Change Your Image
alandebam
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 2 (2012)
Thoughtful and well acted
Having read other reviews I thought they must have been watching another film. This production is flawless. Simon Russell Beale is astonishing and compelling as Falstaff, bringing so much depth to the character. There are so many excellent performances here, but notably David Bamber as Justice Shallow, Geoffrey Palmer as the Lord Chief Justice, Jeremy Irons as Henry IV and Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal.
The play is not simply the telling of a story but about the passage of time, the passing of youth,age and consequences. The production brings out so much of the underlying pathos in the characters. The scene in Act 3 Scene 2 where Falstaff and Shallow sit by the fire and Shallow recalls the past conveys the depth of this production.
One reviewer complains about Beale and others mumbling their words which is ridiculous. I can hear every word. The actors speak the language so naturally. Another complains that Part 1 and 2 could have been one film but that wholly misses the point of the themes in the two plays, besides ignoring the fact the Shakespeare wrote the plays in two separate parts.
If you enjoy Shakespeare, enjoy the subtlety of words and acting at its best, then watch and listen.
Mapp & Lucia (2014)
Ghastly and faithless interpretation
There is nothing to praise in this smug and faithless adaptation of the novels. The series includes episodes that did not occur between Mapp and Lucia, muddled others and overplayed episodes. The subtlety of the novels is lost. The characters became hideous pastiches and there was no chemistry. I could believe in none of the characters. Mapp was turned into a vicious monster, Major Flint into a leering dipsomaniac, Diva into a silly shrill woman and the list just goes on. Even more disappointing was the lack of any sense of motivation or depth to the characters, in particular I felt there was no chemistry between Georgie and Lucia. The epitome of the failure of this adaptation was when staff at an hotel were seen to be speculating about Georgie's homosexuality and toupee. This treated the audience as idiots, as if this had to be spelled out. The novels never included direct reference to sex and that is part of their very humour. Steve Pemberton who wrote the screenplay and played Georgie claims to be a fan of the novels, but he should hang his head in shame if this is this is how he honours the novels in a television adaptation.