Le conte d'hiver

When watching this screen adaptation of "A Winter's Tale," one must first keep in mind that this is a BBC production and an ensemble cast of actors. This is not Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and should not be confused as such. That aside, it is one of the better Shakespeare plays produced and is what a real Elizabethan citizen might have seen in their time. There is no pop and circumstance to detract from the text of the play. The scenes are well acted and beautifully played out by some of the best ensemble Shakespearean actors to ever cross the stage.

Jeremy Kempt gives a wonderful portrayal of the tormented King Leontes and is well supported by David Burke as Camillo. Hermione is given a delicate sense of nobility by Anna Calder-Marshall and brings the grounding feminine presence to the play. Not to be overlooked is Margaret Tyzach who plays the proud and noble Paulina who defends Hermione in her darkest days. The only two lacking performances were those of Perdita and Florizel played by Debbie Farrington and Robert Kermode respectively, although I blame their bland performances on being young and inexperienced.

Unfortunately there are so few versions of The Winters Tale available to watch on screen. It seems to have fallen out of favour in modern times, shunned by other more obviously engaging Shakespeare plays. This version of the unabridged play was done as part of BBC Television Shakespeare in the 80s where they adapted all of Shakespeare's plays. Some of those versions are brilliant. For example Derek Jacobi's Hamlet remains my favourite Hamlet and I have seen many. This version of The Winter's Tale is very dry and dusty. The first 2 acts are lacking in the emotional intensity of the jealousy and tragedy, and the 2nd half lacking in the joviality and comedy of the feast and wedding. The final act of redemption is done very well and Anna Calder Marshall may be my favourite Hermione, I really enjoyed her performance.

Other than that this was very slow. There was a 2021 version performed by the RSC and which is available on BBC player and will be until at least April 2022. I recommend that one unreservedly over this 1981 version.

"The Winter's Tale" is one of the late romances, in which an improbable plot is overcome by authorial magic. Unlikely people go through even more unlikely ordeals and separations, only to be united in healing reconciliation in the last scene. The test is, do you get the shivers down the back when fractured people are made whole again at the end? Here the answer is yes.

Director Jane Howell uses a unit set which is unobtrusively effective all the way through. The visuals are in monochromatic white at first, then as the story progresses color is added in increasingly vivid tones. The actors often address themselves directly to the camera in tight closeup, so if you have a large-screen TV, you'll get to know these people real well.

Pace is generally good, though we do bog down with the sheep-shearing festival of rustics at the beginning of the second half. Shakespeare's clowns are often annoying, but they can clear the air. I just don't like slowing down for them.

Jeremy Kemp is excellent as the angry, paranoid King of the opening scenes. He glares into the camera lens and hisses his lines as the great screen villain he was. However, after the Oracle of Delphi pronounces his suspicions false and his wife innocent, Kemp never finds a way to physicalize his response and emotional transformation. You have to listen carefully to his well-recited lines, because you can't guess from his body what his reactions are.

Robert Stephens as Polixenes looks blurry and very much the worse for wear, but gives a detailed and professional performance nonetheless. Margaret Tyzack is formidable as Pauline. It's scandalous that this is her only appearance in the series. Anna Calder-Marshall, Debbie Farrington and David Burke are all superior, and Jeremy Dimmick is probably the best young boy in the whole cycle.

The rest of the cast is mostly fine, and many of them pop up again in Jane Howell's "Henry VI" trilogy plus "Richard III," and the "Titus Andronicus." This version of "The Winter's Tale" is good stuff, so don't hesitate.

Though this production is not without some minor flaws, it is overall a sparkling version of a magnificent play. In particular, the director Jane Howell recognizes that the sumptuous language of the play is its foremost virtue, and she assigns top priority to the recitation of that language.

The director is helped by superb acting from virtually every performer who appears. On the one hand, there are a few blemishes in the performance by Jeremy Kemp. For example, he rather awkwardly clutches his son while he is delivering the crucial "Affection" soliloquy, and he does not adequately convey a sense of desolation after the deaths of his son and wife have been announced to him in Act III. However, the few shortcomings in his performance are greatly surpassed by its overall excellence.

Most of the other performances are flawless or nearly so. Margaret Tyzack is the very embodiment of speaking truth to power in her role as Paulina; David Burke (who is married to Anna Calder-Marshall, who impeccably plays Hermione) is convincing at every stage as Camillo; Cyril Luckham is a highly entertaining Antigonus; Robert Stephens is fine in the quite difficult role of Polixenes (difficult because Polixenes in much of the second half is as heavy-handedly oppressive as Leontes in the first half, albeit for different reasons); Paul Jesson and Arthur Hewlett are amusing as the rustic father and son; Rikki Fulton is an engaging Autolycus; and the sundry other members of the cast likewise carry out their roles admirably.

The passage of sixteen years is not handled especially well, as only a few characters (Camillo, Hermione, Cleomines, Dion) look any older in the second half of the play than in the first half. The notorious difficulty of the exit of Antigonus pursued by a bear is likewise not handled particularly well, as the bear looks preposterously phony. (If that bit of the play were unequivocally comical, the phoniness of the bear would be unexceptionable. However, the pursuit of Antigonus is an event that leads to his gory death even though it also offers material for some entertaining remarks by Paul Jesson's character.) Still, the minor defects in this production detract only very slightly from its magic. I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves Shakespeare's awe-inspiring language and to anyone who admires fine acting.

This is a TERRIBLE film, one of the worst Shakespeare adaptations ever made in the history of the world. It manages to bore FROM THE FIRST FIVE SECONDS, and to watch the entire three hours is an appalling prospect. Made with no imagination at all, and on a budget of 57 pence, it has only one (boring) set, and an array of famous actor giving boring, boring performances. Even the comic pastoral scenes are slow, clumsy and lumpen. Poor Shakespeare. Poor students forced to watch this film. When you die and go to Hell, this will be the in-flight movie.