intertext: (Jansson elf)
intertext ([personal profile] intertext) wrote2007-06-08 10:06 am

As You Like ... Samurai Warriors??

A trailer via Shakespearegeek for Kenneth Branagh's new movie production of As You Like It. Branagh seems to be pulling out all the stops in too-clever-by-half gimmickry - mixed race leads are a rather tired attempt to be "different," and what matters really is their ability to speak the lines not what they look like. What I'm unsure about is the somewhat inexplicable appearance of Japanese Samurai Warriors and geishas. The Forest of Arden apparently contains a Buddhist temple... Kevin Kline is Jaques and Alfred Molina Touchstone - nice casting there.

After a quick scan on IMDB, I see that it was released in Italy in '06, although Shakespearegeek's entry suggests a September 07 release for us. hmmm.

[identity profile] lilyfriend.livejournal.com 2007-06-14 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Molina and Kline were great. I was thrown off by the whole Japanese theme. Actually found it quite distracting. Like why the hell are they in Japan? But it was very, very pretty.

I'd found a copy for Paul and I a few months ago, as he loves Shakespeare and Branagh. :)

Definitely will be worth seeing in theatres in Sept? if that's when it comes out here.

[identity profile] intertext.livejournal.com 2007-06-14 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
cool! Thank you for the update :)