Taymor re-imagines Shakespeare brilliantly
2015年10月17日(土) Report
Saturday October 17 kicked off with a real treat for film fans and enthusiasts of Shakespeare. Toho Cinemas in Nijo hosted a screening of a Midsummer's Night Dream by the legendary film and theater director Julie Taymor. The creator’s brilliant interweaving of the 4 stories that make up this play uses Brechtian touches and arresting set designs. This film is a modern masterpiece, enhancing the genius of the The Bard.
Shot as if capturing a theater production of the play, it is really part of Taymor’s presentation as a whole. Even well placed chuckles from the audience become part of the work the director is crafting for us. It starts with what appear to be stagehands fixing the set, but we learn later these are the actors for the play-within-a-play that is part of Shakespeare’s famous multi-layered approach for the piece. Taymor’s uses simple, analog props like sheets, sticks and branches to create surreal effects and cleverly make us see how real-time set designs can be more affective than digital tricks.
As the young lovers entreat each other and the fairies play with human destiny we can feel Shakespeare’s amusement and befuddlement at the human condition. “What fools these mortals be” the mischievous fairy Puck proclaims, watching the lovers and nobles squabble. And Puck, played by the 59 year-old Kathryn Hunter is superb. She dances and prances, twists and turns, both lithe and childlike in movement. She exhibits both joy and fear in serving her master Oberon, played by David Harewood. And Harewood is also excellent, bringing gravity, foreboding and power to the Fairy King, in a sense the central role of the entire play.
Taymor has added another superb film adaptation of the Shakespeare’s classic work, not surprising for the woman who has already made films of the The Bard’s plays Titus Andronicus and The Tempest. In all, this is a must-see for fans of Shakespeare or those interested in filming stage plays.
