Synopsis
A jealous king jeopardizes his family, friendships and succession.
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
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UK
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UK
30 Nov 2015
- Theatrical
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Leontes: I am ashamed. Does not the stone rebuke me For being more stone than it?
Hard to believe I’ve made it to this age without encountering The Winter’s Tale, but I was not disappointed by the fruits of my wait. Somehow originally construed as a comedy, this is rather a drama with comic elements, a tumultuous and twisting tale of paranoia and penance, paradise lost and found within the magic of love itself. Rich in character and Shakespeare’s characteristic narrative tricksiness, the play’s individual acts seem somewhat discordant until the climax brings everything back together in a manner both profound and emotionally impactful in a way that few other Shakespearean works translate so well in the present day. Beautifully performed by all, and lavishly yet economically staged, this iteration of the Shakespeare classic seems to do due justice to the perennially revered Christmas time favourite of theatregoers the world over.
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The Winter's Tale is one of the Shakespeare plays I'm not familiar with, so I should qualify any flaws I find with this new live theatre broadcast. Possibly I might come out of another production enraptured by the Jeremy Kyle-ish paternity plotline that dominates the first three acts, but in this one it felt like set-up, spade-work to be done before the properly entrancing second half. Much of it is done better in other Shakespeare plays; Leontes's suspicion of his wife never becomes as rich and complex as the similar plotline in Othello, and the two rival kingdoms lack the edge of genuine hostility that darkens the edges of As You Like It.
Again, this may just be this production.…
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One of Shakespeare’s so called “problem plays”, The Winter’s Tale is a tonal blend of psychological drama, romance, and magic, along with the finest bit of stage direction in the Bard’s canon: “exit, pursued by a bear”. Branagh Theatre Live brings it all to life with luscious production design (the opening Christmas design is legitimately stunning) and a game ensemble cast including Branagh himself (hardly a shock) as jealous king Leontes, Judi Dench as Paulina, and Miranda Raison as Hermione. The camerawork isn’t quite up to National Theatre Live’s standout, some quieter moments lost in awkward framing. It was never one of my favourite Shakespearean plays (but then I like Troilus and Cressida, so what do I know?) but it’s all handled with craft and care, just about earning the happy ending it presents.
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Kenneth Branagh's production of "The Winter's Tale" is a beautiful play with an unusual structure for the bard (the first half is a tragedy, the second half a comedy).
It must have been a tremendous thing to experience this live - but this recording of a performance fails to translate and transfer the magic into your home.
I have no idea why the Globe productions work so much better on film than this - maybe it's the lack of close-ups here and the reliance on too many establishing shots?
My rating is at odds with this problem.
If I split it up, it would look like this:Theatre production: **** (maybe even **** 1/2)
Filmed performance: ** -
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Una volta superati i 1000 film inizia a diventare difficile scegliere un film, perché il numero di scelte si è ridotto notevolmente.
Non è facile trovare nei cataloghi di Netflix, Amazon, infinity, rai play ecc qualcosa che ti inviti.
Queste opere teatrali sono un ottimo modo per prendersi una pausa e per godersi degli spettacoli magnifici. -
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Kenneth Branagh is almost never as good as he thinks he is, but here he was better than usual. I read the play a couple days before seeing this production, and I was surprised by how much more sympathy I had for his character on stage than I did on page.
Judi Dench, on the other hand, is always perfect. Even if everyone else was terrible, she would have been worth watching.