Ep 254 - Love’s Labour’s Lost

[BradLovesDisney 6]

While the movie as a whole was utterly confusing, it didn't help that Branagh trimmed out three quarters of the story to make room for songs and keep the runtime shorter.  Hopefully the play makes a little more sense.

[BradLovesDisney 6]

It was all confusing, but I couldn't stop think about one moment in particular... in the library scene, one character goes to kiss a taxidermy bear, from behind Matthew Lillard opens the bears head by tipping it to the side and kisses the man instead.  Then they both act really surprised that that happened.  WHAT!? 

So many questions:
Why did Lillard tip the bear head?
Was he going to kiss the back of the bear then changed his mind?
Why was he surprised when he kissed the other man? 
What did he expect to happen?
Why the <bleep> does the bears head tip sideways??

 

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

So why are the dance numbers the whole movie so clearly inspired by classic 1940s/50s musicals, and then suddenly during the masquerade scene it's this very obviously 1970s Bob Fosse inspired number? That was super jarring.

[nthurkettle 148]

1 hour ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

So why are the dance numbers the whole movie so clearly inspired by classic 1940s/50s musicals, and then suddenly during the masquerade scene it's this very obviously 1970s Bob Fosse inspired number? That was super jarring.

According to a list of deleted scenes on the UK version of the DVD, in the original cut this number hewed closer to the description in the play. In Shakespeare's original, the men are said to enter disguised as "Moscovites" - aka comedy stereotypes of Russians in big bushy beards, to do a funny, masculine dance for the Princesses while pretending the Princesses don't recognize them (which, of course, they do, because they've been tipped off by their valet Boyet in advance.)

In the film, you're looking at the back of Boyet's head, and his line has been re-recorded so instead of "Moscovites" he says the men are disguised as "Masked Delights"; I guess to justify them all coming in with their Burt-Ward-as-Robin eye masks; which muddies the whole idea of them attempting a disguise.

I imagine Branagh was urged to "sex it up" as they re-edited the movie - leading to the out-of-nowhere scene of weird close-ups and groping, possibly done in a re-shoot.

[Elektra Boogaloo 3371]

7 hours ago, nthurkettle said:

I imagine Branagh was urged to "sex it up" as they re-edited the movie - leading to the out-of-nowhere scene of weird close-ups and groping, possibly done in a re-shoot.

Harvey Weinstein was Executive producer so we know who thought inappropriate groping was a good idea.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

8 hours ago, nthurkettle said:

According to a list of deleted scenes on the UK version of the DVD, in the original cut this number hewed closer to the description in the play. In Shakespeare's original, the men are said to enter disguised as "Moscovites" - aka comedy stereotypes of Russians in big bushy beards, to do a funny, masculine dance for the Princesses while pretending the Princesses don't recognize them (which, of course, they do, because they've been tipped off by their valet Boyet in advance.)

In the film, you're looking at the back of Boyet's head, and his line has been re-recorded so instead of "Moscovites" he says the men are disguised as "Masked Delights"; I guess to justify them all coming in with their Burt-Ward-as-Robin eye masks; which muddies the whole idea of them attempting a disguise.

I imagine Branagh was urged to "sex it up" as they re-edited the movie - leading to the out-of-nowhere scene of weird close-ups and groping, possibly done in a re-shoot.

Ahh, studio meddling, the culprit of many a confusing development in a movie!

[DrGuts1003 462]

18 hours ago, Elektra Boogaloo said:

Harvey Weinstein was Executive producer so we know who thought inappropriate groping was a good idea.

This was the first of a three picture deal Branagh had with Miramax, but that deal was canceled after this movie got released.  Clearly Branagh didn’t include enough inappropriate groping.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Who’s watching the live show this weekend?

[grudlian. 4725]

2 hours ago, Cameron H. said:

Who’s watching the live show this weekend?

I will be.

[GrahamS. 803]

On 12/9/2020 at 12:06 PM, Cameron H. said:

Who’s watching the live show this weekend?

I might, but it’s a family birthday tomorrow, so I won’t watch it live. I’ll focus on next week. Cats was a lot of fun to watch (the HDTGM show, not the movie).

RE:Shakespeare...In this episode, the gang talked about how it takes a few minutes of listening to Shakespeare and then they’re able to follow along easily.

i’ve never been able to do that. I think I’m Shakespeare illiterate, even though I had to study him a fair amount as a writing major. It has always felt like being able to understand half of a foreign language and then struggling to get a grasp on the second half for the entire runtime. It’s put a bit of a chip on my shoulder towards his plays since it can feel like being babbled at for multiple hours. Perhaps this makes me anti-intellectual, an ignoramus, if you will, but I prefer my Shakespearean story arcs to be served up in shows like Succession, by actors with Shakespearean training, over actual Shakespeare.

Gimme more Logan Roy is what I’m saying

 

 

 

 

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

On 12/10/2020 at 12:37 PM, GrahamS. said:

i’ve never been able to do that. I think I’m Shakespeare illiterate, even though I had to study him a fair amount as a writing major. It has always felt like being able to understand half of a foreign language and then struggling to get a grasp on the second half for the entire runtime. It’s put a bit of a chip on my shoulder towards his plays since it can feel like being babbled at for multiple hours. Perhaps this makes me anti-intellectual, an ignoramus, if you will, but I prefer my Shakespearean story arcs to be served up in shows like Succession, by actors with Shakespearean training, over actual Shakespeare.

For me it was always that a good staging and performance helps make that second half clear. You don't need to understand every word to grasp the meaning if it's performed well.