gilleliath
Joined Jul 2018
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gilleliath's rating
I can understand why Orson Welles thought it would be a good idea to abstract the 'Falstaff' scenes from several of Shakespeare's plays and put them together into one piece. But the problem is, they are not the central scenes in most of those plays; they are more in the nature of comic relief. So the result here is, in truth - and as might have been expected - a shapeless piece without a strong narrative current, and lacking its logical climax which would - of course - be the Battle of Agincourt, as portrayed in Henry V.
Both sound and vision here are a little murky, but it's not purely a technical problem. The likes of John Gielgud, experienced Shakespearean actors accustomed to enunciate, make themselves clear enough; but the star of the show is, I'm afraid, often unintelligible.
Both sound and vision here are a little murky, but it's not purely a technical problem. The likes of John Gielgud, experienced Shakespearean actors accustomed to enunciate, make themselves clear enough; but the star of the show is, I'm afraid, often unintelligible.
Helpful•00
If you thought Prince Hamlet was ineffective and indecisive, wait till you see this. R&G - or are they G&R? - are so incapable of any sort of decision or action of their own that it's almost like they are in a time eddy; and in fact this film only really comes to life at the points where it intersects with Shakespeare's play (something that is managed adroitly, without the transition between them seeming too much of a dislocation). Conversely those scenes, which in the play seem of little interest or importance, become loaded with significance in their new framing.
Script and performances alike - and apart from the bits from Hamlet, this is almost a two-hander between Roth and Oldman - are beautifully crafted. But to what purpose? If this is anything other than a clever intellectual game - albeit with some funny moments and astute observations about the meaning of life along the way - I'm not sure what the intended meaning is. I suppose in a way it's a variant of The Velveteen Rabbit (or Toy Story) - figures which had appeared to be inert, and there only to fill out the scene, turning out to have a life of their own; and yet finding it to be only a frustrating, dependent existence in Limbo.
But I guess it has been influential, in as much as everybody is doing this sort of thing these days. So much easier than having ideas of your own, and so much easier to sell.
Script and performances alike - and apart from the bits from Hamlet, this is almost a two-hander between Roth and Oldman - are beautifully crafted. But to what purpose? If this is anything other than a clever intellectual game - albeit with some funny moments and astute observations about the meaning of life along the way - I'm not sure what the intended meaning is. I suppose in a way it's a variant of The Velveteen Rabbit (or Toy Story) - figures which had appeared to be inert, and there only to fill out the scene, turning out to have a life of their own; and yet finding it to be only a frustrating, dependent existence in Limbo.
But I guess it has been influential, in as much as everybody is doing this sort of thing these days. So much easier than having ideas of your own, and so much easier to sell.
Helpful•00
An Irish Western, that's a new one on me. Looking as though it was shot in a quarry on a gloomy day, this is slow and dreary, and far too blatantly a vehicle for C21st liberal causes - immigration, anti-religion, me too. There is actually no point in a Western if the rules are going to be the same as in a left-wing version of modern urban life - all you are left with is the boring nd dingy. And the action - when it eventually comes - is thrown away.
All in all, it is just a waste of time. There's no more to say but I have to keep typing until I reach the character limit and the little red counter in its wisdom condescends to give me a break and turn gree.
All in all, it is just a waste of time. There's no more to say but I have to keep typing until I reach the character limit and the little red counter in its wisdom condescends to give me a break and turn gree.
Helpful•00