theguardian.com |
After
the extraordinary Richard II, this
one was a bit of a letdown – a mere 9 out of 10 instead of 27 out of 10. Still, it’s no slouch, and there’s a lot to
like. The best sequences, predictably,
follow Tom Hiddleston’s Hal and Simon Russell Beale’s Falstaff. The dirty, noisy public house they frequent
is well-drawn, and the humor in these scenes is sharp and lively. When it comes to Shakespeare, comedy can seem
a little less accessible than drama, but the ribbing between Hal and his
friends comes off naturally.
I could
probably spend an entire post raving about Tom Hiddleston’s knack for
Shakespeare, and his Hal is really terrific.
It’s maybe not as arresting as Ben Whishaw’s Richard, but there’s a
natural ease to his performance that makes the Elizabethan dialogue seem
effortless. He’s funny and charming as
the rakish young prince – despite the drinking, women, and petty larceny, you
root for him to get his act together – and his big confrontation with his
father shows a much more determined side of him.
Jeremy
Irons plays Henry as a somber king who’s aged greatly beneath his heavy
crown. After enjoying Rory Kinnear’s
performance so much in Richard II,
it’s a little hard to embrace him. It tends
to be rough when you get to know a young character and then jump forward
significantly in time; I think of The
Kite Runner or The Reader as
stories that definitely lose something when they shift the narrative ahead. It’s sad to think that Bolingbroke has become
this old man, but I suppose that speaks to the effectiveness of Jeremy Irons’s
performance. Once again, his major scene
with Hal is a standout. His cavorting,
devil-may-care heir is such a disappointment to him that he wishes Hotspur, the
brash young man spearheading a bloody campaign against him, could be his son
instead, and he lays into Hal in a serious way.
We’ve entirely
replaced the Richard II cast, but
most of these actors will carry over to part 2.
Simon Russell Beale is a fun Falstaff, and I really enjoy the
interactions between Hotspur (Joe Armstrong, unfamiliar to me but very good)
and his wife (played by Lady Mary Crawl- I mean, Michelle Dockery.) Also featured are David Dawson, who was great
in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Shameless’s Maxine Peake, and Ron
Weasley’s mum Julie Walters. A couple
more Who faces pop up, too: Harry Lloyd (“Human Nature” / “The Family of
Blood”) and Robert Pugh (“The Hungry Earth” / “Cold Blood,” plus Torchwood’s “Adrift.”)
The
direction is the weak link here. Richard
Eyre zippers certain scenes together, rushes through others, and seems at a
loss with how to film the soliloquys – he sometimes has his actors looking
directly into the camera and twice commits the cardinal sin of tossing speeches
into voiceover. After Rupert Goold’s
lovely work in Richard II, the
shortcomings are really noticeable.
Warnings
Include battle scenes
in the violence here. Tons of drinking
and more than a little lasciviousness.
* * *
The scene with the Lannister twins on last night's Game of Thrones was just awful. I'd been excited for the start of season 4, because I wanted to see how Jaime's one-step-forward, twelve-steps-back brand of redemption would fare once he was back in Cersei's orbit. Guess I have my answer now - just awful.
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