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Other reviews by Howard Schumann
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Branagh on Film MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Kenneth Branagh , 1993)
Set in a 14th-century Tuscan villa in the village of Messina, Sicily at the home of Signor Leonato, the local Governor, the film opens with Leonato (Briers), his niece Beatrice (Thompson) and daughter Hero (Beckinsale) welcoming soldiers returning from battle. Branagh creates a flurry of activity as everyone jumps naked into the pool to bathe in preparation for the occasion. The soldiers are old friends and there is an atmosphere of relaxed joy when they arrive. The returning contingent is led by Don Pedro of Aragon (Washington), Benedick (Branagh), a lord from Padua, Claudio (Leonard), a young lord from Florence, and Don John (Reeves), Pedro's half brother whom he defeated in battle. Upon his arrival, Claudio instantly falls in love with the radiant Hero (Beckinsale) and everyone joyfully prepares for the wedding, with Hero, as was customary for that day, accorded no say whatsoever in the matter. Two courtships take place in the story: Claudio
and Hero and Benedick and Beatrice. Shakespeare shifts back
and forth between the stories of the two couples, interweaving
them into a unified whole. Benedick and Beatrice pretend to
dislike each other and exchange verbal thrusts and As everyone looks forward to the wedding, the jealous Don John and his associate Borachio launch a scheme involving Hero's attendant Margaret (Imelda Staunton) to convince the susceptible Claudio that Hero was unfaithful to him on his wedding night. Rather than confronting Hero immediately, Claudio, supported by Don Pedro, cruelly waits for the wedding at which he interrupts the ceremony with a verbal tirade against his bride to be. He tells Leonato, ''Give not this rotten orange to your friend. . . . She knows the heat of a luxurious bed.'' Her father, Leonato, takes Claudio at his word, believing Hero is a whore and despicably says that he would prefer his daughter were dead. The wedding scene causes Hero to faint and Benedick to challenge Claudio to a duel at the behest of Beatrice. To teach Claudio a lesson, Hero goes into hiding and everyone pretends that she has died. The theme of wrongful accusation of infidelity is a reminder of the cruel treatment by Oxford of his wife Anne, whom he also wrongly accused of
The story itself is slight and the influence of the Italian commedia dell' arte is apparent. The setting is the fictional kingdom of Navarre but Branagh updates it to pre-war Europe in the 30s using parodies of Movietone newsreels to frame the action. The young King (Alessandro Nivola) and his three friends, Longaville (Matthew Lillard), Dumaine (Adrian Lester) and the courtly Berowne (Kenneth Branagh) take an oath that they will devote themselves to an ascetic regimen of study for three years, renouncing the pleasures of women, sleeping only three hours a night, and fasting once a week. Berowne, who many see as a stand-in for the Earl of Oxford, is "the merry madcap lord "whose…eye begets occasion for his wit; For every object that the one doth catch, The other turns into a moving jest."
As usual, there are clowns inserted for comic relief: the swashbuckling Spanish soldier Don Adriano de Armado, played by Timothy Spall, and Costard, played by Nathan Lane. As Armado confesses that he is in love with Jaquenetta (Stefania Rocca), "a base wench," and Berowne is smitten with Rosaline (who bears a marked resemblance to Oxford's lover Anne Vavasour), an interchange of letters is delivered to the wrong parties and the comic relief soon turns into camp. Love's Labour's Lost is an early work, probably written in the 1580s, that seems to mock the affected style of writing known as Euphuism that flourished in that period. Most scholars agree, however, that touches were added that might date to the early 1590s. Interestingly, the play is not recognized as one of Shakespeare's best and was not performed for two hundred years after its opening. The Branagh film is its first cinematic version. Although the play contains some colorful characters, there is not enough time to allow us to feel invested in any of them and the acting, particularly that of Alicia Silverstone and Matthew Lillard, does not measure up to the standards set by Branagh in his other Shakespeare adaptations. The greatness of the thirties musicals lay in the superior acting and dancing of people like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Without professional singing and dancing, and actors worthy of the bard, updating the genre to the present day is an interesting bit of nostalgia but ends up being more of a spoof than an homage.
©2006 Howard Schumann |
A
prominent theme in the plays of William Shakespeare is that
of the ambiguous or unjust accusation of infidelity. Proteus'
treatment of Julia in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Angelo's
of Mariana in Measure for Measure, and Bertram's
of Helena in All's Well That Ends Well as just a
few examples. It is a pervasive motif as well in Shakespeare's
comedy Much Ado About Nothing,
brought to the screen with exuberance in 1993 by Kenneth Branagh.
Much Ado is the story of Claudio and Hero's excellent
adventure thwarted by Don John, the sullen half brother of
Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon. This Branagh adaptation is filled
with gorgeous scenery, outstanding costumes, and an all-star
cast that includes Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, Keanu
Reeves, Richard Briers, Robert Sean Leonard, Imelda Staunton,
and Kate Beckinsale. The film is so full of high spirits that
it successfully undercuts the darkness of the theme and renders
it much ado about nothing. 
parries.
Beatrice is exuberant, tantalizing, and full of wit, remarkably
portrayed by the great Emma Thompson while Branagh, a confirmed
bachelor, has a boyish charm and a keen intelligence. In spite
of his outward disdain for Beatrice, Benedick inwardly burns
with love for her and there is strong chemistry between the
two (they were husband and wife at the time). It is interesting
to note the similarities between Beatrice of Much Ado,
Rosaline of Love's Labour's Lost, and Rosalind of
As You Like It. All are witty, sharp-tongued women,
reminiscent of the fiery Anne Vavasour, a woman of the court
who was the lover of the Earl of Oxford and whose courtship
offended the Queen and landed Oxford in the tower. 
infidelity and who was destroyed by his disbelief in her loyalty. If the play does represent a defense of his behavior, however, it is unconvincing as the accuser shows no remorse and never apologizes for his wanton behavior. As Benedick and Beatrice are manipulated by overheard conversations into believing the other is madly in love with them, Don John's scheme to thwart the marriage is uncovered by the dimwitted Constable Dogberry (Michael Keaton) and the play proceeds in typical Shakespearean fashion with justice and all good things prevailing. Much Ado About Nothing is rousing entertainment that cannot help but leave you in an upbeat mood. 
There
have been successful musicals based on Shakespeare plays such
as Kiss Me Kate and West Side Story. In
Love's Labour's Lost , however,
Kenneth Branagh's attempt to marry
Shakespeare to the romantic musical genre of the 30s and 40s,
though it has an appealing innocence and charm, doesn't quite
come off. The musical numbers such as Just The Way You
Look Tonight, I've Got a Crush on You, There's No
Business Like Show Business and others from Berlin, Porter,
Kern, and Gershwin are timeless of course, yet the songs and
dance routines are inserted randomly throughout the film,
often without connection to the story. To accommodate the
tunes and the elaborate dance routines, two-thirds of the
original Shakespearean text has been cut and the result is
much good music but Shakespeare in name only. 
Of course, the three friends quickly yield to temptation as the Princess of France (Alicia Silverstone) arrives with three women, Maria (Carmen Ejogo), Katherine (Emily Mortimer) and Rosaline (Natascha McElhone). The men fall in love and spend most of the time breaking their oath of abstinence. The theme of oath breaking so prominent in the play may be a gentle ribbing of Queen Elizabeth who, when lodging at Cambridge for five nights in 1564, violated her 1561 proclamation that no woman would ever be permitted to stay overnight at an English university or abbey. 