Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU Shakespeare is a master of suspense, when he wants to be, or isn't he always? A Duke of Vienna leaves his city and his deputy, Angelo (what a name for a twisted mind) in charge. But he comes back in disguise to check upon Angelo and he finds out that the man is corrupt and uses power to his own advantage, even trying to seduce a nun by sending her brother to the block where he would be beheaded at the strange time of four o'clock in the morning. But the Duke prevents the execution of that brother Claudio and comes back in time afterwards to sort things out. Shakespeare is a master at making us believe it will not go through and every step to the truth is immediately countered with two steps down the abyss, till the very last moment when the deputy is completely fooled out of countenance by the Duke coming back under his disguise – as a monk mind you – and reveals the villainy of his deputy when this deputy orders the Duke disguised as a monk to be sent to prison pending execution. Though everything looks really bleak till the end of the fourth act, the fifth act brings some relief but at the end of it only, though Shakespeare brilliantly prepares it with Isabella's cry for justice: "Justice, O royal Duke! Vail your regard / Upon a wrong'd- I would fain have said a maid! / O worthy Prince, dishonour not your eye / By throwing it on any other object / Till you have heard me in my true complaint, / And given me justice, justice, justice, justice." An opening single cry first and then a closing quadruple cry, which brings these "justice" cries to five: the diabolical disruptive pentacle, that the Duke double further on, along with Isabella, to ten to make the truth stronger, more unavoidable, with six words on each side and five identical making the sixth one all the more powerful. "Duke: Nay, it is ten times strange? / Isabella: Nay, it is ten times true." And the truth of a well balanced decision will come from the Duke, this time like a final decree: "Duke: 'An Angelo for Claudio, death for death!' / Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure; / Like doth quit like, and Measure still for Measure. / Then, Angelo, thy fault's thus manifested, / Which, though thou wouldst deny, denies thee vantage. / We do condemn thee to the very block / Where Claudio stoop'd to death, and with like haste. / Away with him!" But Shakespeare being Shakespeare he manages to sort things out in a final ruling, as square a ruling as square can be. Mariana is married to Angelo and she is the happiest woman when Angelo is pardoned and escapes the block. Isabella is reunited to her brother Claudio. Lucio's slandering against the Duke sends him at first to prison to be whipped and then hanged, because he had called the Duke "a fool, a coward, one all of luxury, an ass and a madman", a diabolical pentacle of insults, but the Duke yields to popular demand and pardons the slandering provided he marries a prostitute this very Lucio had mishandled, which is equal to death in Lucio's words: "Marrying a punk, my lord, is pressing to death, / whipping, and hanging" which is another formal square though "marrying" is equaled to the three others: "pressing to death", "whipping", "hanging". And finally the Duke is moving towards his own marriage with Isabella. Four couples are reunited, even if one is brother and sister and another is a slanderer and a prostitute. And three marriages in that square ending. This production adds a detail at the end that does not seem to be in the tale which is the coming to the forefront of a woman and a newborn baby that is at once acknowledged by Claudio which makes a fourth real marriage, but I would have preferred the Shakespearian ending that is somewhere slightly awry and hence a big tongue in a big cheek like the final ternary speech of the Shrew when finally tamed into marriage and obedience.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

tonstant viewer In "Measure for Measure," Shakespeare gives us no character as an entry point to this acid discussion of justice vs. mercy, religious faith and hypocrisy. Virginity, assaults thereon and reputations at stake are once again pivotal questions. The low comedy characters, often tedious irrelevancies in other plays, are here in the bordello trade, and for once their stories resonate with the main narrative.We must consider "Measure for Measure" as a comedy, since all the characters live and many of them marry at the end, yet we as an audience are not really allowed to get comfortable at the twisty conclusion. The dramatic resolution is strangely prolonged and the aftertaste is a queasy one. I doubt this is the favorite play of all that many admirers of the Bard.That being said, this video is a very satisfying production. The director, Desmond Davis, keeps the pace up at all times - there is no flagging of energy or movement. The visuals are unfamiliar compared to others in the series that deliberately reference Old Master paintings. Yet the images are uniformly precise, effective and gratifying to behold.A word of admiration for the tracking shots of characters walking down the endless streets of Vienna. The television studio configuration is often the set constructed at one end and the camera observing at the other. However, for this day's shooting, the street set was constructed in a circle hugging the four walls of the studio, with cameras and cast walking around inside it. Nicely done.The cast is almost uniformly satisfying. Kate Nelligan, who has been known to be dreary on some occasions, brings off perfectly the goodness and persuasiveness of Isabella, without ever becoming sanctimonious or annoying. Tim Pigott-Smith excels as the predatory hypocrite Angelo, an ancestor of his memorable Captain Merrick in "The Jewel in the Crown." John McEnery as the loudmouth dandy Lucio, Frank Middlemass and Adrienne Corri as the bawds deserve special mention. A highlight is Christopher Strauli's finely calibrated jailhouse speech, in which Claudio first commends his sister's decision not to save his life by giving in to sexual blackmail, and gradually decides that he loves living enough that perhaps she should disgrace herself after all.A major theme in the whole BBC series is bringing Shakespearian speech down to conversational volume for TV, after centuries of ritualized shouting in theaters. Kenneth Colley as the manipulative Duke almost takes it too far, as his language sometimes descends to liquid baritoning at the expense of diction. He also moves his head too much for the camera, eyes rolling and skull oscillating from side to side. According to Susan Willis's book, Colley was the 32nd actor approached for the part, the first choice being Alec Guinness, but then you can't always get what you want. Between extended rehearsal schedules and unimpressive money, casting this whole series must have been a mammoth exercise in frustration.However, these are minor annoyances in the scheme of things. All in all, major cheers for an excellent production of a disquieting play.

NanethTiger This is an excellent, comprehendible and thoroughly enjoyable version of William Shakespeare's most disturbing comedy. Hats off to Kenneth Colley for his amazing portrayal of Vincentio, the eerie stage-manager of this unique drama. This is an all-around well done production: a must-see!

schenkel Don't let the Shakespeare part frighten you away. Granted this is not an 'easy' film the way that "Shakespeare in Love" was, or even any versions of "Romeo and Juliet" that you may have seen in the theatre within the past whatever. This is a tale of the price of lust, the quality of mercy and what is true justice.The BBC filmed the complete Shakespeare folio, and this is part of that. More importantly, this is one of my favorite plays and by far THE best adaptation of it I have ever seen. This is one of Shakespeare's later "problem plays" and as such, actors and experts have been debating it's meaning since it premiered. But I think that makes it challenging, not unintresting. Given that, this production is especially fortunate in it's actors and it's directing choices. First and foremost Kate Nelligan's Isabelle is marvelous. Unlike most modern actors, she seems to understand the true beauty and dedication of this character. Also unlike most modern actors, she understands the religious dedication of this character, not as cold fanatism, but as a passionate persons love of religions greater purpose. That as an atheist I respect her portayal of such, is a testament to her skill. Kenneth Colley and Tim Piggot-Smith are also excellent as the seemingly cold and inscrutable characters of the Duke and Angelo, respectively.In fact, this play's staging 'improves' the play, in that several problems with the time, that Shakespeare just ignored, are nicely resolved. There is some dialogue left out, but most of it is stage direction that is unnecessary in a television production. Yes, the language is authentic, but trust me, you won't notice after awhile, just give yourself time to immerse.All in all, a good time, despite it's being a few hundred years old, but that's why Will is the man!In closing let me just say, that I highly recommend this to anyone, but especially if you love Shakespeare.