Cymbeline

'Cymbeline' is one of the lesser known Shakespeare plays and that is evident in a very scant available video/DVD competition of film and stage productions. It is a shame, because while it is nowhere near among Shakespeare's best it does deserve to be performed more and it is more down to being difficult to stage, with one of Shakespeare's most complicated (sometimes over-complicated) plots, rather than the play's quality.

Although the BBC Television Shakespeare is not a series where all the productions of all of Shakespeare's plays, its interest point and one of the main reasons to check the productions out (especially when in a few of the plays the production in question is the only one available), are consistently great, for me a vast majority of the productions are well done to excellent. Found this production of 'Cymbeline' to be very good and despite the play being one of Shakespeare's lesser known the production is one of the better ones of the series. It's one of the more consistently and better cast productions, in a good way, and is one of the more visually striking. Personally did not find it dull, even if not every scene works.

Will start with what didn't quite work. Do agree that the Posthumous dream sequence was clumsily done and spoiled by unintentional silliness and also that there was some occasional strange editing.

Michael Pennington tries too hard as Posthumous and it comes over as very over-the-top and wild, especially at the end, and Robert Lindsay doesn't look as though he is having much fun and struggles being sinister and cunning as the Iago of the play Iachimo.

There is so much that works though. Although not exactly authentic to Shakespearean period, the production is still a treat visually and it feels coherent. A lot of work went into the sets and that is obvious, like a previous reviewer the mountain snow set really caught my eyes in a good way. Elijah Moshinsky returns to form here after disappointing so badly in the series' production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (one of its weakest). A couple of missteps here and there, especially the dream sequence mentioned above, but he does make the drama gripping, with the drama being genuinely poignant and the conflict has enough tension.

Furthermore, the rendition of "Fear No More" is absolutely beautiful and brought me to tears. It helps that it is a beautiful song with aching text already, but it is even more special when it's performed well. Shakespeare's writing still shines brightly. Excepting Pennington and Lindsay, the cast are more than strong and still stand by my thoughts of it being one of the better cast productions of the BBC Television Shakespeare series. Helen Mirren is a heart-wrenching Imogen, and that quality is matched particularly in the sensitive turn of Michael Gough. Richard Johnson is suitably cantankerous in the title role and Claire Bloom chills the blood as the queen in another one of the production's standout performances. John Kane and Paul Jesson are very good in their roles here, particularly Jesson, and Michael Hordern is luxury casting as Jupiter.

In conclusion, very good production of an in my mind undeservedly lesser known play. 8/10

I opted, again, for what the powers that be on the internet call the most faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's Cymbeline, and that is certainly what I got when I watched Elijah Moshinsky's 1982 made for T.V. version. Part of BBC Shakespeare; Cymbeline brought together Richard Johnson, Hugh Thomas, and Helen Mirren to tell the tale of the angry King of Britain whose daughter has chosen to marry a poor man, below her class level. Reeling from this betrayal, King Cymbeline banishes his new son-in-law who eventually goes off to fight for Rome in the army. Exploring themes familiar in works of Shakespeare such as, appearance v. reality, youth and age, and forgiveness; Cymbeline is a quintessential work of the Bard, even if not one of his more famous pieces.

The daughter of King Cymbeline, of Britain; Imogen (Helen Mirren) neglects her father's wishes of marrying nobility and instead marries Posthumus (Michael Pennington). enraged at the feeling of disloyalty from his daughter, Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Italy where he eventually fights for Rome. While in Italy, Posthumus meets a man named Cloten who believes that all women are just waiting to be seduced. Cloten wagers with Posthumus that he can travel to the British court and woo Imogen. Remaining steadfast to her husband, Imogen refuses Cloten's advancements. Realizing he will not successfully woo Imogen, Cloten hides in a trunk taken to Imogen's room one evening and watches her sleep, taking a bracelet from Posthumus on his way out of her chambers. Cloten then returns to Rome to brag about his seeming victory to Posthumus. Posthumus becomes enraged with his wife's alleged infidelity and sets orders to have her killed. Saved by a servant, Pisanio (John Kane) who believes in Imogen's innocence, he urges Imogen to dress as a man and infiltrate the Roman army in order to set things right with Posthumus. Imogen's task becomes more complicated when Posthumus, feeling regret, believing to be responsible for the death of his wife switches uniforms and begins fighting with the British army to try and redeem himself. Shakespeare crafts a story that is never quite what it seems to be, even to the end.

