Sometimes the reports on never before seen Miramax films you have to venture out from New Jersey, sometimes Los Angeles... and now... Singapore, but it seems that AICN spies go everywhere and live there as well. THis is a report on Branagh's experiment to bring life back into the old style Astaire-ish musicals of yore. Stanley Donen was involved... or so I heard... And it should be noted that given the general disdain that so many filmgoers have for musicals... I trust no eyes and ears but my own... because I love musicals. Here we go...
Hey Harry,
Crash here.
In Singapore this weekend on holiday, I saw an advance screening of Love’s Labour’s Lost. It’s definitely not the sort of movie the majority of talkbackers will like, but I thought some people would like to know about it.
It stars Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstone, etc. This time, Shakespeare is done 1940’s style, complete with fedoras and the second World War. It’s also directed by Branagh (jeeh-zus, does this guy have a Shakespeare complex or what??)
It follows Ferdinand (), the King of Navarre, and three Lords – Biron (Kenneth Branagh), Longaville (Matthew Lillard) and Dumain (). We first meet them making a pact to lock themselves away from women for three years, to fast one day a week, and to basically study their hearts out.
The problem soon comes in the form of the Princess of France (Alicia Silverstone) who is journeying to Navarre. How, the men ask themselves, can they possibly socialize with the Princess and not break their pact? The problem is soon solved when they decide to host the Princess outside the King’s mansion, thereby not breaking their pact. Soon enough, however, each of them has fallen in love with another – the King with the Princess, and the others with the Princess’s ladies (Rosaline, Maria and Katharine, played by blah, blah and blah, respectively). Without giving too much else away, it’s mischeviousness and disaster from then on, as each tries to keep their love from the others.
It’s done in musical style, and this includes long tracking shots and forties songs and dances, all (I think) taken from previous musicals. Now, this works well at first, but it gets really old, really fast. Maybe it’s cuz I’m a ninetees viewer, but I don’t think it’s that. I like other musicals. It’s just that the music keeps getting in the way of the Shakespeare. It simply doesn’t work to mix the two. Also, it’s a pretty short movie, which makes me wonder how long the actual play can be (which doesn’t have music, of course).
It blasts us way too quickly into the story, and I had some trouble keeping up at first. It uses those black-and-white news clips, (forties style - that we always see in TV documentaries) to keep the audience registered, and for the most part these work well, but they also manage to alienate us from the characters (I’m not sure if this was intentional, but it’s…stupid). The claustrophobic confinement of the set doesn’t help things either. As well as this, Love’s Labour’s Lost generates most of its jokes from tired physical, slapstick routines.
So what, if anything, was good about this movie? I love Nathan Lane, and as Costard the clown/messenger with his unique voice, he is especially charming. As well as this, Don Adriano De Armado, a crazy Spaniard, is hilarious (although through the thick accent I could barely understand any of his lines). Kenneth Branagh, as usual, is quite good in his role. Alicia Silverstone is actually charming, and ends up redeeming the entire film with her easy grace and sensibility. So much for clueless. I’d give this film a three out of five. It’s an OK walk in the park, but it’s just nothing to sing about.
I’m Crash Davis
