To begin with, I must say that the version of Love's Labour's Lost that I saw had not been fully edited and the soundtrack comprised mostly of incidental music from Much Ado. Therefore I would surmise that the finished version will look better and slicker and, well, more finished.
Branagh has taken a play which is fairly long, quite banal and filled with complex yet beautiful language and by cutting it down to 93 minutes, adding 5 or 6 song and dance routines and eliminating much of the original Shakespeare, he has managed to produce a very likeable farce.
Traditionalists who hold Shakespeare in holy awe will find this film to be quite blasphemous. However, I feel that Branagh has captured the feeling of the piece extremely well. It is after all a slightly bawdy farce with lots of terrible jokes and a plot as shallow as a puddle in the drought season. Shakey raises it with many great and moving speeches (most by Berowne / Branagh surprisingly enough) and these have been lovingly restored in Branagh's film.
My main gripe about the film is the ending. Not wishing to give anything away, I shall just say that Mr S intentionally left the ending of the play
very open - even quite pessimistic(?) Branagh doesn't. Even this is not crushing in itself and is thoroughly understandable in order to appeal to a bland, formulaic-loving Hollywood audience. But Branagh puts us through 3 separate endings to go along with this.
The first, a usual musical device is used - to end on a spirited chorus song and dance. Branagh treats us to this - even to the extent of bringing on all of the cast for their bows. Then however he lets the momentum down for Ending No. 2 (the end of Shakey's play) which is slow, poignant and moving. Finally, he revs us up once again to give us a 3rd ending which the play did not contain and in my mind was superfluous to the piece as a whole.
So what do I think? I would recommend it highly for the song and dance routines, the colours, the sets, the clever use of Shakespeare and actors getting pretty damned close to the bard (Alicia Silverstone really surprised me), but if you wanted your Shakey 'as is' this isn't the one for you.
Branagh has taken a play which is fairly long, quite banal and filled with complex yet beautiful language and by cutting it down to 93 minutes, adding 5 or 6 song and dance routines and eliminating much of the original Shakespeare, he has managed to produce a very likeable farce.
Traditionalists who hold Shakespeare in holy awe will find this film to be quite blasphemous. However, I feel that Branagh has captured the feeling of the piece extremely well. It is after all a slightly bawdy farce with lots of terrible jokes and a plot as shallow as a puddle in the drought season. Shakey raises it with many great and moving speeches (most by Berowne / Branagh surprisingly enough) and these have been lovingly restored in Branagh's film.
My main gripe about the film is the ending. Not wishing to give anything away, I shall just say that Mr S intentionally left the ending of the play
very open - even quite pessimistic(?) Branagh doesn't. Even this is not crushing in itself and is thoroughly understandable in order to appeal to a bland, formulaic-loving Hollywood audience. But Branagh puts us through 3 separate endings to go along with this.
The first, a usual musical device is used - to end on a spirited chorus song and dance. Branagh treats us to this - even to the extent of bringing on all of the cast for their bows. Then however he lets the momentum down for Ending No. 2 (the end of Shakey's play) which is slow, poignant and moving. Finally, he revs us up once again to give us a 3rd ending which the play did not contain and in my mind was superfluous to the piece as a whole.
So what do I think? I would recommend it highly for the song and dance routines, the colours, the sets, the clever use of Shakespeare and actors getting pretty damned close to the bard (Alicia Silverstone really surprised me), but if you wanted your Shakey 'as is' this isn't the one for you.