakespeare's comedies actually are comparable to musicals -- there's a lot of beautiful verse, people fall in love at first sight, and reality is chucked right out the window, thank you very much.
One of my favorite bits was when the four goofy lovers all come into the library one by one to confess their love, seemingly to no one, and each man is overheard and found out. Dumaine is called out by Longaville, and the King jumps out of his hiding place to chastise them both. In the original text, Nevarre is hidden in a bush, but in the movie he hides in plain view, holding a potted plant in front of his face. His line, "I was shrouded in this bush," while holding aloft the little plant makes me laugh like the idiot I am.
I didn't really mind that the actors aren't phenomenal talents; they're clearly having fun. Alessandro Nivola as the King was a surprise for me; I'm generally dubious about most American's abilities with Shakespeare, but he was very capable and easily understood (that's really the mark of whether or not a person is good at Shakespeare. If you, without reading the text, can follow what a character is saying, then they're doing it right). He has a solid singing voice and is just plain fun to watch. Branagh is a good singer, a fair dancer, and his Shakespeare will always be phenomenal. Adrian Lester is FAN-damn-TASTIC, and Matthew Lillard kind of sucks, but he fortunately has a very small part. The four boys, in general, are extremely entertaining.
For the women; I can hardly abide Alicia Silverstone in this role. Her singing voice is very thin (the girls' "Fancy Free" just isn't that good. Silverstone's solo baffled me. I was like, "What are you trying to do? Be British? Sing? Cause you're not really doing either."), her dancing is probably the weakest of the women's, and her Shakespeare is wretched. She doesn't speak it like she gets it, more like she's trying to put emphasis on every single stupid word. The Princess, instead of being a wit, is just kind of annoying. Natasha McElhone is fantastic as Rosaline; she gives her character dignity where Silverstone's is a flighty teen. The other two girls are really interchangeable and neither have significant solos.
All in all, it was a very entertaining film. As a whole, it's a good time, even though it isn't first rate Shakespeare or musical. Whee!
Movie Review: the sublime and the ridiculous
Summary: 4 Stars
Beautiful words, delightful music, great acting! What could ruin such a mix. The answer, the ego of Kenneth Branagh. He is much too old for the part of a young student. His direction is absurdly literal. For example: probably the best use of the song "Heaven, I'm in heaven..." is sung by Angel Islington in Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Here the song is ruined by literally yanking the singers up on wires to a ceiling painted to resemble heaven. If a song mentions a hat, the director shows us a hat, and so on. The camera is always doing things that are distracting and annoying. The choreography is nothing but a string of literal quotes, from Busby Berkley to Fred Astaire to Gene Kelly to Bob Fosse. It never flows, just jerks from quote to quote. And while the older actors are superb, there does not seem to be an actor under 25 who can do Shakespeare...they all sound as if they are mouthing words that are not a part of their vocabulary. And the slapstick -- 'taint funny Magee. After all this, I still recommend watching the film. It is much kinder to the clowns than most productions of LLL. Branagh's great speech in praise of love is worth the price of admission. He acts sincerity so well it is almost enough to make us forget what he did to Emma Thompson. And the music is ... heaven.