Your post yesterday and today have made me realize that I have not fully appreciated how much of Shakespeare's Hamlet depends upon half-hearing, overhearing, eavesdropping, and spying. I recently watched the 1990s film of Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (with Oldman, Roth, Dreyfuss). I am struck now by how Stoppard takes this strategy to the extreme, to the point of babble, confusion, doubt, chaos--to the level of absurdity with no way out for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Is this Stoppard's statement about the human condition? Shakespeare has Horatio conclude that this is a tale of "accidental judgments." How can we know truth and judge rightly? If we doubt ourselves, I'm grateful that we can trust in the whole of Scripture and the Magisterium.
You mentioned Nelligan's performance in Measure for Measure. Her performance is amazing, and so is Tim Pigott-Smith's, especially in their first argument in Act II: Scene 2. You can see him falling for her, admiring her and envying her goodness, and then the various emotions wash over his face and his eyes well up as he wants to possess her goodness and her--and yet the darkness builds within him. Layers and layers in that play. Is the ending a good marriage between church and state or a compromise of morals? Lots of doubt there.
Patrick Stewart as Claudius? Ok. As Macbeth (2010)? Fantastic! As Shylock? There's a clip of Stewart and David Suchet taking turns with the "Hath not a Jew" speech. I think Suchet has him beat. But what gifts these actors have given us! There's no doubt about that.
How to judge rightly -- the crucial issue in so many of Shakespeare's plays. Passion clouds the reason, or self-interest does it, or hastiness ... Brutus talks himself into sedition, and his reasons will bear no scrutiny. Leontes "sees" with a jaundiced eye, and that means that he perverts every innocent word or action of Hermione. The title "Much Ado About Nothing" was a homonym with "Much Ado About NOTING," making note of something, noticing, SEEING.
I should have mentioned Tim Piggott-Smith, who really is great as Angelo -- even better as Hotspur in 1 Henry 4. The whole scene with him, his wife, Mortimer, Mortimer's Welsh wife who speaks no English, and Glendower is a tour-de-force.
But I do think that Patrick Stewart is the best Claudius I've seen. Maybe it's that in this production the director permits Claudius the full force of his personality, which includes his capability to rule. Evil aside, I'd rather be ruled by a Claudius than by a Hamlet...
Julius Caesar, with James Mason as Brutus, Sir John Gielgud as Cassius and Marlon Brando as Mark Antony was brilliant, so meaningful I just had to mention it.
AND a big tip of the hat to Louis Calhern, who played Caesar with JUST a touch of the Chicago crime boss ... But I agree. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's direction was superb. I used to do a parody of Brando as Mark Antony, giving him the full Brooklyn-style accent, a la Terry in On the Waterfront. But he steals that scene -- "Ambition should be made of stronger stuff." And Gielgud played to perfection the slyness, the cold envy, the malice of Cassius.
Thank you so much for reminding me of Louis Calhern. I can see him on the steps going up to the Senate, nodding with superiority to the blind man seated there, “The Ides of March have come soothsayer. . .” And who wouldn’t love to have heard your Brando/Antony!
I will now have to give this one a look. (By the way, I have a kid brother who swears Picard was superior to Kirk as captain of the Enterprise.)
A lot of fine movies to select from in 1948, and who can figure out the logic of the Academy. But John Huston did win best director and writer, and his father best supporting actor, for Treasure of the Sierra Madre. For what my part is worth, Red River deserved more than the two nominations it received for story and editing, and one could easily justify another acting nomination for Key Largo to go along with Claire Trevor’s much deserved Oscar.
Yes, WALTER Huston did more than hold his own against Bogart. Bogart had to work hard to stay in the same scenes with Huston. I'm a huge admirer of the old man's work as an actor (we've given him big props for The Devil and Daniel Webster, in which both he and Edward Arnold are cast against type: Arnold as the wise and benevolent Webster, and Huston as Old Scratch). I haven't seen Red River in a long time -- it is a great father-son conflict movie, archetypal in that way.
I could have mentioned also -- though parts of it are not to be watched with kids around -- the brilliant production of the mini-series I, Claudius. Patrick Stewart there plays the ambitious and treacherous henchman Sejanus. That whole cast was amazing, and you've got Derek Jacobi as the title character, maybe his best role ever.
