Posted by josabby July 28, 2013 2:54 pm | #1 |
The fun of Shakespear is that it is very much open to intepretation, with line delivery, action and the setting. My friends and I were addicted to the Branagh version in high school. I LOVE the David Tennant/Catherine Tate version (Tennant is my favorite Doctor ;))
I've see a lot of reviewers complain about losing the famous Joss Whedon dialogue because he went with the original text, but I say we still got the Joss Whedon experience. It reminded me of the Buffy episode Hush, where people started to truly communicate when they could no longer talk.
I liked that Hero and Claudio got to show some personality. Hero didn't get to do a lot, but she at least showed a little anger at being accused of cheating on Claudio, and didn't just obey people.
As an Angel fan, it was nice to see Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof play a couple that got a happy ending.
Nathan Fillion's dry delivery of Dogberry's lines was gold.
I loved the black and White photography, it was beautiful.
One particular scene that strikes me in all three versions and the unique interpretations is the one where Don Pedro proposes to Beatrice.
In the 1993 version: he seems sincere and she wants to let him down gently (all 3 versions have their casting merit, but Denzel stands above the other two Don Pedros)
In Joss's version, Don Perdro and Beatrice are joking with each other. In the 2011 stage production, Don Pedro seems sincere in his proposal/ Beatrice thinks he is kidding and laughs at first, then gives and "oh crap! he's actually serious look."
I think any literature teacher in high school or college, trying to get students to appreciate Shakespear, should show these three versions to illustrate different interpretations and allow the students to draw their own conclusions.