Much Ado About Nothing

Film per la TV
1984
Not Rated
2h 28min

VALUTAZIONE IMDb

LA TUA VALUTAZIONE

Aggiungi una trama nella tua linguaBenedick and Beatrice fight their merry war of words. But when Beatrice's friend, Hero, is humiliatingly jilted by Benedick's best friend, Claudio, Benedick has to choose which side he's on.... Leggi tuttoBenedick and Beatrice fight their merry war of words. But when Beatrice's friend, Hero, is humiliatingly jilted by Benedick's best friend, Claudio, Benedick has to choose which side he's on. But unknown to all, Claudio's been tricked by the bastard Don John, and (unfortunately), ... Leggi tuttoBenedick and Beatrice fight their merry war of words. But when Beatrice's friend, Hero, is humiliatingly jilted by Benedick's best friend, Claudio, Benedick has to choose which side he's on. But unknown to all, Claudio's been tricked by the bastard Don John, and (unfortunately), it's up to Dogberry and Verges to solve the case.

Vedi le informazioni sulla produzione su IMDbPro

VALUTAZIONE IMDb

7,9/10

291

LA TUA VALUTAZIONE

17Recensioni degli utenti

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Recensioni degli utenti17

7,9291

Recensioni in evidenza

kmoh-1

A splendid villain

As most of the other comments point out this is an excellent and faithful performance, to the text and to the period. It is theatrical rather than cinematic, as with virtually all of this BBC complete Shakespeare, rendering comparison with the Branagh futile - it is comparing chalk and cheese.

Here, the comedy is brilliantly rendered, with several laugh-out-loud moments and enjoyably over the top acting. It is particularly fun to see Robert Lindsay at the masque - his movements of body and head are so characteristic of him that he is extremely easy to recognise even in his mask.

However, none of the comments so far have mentioned what for me is the stand-out performance of the play, Vernon Dobtcheff's Don John. This is an excellent, understated expression of pure villainy, snake-like, ruthless and sly, counterpointing the exuberant comedy elsewhere perfectly.

9beauvallet

Previously undiscovered nuances.

Lindsay and Lunghi bring to light previously unknown facets to the two well-known characters of Benedict and Beatrice, and have a kind of sympatico that makes their sudden love for each other more believable than is generally found in other versions of Much Ado. They are bolstered by a marvelous supporting cast. This production far exceeds Branagh's film version in acting, but suffers when the production values are compared, an unfair comparison since Branagh had the luxury of actually making a film on location while this BBC edition is a teleplay.

10tonstant viewer

Splendid Fun

Robert Lindsay is an excellent Benedick, punchy and precise in word, action and emotion. Cherie Lunghi finds less variation in her Beatrice, but is nonetheless quite good.

Jon Finch camps outrageously as Don Pedro, delivering his lines in frank imitation of Sir Laurence Olivier at his giddiest. How did this apparent party turn wind up in here? But it does not distract from the progress of the play.

The rest of the cast is fine and the whole affair moves at a reasonable pace. The physical production is beautiful to the eye, inspired by the finest Italian Renaissance painters. Highly recommended.

10Bernie4444

"Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps."

Before watching this play you will want to watch "Shakespeare Uncovered: Series 3 Much Ado About Nothing" which explains that "Nothing" is pronounced "Noting" because it revolves around overhearing what may be truths from the bushes.

One of Agatha Christie's characters says, "He is like Shakespeare, making long speeches with no one there to listen." This play is such; only we are there to listen.

There are many versions of this play to be seen. Most of them are popular actors of the time of the making of the movie and they try to outdo previous movies. In this (1984) version, the actors do not outshine the characters and you can enjoy the play as meant to be seen.

The play is a tad complex for a quick review. There is a set of people destined to fall in love however an evildoer may foil them. There are a set of snots that cannot stand each other; They may be trapped by a cunning plot of eavesdropping. Some atrocities are tossed in for comic relief. Then there is us. We must decide if this is a comedy or a comedy of circumstances.

The bottom line is you will not want to miss this play and especially this version of the play.

8eparis2

Much Ado About Nothing has director Stuart Burge's mates hitting top form

Lunghi's Beatrice and Lindsay's Benedick are nearly perfect and certainly seem perfect for each other. Television close-ups give an immediacy to their courtship that is hard to match on stage. The text is almost complete, allowing the two cleverest lovers in Shakespeare to shine as only they can.

Most of the characters in the play declare that Beatrice is unattractive because she is independent. Cherie Lunghi is especially good at proving the opposite to be true.

The rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, with a properly snobbish Leonato; unbearably and idiotically self-satisfied Dogberry; and a thoroughly clueless, moderately cruel Claudio.

The production would be stronger, however, if it were more playful. The deception of Benedick is mostly humorless, with the tricking of Beatrice not much better.

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The inaugural episode of BBC Shakespeare was originally set to be a production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Donald McWhinnie, and starring Penelope Keith and Michael York. The episode was shot (for £250,000), edited and even publicly announced as the opening of the series, before it was suddenly pulled from the schedule and replaced with Romeo & Juliet (which was supposed to air as the second episode). No reasons were given by the BBC for this decision, although initial newspaper reports suggested that the episode had not been abandoned, it had simply been postponed for re-shoots, due to an unspecified actor's "very heavy accent," and concerns that US audiences would not be able to understand the dialogue. However, as time wore on, and no reshoots materialised, the press began to speculate that the show had been cancelled entirely, and would be replaced at a later date by a completely new adaptation, which was in fact what happened. The press also pointed out that the fact that the production was never shown in Britain rubbished any suggestion that the prevailing cause for the abandonment was to do with accents. Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that BBC management simply regarded the production as a failure.