Your post yesterday and today have made me realize that I have not fully appreciated how much of Shakespeare's Hamlet depends upon half-hearing, overhearing, eavesdropping, and spying. I recently watched the 1990s film of Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (with Oldman, Roth, Dreyfuss). I am struck now by how Stoppard takes this strategy to the extreme, to the point of babble, confusion, doubt, chaos--to the level of absurdity with no way out for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Is this Stoppard's statement about the human condition? Shakespeare has Horatio conclude that this is a tale of "accidental judgments." How can we know truth and judge rightly? If we doubt ourselves, I'm grateful that we can trust in the whole of Scripture and the Magisterium.
You mentioned Nelligan's performance in Measure for Measure. Her performance is amazing, and so is Tim Pigott-Smith's, especially in their first argument in Act II: Scene 2. You can see him falling for her, admiring her and envying her goodness, and then the various emotions wash over his face and his eyes well up as he wants to possess her goodness and her--and yet the darkness builds within him. Layers and layers in that play. Is the ending a good marriage between church and state or a compromise of morals? Lots of doubt there.
Patrick Stewart as Claudius? Ok. As Macbeth (2010)? Fantastic! As Shylock? There's a clip of Stewart and David Suchet taking turns with the "Hath not a Jew" speech. I think Suchet has him beat. But what gifts these actors have given us! There's no doubt about that.
How to judge rightly -- the crucial issue in so many of Shakespeare's plays. Passion clouds the reason, or self-interest does it, or hastiness ... Brutus talks himself into sedition, and his reasons will bear no scrutiny. Leontes "sees" with a jaundiced eye, and that means that he perverts every innocent word or action of Hermione. The title "Much Ado About Nothing" was a homonym with "Much Ado About NOTING," making note of something, noticing, SEEING.
I should have mentioned Tim Piggott-Smith, who really is great as Angelo -- even better as Hotspur in 1 Henry 4. The whole scene with him, his wife, Mortimer, Mortimer's Welsh wife who speaks no English, and Glendower is a tour-de-force.
But I do think that Patrick Stewart is the best Claudius I've seen. Maybe it's that in this production the director permits Claudius the full force of his personality, which includes his capability to rule. Evil aside, I'd rather be ruled by a Claudius than by a Hamlet...
Julius Caesar, with James Mason as Brutus, Sir John Gielgud as Cassius and Marlon Brando as Mark Antony was brilliant, so meaningful I just had to mention it.
AND a big tip of the hat to Louis Calhern, who played Caesar with JUST a touch of the Chicago crime boss ... But I agree. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's direction was superb. I used to do a parody of Brando as Mark Antony, giving him the full Brooklyn-style accent, a la Terry in On the Waterfront. But he steals that scene -- "Ambition should be made of stronger stuff." And Gielgud played to perfection the slyness, the cold envy, the malice of Cassius.
Thank you so much for reminding me of Louis Calhern. I can see him on the steps going up to the Senate, nodding with superiority to the blind man seated there, “The Ides of March have come soothsayer. . .” And who wouldn’t love to have heard your Brando/Antony!
I will now have to give this one a look. (By the way, I have a kid brother who swears Picard was superior to Kirk as captain of the Enterprise.)
A lot of fine movies to select from in 1948, and who can figure out the logic of the Academy. But John Huston did win best director and writer, and his father best supporting actor, for Treasure of the Sierra Madre. For what my part is worth, Red River deserved more than the two nominations it received for story and editing, and one could easily justify another acting nomination for Key Largo to go along with Claire Trevor’s much deserved Oscar.
Yes, WALTER Huston did more than hold his own against Bogart. Bogart had to work hard to stay in the same scenes with Huston. I'm a huge admirer of the old man's work as an actor (we've given him big props for The Devil and Daniel Webster, in which both he and Edward Arnold are cast against type: Arnold as the wise and benevolent Webster, and Huston as Old Scratch). I haven't seen Red River in a long time -- it is a great father-son conflict movie, archetypal in that way.
Thank you. I've never read (or seen a production of) Hamlet & look forward to seeing this one (& Patrick Stewart, with hair!).
I could have mentioned also -- though parts of it are not to be watched with kids around -- the brilliant production of the mini-series I, Claudius. Patrick Stewart there plays the ambitious and treacherous henchman Sejanus. That whole cast was amazing, and you've got Derek Jacobi as the title character, maybe his best role ever.
Thank you! I think perhaps we saw an episode or two of I, Claudius, long ago. Adding to our ever expanding to-watch list!
Patrick Stewart with hair seems odd...