Love's Labour's Lost

Thanks heaven for Kenneth Branagh; without him, cinema would be far less interesting and rewarding. His adaptations of Shakespeare will undoubtedly be his lasting contribution to the history of film, and this is no exception.

Having never read the play, I was quite pleased that Love's Labour's Lost was as easy to follow as it was. This has a fair amount in common with Branagh's earlier Much Ado About Nothing; mainly the highs, lows and plain ridiculousness of love. That film also featured Hollywood star casting (Keanu Reeves among others), but like that film, does not suffer from it. Indeed, it only seems to boost the feel-good nature of this film, as the actors joyfully get their collective teeth stuck into some of Shakespeare's wonderful dialogue.

What really makes this a must-see though is how the text is broken up into easily digestible chunks, interspersed with classic musical numbers from the 1930s. I wasn't prepared for how much of a joy it was to see some wonderfully romantic songs (sung pretty well actually) being put to some great dance numbers - Adrian Lester in particular was good. If, like me, you're too young to feel particularly nostalgic towards a time and genre of film that has long since gone, then I urge you to watch this and learn. And if you are old enough to yearn for those days, then do yourself a favour and go see!

I don't know why people seem to dislike this movie so. I enjoyed it, and I'm not ashamed to say it. It's a fun movie. It is definitely not perfect, of course not, but what film is? And of course even with masterpieces there will always be the sourpuss or sniper who just can't sit back and enjoy it. It all comes down to a matter of taste, and in my opinion there is no good taste or bad taste, there is simply what you like and what you don't like. And I liked this movie.

I saw this movie without seeing any kind of trailers, hearing any kind of previews, reading any kind of opinions or reviews. In fact I had little knowledge of the play itself--I do enjoy Shakespeare, but I don't have enough time to sit around reading it a lot (and a Shakespeare play takes considerable time to read). And, as stated by other people, this is one of his lesser-known plays (one of the reasons Branagh chose it, I heard). So I came into it without any kind of bias. And I liked it.

I thought it worked. I thought the set design, the newsreels, the musical aspect, and the colors worked. In my opinion, it fit. I especially enjoyed the musical aspect because musicals nowadays are an endangered species.

And as for the fact that they use Shakespearean language I have this to say: I can't understand everything they say, but I do understand quite a lot of it, and the visual aspect aids in understanding so that anyone who watches it will get the idea of what is going on enough to enjoy the film. Unless they aren't paying attention; in that case they won't get it, but all movies work like that.

And on the subject of Alicia Silverstone: okay, she's not stellar, but she wasn't bad, either. And the other actors were enjoyable as well. Nathan Lane, of course, was very humorous, as with the rest of the supporting cast. It was not badly acted at all.

So, to put it briefly, you will like this movie if you do not overanalyze it. If you sit back with an open mind and just watch it, you will not hate it, I promise. It was not meant to be dissected like a frog. It was meant to be enjoyed, like--oh, I don't know, a movie? So enjoy it.

Interesting reading the reviews herein. The reviewers either loved or hated it. Some witty shots taken at Branagh's effort to make one of The Bard's weakest comedies into something enjoyable. I mean, c'mon. The play is a story of young men swearing off of love and being made to eat their vows by clever women through little games and switched clues. Hardly a deep plot with potentially tragic twists like Much Ado About Nothing, or confusion reigning during a lover in love with love as in Twelfth Night, or a knee slapper like Midsummer's Night Dream. So, Branagh, ever the innovator and risk-taker, makes it into a gishy late 30s musical with all the trappings (make that 'tappings') from lead into song and dance routines to coordinated smiling shapely swimmers peeling off like a deck of cards into a swimming pool. Busby Berkeley would have loved it, as would those guys like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Vincent Youmans who wrote those songs back in the 30s. OK, so the ending sucks but how else can you wind up this comedy? It's not Branagh's fault this play is Much Ado About Nothing; blame it on the Bard. He wrote it.

Something about Love's Labour's Lost is causing critics to sniff and huff and puff like never before. The dance numbers aren't perfectly in sync and the music isn't perfectly performed, they sneer. Shakespeare and Gershwin don't mix. It's sheer fluff. It's bizarre.

Thus saith the critics. The forest that they're missing with their shrubs of discontentment is the overwhelming charm and infectuous fun of this silly little film. Yes, when Branagh and his cronies do a dance number it isn't lock-step choreography (one arm a little high, perhaps, one foot off the beat a bit). When Alicia Silverstone and her ladies-in-waiting cavort and giggle in a pool, they're not quite Esther Williams and company. Instead of picture-perfect Fred & Ginger, they look like real people dancing and singing because dancing and singing are fun. And unless you're Ebenezer Scrooge, The Grinch, or a movie critic, you'll have fun, too.

That's not to say the movie is just sloppy silliness. Branagh stages some gorgeous set pieces, including gondolas lit by Japanese lanterns, a prop-plane goodbye straight out of Casablanca, and a production number in which the film's silliest character kicks the moon like a big silver soccer ball. It's about a third Shakespeare, a third 30's musical, and a third Looney Tunes. What's odd is that the styles mix so well under Branagh's direction.

If you want a picture-perfect musical, rent "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" or some other dull thing. If you want perfect Shakespeare, rent Branagh's "Hamlet." If, however, you want a movie to make you believe in movies again -- if you want to kick up your heels, laugh out loud, and float out of a movie theater humming Cole Porter -- see this movie.

I'm ashamed to admit it. Critics steered me away from this movie, despite the fact that every Branagh film of Shakespeare I've seen had been wonderful. I waited for the video, but my local chain store never got it in. I finally found it in a little hole-in-the-wall store. What a charmer! It's true that there's only one real dancer in the film and only one real singer, but all of these folks know how to put over a number. Nathan Lane shines as the clown (he may be the funniest Shakespearean clown I've seen, mostly because he's more Borscht Belt than RADA), but the eight principals pull off the difficult feat of being fatuous and winning at the same time. Branagh did what he had to do: devise a new context for this decidedly second-run Shakespeare comedy and yet convince us of a kind of fairy tale. The context (that of Thirties movie musicals) suits the material down to the ground, and the music throughout is superb, drawing most effectively on the great songs, not all of them well known, of the Twenties and Thirties. Love's Labours Lost can go on and on, but Branagh gives it to us in easy bits, breaking things up with an hilarious parody of Thirties newsreels and imaginatively staged numbers. There is the sombre thread of imminent war in Europe throughout, and it provides the necessary casus for the final transformation of character in the play, which normally seems a little abrupt. All in all, terrific.