Another Branagh Film

As You Like It is Kenneth Branagh’s return to Shakespeare with a vengeance. The actors, the setting, the music, and the direction all work together to give a magical experience that I don’t think really has been seen in Shakespeare before.

Much like all of Kenneth Branagh’s films, he casts a whole array of actors to fill the characters. Bryce Dallas Howard, Alfred Molina, Romola Garai, Janet McTeer, and Kevin Kline; each actor does an amazing job at portraying their respective character. Howard fills the screen with a depth of reality and emotion. When she is happy, we are happy, and when she is sad we are sad. Molina gives another light hearted aspect to this comedy with some clever little slap-stick jokes. And then there is Kline, who gives the film a sense of Kenneth Branagh acting without the Kenneth Branagh. He does some quite amazing work in this, just like he does in almost any movie of his.

The setting is in Japan. Some of the plot elements in the play don’t really adjust all that well (seeing as how Orlando’s brother is attacked by a lion), but it is still quite beautiful. Just like Hamlet, Branagh films a wondrous, picturesque landscape. The use of natural lighting in this film gives the film a sense of majestic otherness. There is not much else to say about how well Tim Harvey builds these sets other than how exquisitely built they are.

All of this works well with the music. Patrick Doyle, another Branagh alum, uses a quiet violin that connects the film together with a lovely little theme. The music is more underscored than anything else, other than the moments when the setting is changed to a new landscape. The music is not Doyle’s greatest music, not like for Branagh’s Hamlet or for his Henry V where it is a grand operatic, epic score, but it still is quite good and the main theme is well composed.

Lastly, the direction of everything is great. (I feel like I should say this at least once in one of my reviews.) Most people don’t really think of a director’s job other than just making a good movie. It is the director who has to make sure everything works and fits well together. A director has to get a crew together and has to manage everything. He is more of a manager and a choreographer of sorts. If everything runs like a well-oiled machine and each department does a good job and the film works well and works with the demographic of the film, then the director did a good job. Branagh did a good job. Branagh fit things perfectly together and it all works really well.

Another great film by Branagh, it is a long time since his last great Shakespeare adaptation since Hamlet. This is not for the average film goer, just to those who love a well-crafted, independent film, not just Shakespeare films. It is great acting, the usual great landscapes, and wonderful music all mixed together by Branagh’s fantastic directing style. A wonderfully new adaptation that is unique and funny. This may be just another review of the actors and the music and the setting, but I think these all should work in a film, especially in a Shakespeare film.

*****