As noted, this presentation is part of a BBC Shakespeare series and looks very much like a play on film. It needs to be mentioned that, at times, this does not play to the advantage. Oftentimes the set restrictions of a television program leave the actors seeming cramped and restricted on-screen. Other times, however, the closeness played to the production's advantage. For instance, in the touching scene between Imogen and Posthumus before his leaving for Italy, their close proximity added to the love they shared. The farewell scene culminated in a beautiful shot of the newlyweds centered against a window. This shot was wonderful and provided a nice foreshadowing of the separation they would experience upon Posthumus' departure. What a treat to see a work of Helen Mirren's from the 80's. I'm really only familiar with her more recent work, and now I can safely say that she was as good an actress as she ever was in 1982. The film moved a bit slow for me, but the story is captivating and Mirren's acting will keep you hooked until the end.

Appearance v. reality, a theme Shakespeare explored throughout much of his work, was heavily relied upon in Cymbeline. This is most glaring in the beginning of the film. Even though the King comes off as an alpha male, attempting to thrust his will upon his daughter, he has relinquished all ruling power to the Queen. Throughout the film, the Queen gives off the appearance of siding with Imogen, yet all the while working against her. Of course, later in the film, Imogen dresses as a man attempting to give off the appearance of an Italian soldier, while in reality being a regal woman married to Posthumus. The ideas of youth v. age are also explored throughout the production. The King, living isolated from even his own family, forgets (or, rather, ignores) what it is like to fall in love, and is only thinking of class and tradition when encouraging his daughter to marry the right man. The movie really rests upon each character's ability to forgive. Imogen seeks forgiveness from Posthumus because she is innocent of what he believes her to have done. Posthumus also seeks forgiveness from Imogen for doubting her and trying to have her killed. Although not one of his more famous works, Cymbeline has a rich story that remains one of my personal favorites.

Cymbeline has been described as an experimental tragi-comedy, or among the first dramatic romances, but neither is adequate to describe the perfection of the final scene of the play when Shakespeare weaves golden unity from the chaos of loose threads. Mr. Moshinsky breathes life into this production by using the palette of the great Dutch Masters whose paintings minutely chronicle the mundane but serve as visual metaphors for the existence of the transcendent which underscores every moment. In a great cast, two performances really stand out. Helen Mirren's Imogen, the symbol of fidelity, resonates with tragic depth and constancy. The range of her voice is given full sweep especially in the ironic scene in the cave after she awakens from her drugged sleep. Claire Bloom's Queen, a very glacial villainess, scared me much more than if she had been portrayed as a stock evil step-mother.

The BBC's intention is to put Shakespeare's plays on the screen, not to 'improve' them. Certainly I could argue that a little adaptation here or there, a few edits impossible on stage, and armies fighting out battles in outside locations would make the thing more enjoyable, but it really would be wrong for the BBC to have done this, even if they could afford to. What we have here is what Shakespeare wrote and we see it as he intended, with the limitations but also the opportunities for imaginative descriptions for an actor to get his teeth into. 'Cymbaline' is too long a play and relies as often is the case in Shakespeare on luck, mix-ups and quickness to mistrust. Unfortunately it does it rather lumberingly at times. And how anyone could mistake Helen Mirren for a boy, let alone her own father not recognise her is dodgy enough; the BBC could at least have disguised her a little more! Overall the production was good, with the performances of Mirren and Gough and Jesson particularly working for me. I thought Lindsay good enough, but Pennington sadly subdued on all but a few occasions. In short, a play I'm not fond of was done almost as well as I could imagine it being done.

Although this movie is call "Cymbeline", but we can find that in this story, Cymbeline has done nothing good. He is only a supporting role. I suggest it could be "Great Britain love tale", which may be more suitable.

Although Posthumus is the hero in this movie, he also has done nothing good nearly. Maybe the only good thing he has done is that he leaves Imogen at first, but he fixed it in the end.

Although Cloten is described as a bad guy, but all he has done is just in order to pursue Imogen. Besides he wound stay up all night just in order to wake her up with music. But he was refused by Imogen, and all the efforts were in vain. Do you think he is like most of us? But he is richer than us. So? From this we can draw a conclusion. The licking dog doesn't deserve a house.

Although Imogen is the heroine in this movie. Ok, she deserves it. Her actress also has an excellent acting.