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The More Shakespeare Movies You See, The Better This Looks

posted 9 years ago by mail-2217
2 replies | jump to latest

Just finished watching 'The Hollow Crown'. And it dawned on me how well (most of) Branagh's movies hold up. They are kinda the standard now... at least for me.

I'm not saying they are the most -accurate-...the Hollow Crown shows are, from a Bard-ophile standpoint, far more accurate. But they frankly seem flat to me... especially their Henry V. And I now find it hard to look at previous versions from even Olivier.

I think Branagh pretty much knocked it out of the park. His speeches and his choice of cuts are the essence of the play. It's a crowd pleaser; sort of a 'Green Berets' from 1600. And this version gets it. It doesn't try to be more than that.

If it's not always 'faithful' to the text, it has the rare quality that it actually has a shot of appealing to non-Shakespeare types without some stupid gimmics (rap music, resetting in the 20th century or some other such drivel).

It's one of the few solid 9s here.

[–] carlc64 9 years ago

I like Branagh's version of HV but the Oliver version from '44 is pretty incredible, plus with the look into theatre of Shakesperae's time etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_(1944_film)

[–] notsocrazyroy 8 years ago

I loved The Hollow Crown and bought both series on DVD. The episodes feature a wealth of British acting talent throughout, the standout performance for me was Ben Wishaw's Richard II, a mesmerising performance. Tom Hiddlestone gave a reasonable turn as Henry V but it's difficult to compare his performance with Branagh's as it covers more of his early days and his friendship and later disassociation with Falstaff. Benedict Cumberbatch gives a deliciously evil and at times humorous performance as Richard III. The supporting cast throughout the series are magnificent in particular Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench and Simon Russell Beale's Falstaff is wonderful. I can recommend these two series to anyone who has an interest in Shakespeare's work, you won't be disappointed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollow-Crown-TV-Mini-DVD/dp/B007P3Q95K/ref=pd_bxgy_74_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DXBB59BYA8Y6DA8BNPGC

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hollow-Crown-War-Roses-DVD/dp/B01E74MC46/ref=pd_bxgy_74_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CPNYEMM6AQ9CA2BWH6F8

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