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Midsummer night's Dream
Nov. 29th, 2005 12:38 amThis was... hmm. I guess the word would be sweet. Midsummer Night's Dream, the Kevin Kline version is one of those films I happily get lost in, but I wouldn't necessarily call most productions of the play sweet.
Very little malice, some great acting (as usual, Hermia is a much better part than Helena, and Puck and Oberon are to die for - go, Lenny Scott as Oberon. The only way they could've made me happier is if Paterson Joseph was playing it. Marquis de Carabas from Neverwhere to you, or the bloke who won the Weakest Link in the Big Brother ep of Dr Who) Overall, the adaptation had more liberties taken with it than the rest of them :scowls about them only doing four:, because there was a tonne of extra focussing on Oberon speaking to Theo, or Hippolyta and Theo talking, whereas they're pretty much cameos in the play (I think it's just a rule that if you've managed to bag Imelda Staunton, make as much use of her as possible) but on the other hand, it's the one that's lifted the most dialogue from the original text. That and changing scenes and origins of characters - for example, Lysander bursting in unannounced and not being there since the beginning.
Great use of the setting of the holiday park, with all the scenes in the pool area and people cycling around, which was *so* a nod to the Kevin Kline version. Nice treatment of the fairies and magic, and the Rude Mechanicals were so well done, with the sheer embarassment and eagerness to please. For once I didn't just tolerate Johnny Vegas, I actually liked him. Though I nearly collapsed when one of the treats the handmaidens brought in was a pile of Ferrero Rocher.
Oh, and you know I said they kept immense amounts of the text? Oberon was pretty much quoting half of Oberon's speeches straight off, so much so that whenever Puck had a speech, especially the 'think but this and all is mended' of the epilogue, I was expecting verbatim quotage.
So... satisfying and sweet. Not squeeing over it as much as I did the other three, especially Much Ado and Macbeth, but it was lovely. And Helena got a spine, and made Demetrius work for it by thinking he was an utter tosser rather than just clinging to him straight off! Yay! Go you! (not to mention not being a complete wet blanket at the beginning who just follows him like a kicked spaniel - you really sympathise with Demetrius in the first act normally, because you wouldn't want someone with that little self-esteem - this version's been his mate for years and is trying to shore up his feelings post being dumped, and doesn't actually say a word about how she feels. Oberon in this one actually makes Puck get rid of the love juice in Demetrius' eyes so he can see how he really feels, rather than just leaving it in there like in the play.)
So far, I'd say Dream and Macbeth have been the most creative in solutions and settings. You just can't beat dustmen discussing their sandwiches, you really can't, but wardens of a holiday resort are running a close second.
DAMMIT, BBC, WHEN DO WE GET THE DVDS?
Very little malice, some great acting (as usual, Hermia is a much better part than Helena, and Puck and Oberon are to die for - go, Lenny Scott as Oberon. The only way they could've made me happier is if Paterson Joseph was playing it. Marquis de Carabas from Neverwhere to you, or the bloke who won the Weakest Link in the Big Brother ep of Dr Who) Overall, the adaptation had more liberties taken with it than the rest of them :scowls about them only doing four:, because there was a tonne of extra focussing on Oberon speaking to Theo, or Hippolyta and Theo talking, whereas they're pretty much cameos in the play (I think it's just a rule that if you've managed to bag Imelda Staunton, make as much use of her as possible) but on the other hand, it's the one that's lifted the most dialogue from the original text. That and changing scenes and origins of characters - for example, Lysander bursting in unannounced and not being there since the beginning.
Great use of the setting of the holiday park, with all the scenes in the pool area and people cycling around, which was *so* a nod to the Kevin Kline version. Nice treatment of the fairies and magic, and the Rude Mechanicals were so well done, with the sheer embarassment and eagerness to please. For once I didn't just tolerate Johnny Vegas, I actually liked him. Though I nearly collapsed when one of the treats the handmaidens brought in was a pile of Ferrero Rocher.
Oh, and you know I said they kept immense amounts of the text? Oberon was pretty much quoting half of Oberon's speeches straight off, so much so that whenever Puck had a speech, especially the 'think but this and all is mended' of the epilogue, I was expecting verbatim quotage.
So... satisfying and sweet. Not squeeing over it as much as I did the other three, especially Much Ado and Macbeth, but it was lovely. And Helena got a spine, and made Demetrius work for it by thinking he was an utter tosser rather than just clinging to him straight off! Yay! Go you! (not to mention not being a complete wet blanket at the beginning who just follows him like a kicked spaniel - you really sympathise with Demetrius in the first act normally, because you wouldn't want someone with that little self-esteem - this version's been his mate for years and is trying to shore up his feelings post being dumped, and doesn't actually say a word about how she feels. Oberon in this one actually makes Puck get rid of the love juice in Demetrius' eyes so he can see how he really feels, rather than just leaving it in there like in the play.)
So far, I'd say Dream and Macbeth have been the most creative in solutions and settings. You just can't beat dustmen discussing their sandwiches, you really can't, but wardens of a holiday resort are running a close second.
DAMMIT, BBC, WHEN DO WE GET THE DVDS?
