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Much Ado About Nothing - Film Education

1 much ADO About NOTHINGFilm SynopsisThe hot Italian sun beats down on a beautiful villa set in the idyllic Tuscan , governor of Messina (RICHARD BRIERS), and the women of his household sprawlon the hillside relishing the summer , Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon (DENZEL WASHINGTON) and his victoriousarmy are seen approaching in the distance, returning from the wars. As the horses galloptowards the country estate, the women rush back to the house, and pandemonium reigns asthey excitedly get themselves ready to meet the returning heroes. The men are warmlywelcomed as they emerge through the archways of the villa, and seductive glances areexchanged. The wars are over. All can now devote themselves to a period of rest, revelryand Pedro s close companions are the two lords Claudio (ROBERT SEANLEONARD) and Benedick (KENNETH BRANAGH).

1 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Film Synopsis The hot Italian sun beats down on a beautiful villa set in the idyllic Tuscan countryside. Leonato, governor of Messina (RICHARD BRIERS), and the women of his household sprawl

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Transcription of Much Ado About Nothing - Film Education

1 1 much ADO About NOTHINGFilm SynopsisThe hot Italian sun beats down on a beautiful villa set in the idyllic Tuscan , governor of Messina (RICHARD BRIERS), and the women of his household sprawlon the hillside relishing the summer , Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon (DENZEL WASHINGTON) and his victoriousarmy are seen approaching in the distance, returning from the wars. As the horses galloptowards the country estate, the women rush back to the house, and pandemonium reigns asthey excitedly get themselves ready to meet the returning heroes. The men are warmlywelcomed as they emerge through the archways of the villa, and seductive glances areexchanged. The wars are over. All can now devote themselves to a period of rest, revelryand Pedro s close companions are the two lords Claudio (ROBERT SEANLEONARD) and Benedick (KENNETH BRANAGH).

2 Both men find themselves drawn intoromance during their stay in Leonato s household. Benedick is a proud and confirmedbachelor, famously engaged in a constant -war of wits with Leonato's niece, the strong-willedBeatrice (EMMA THOMPSON). But their spirited parrying of words and vigorous skirmishesof wit hide a deeper attraction. Leonato s daughter, the lovely and innocent Hero (KATEBECKINSALE) is wooed by the young lord Claudio, only to experience despair when Claudiois deceived into thinking she has betrayed him on the very eve of their the heart of the mayhem is the evil Don John (KEANU REEVES), Don Pedro sbastard brother, who creates the intrigue because of his jealousy of Don Pedro.

3 Thevillainous plot is eventually uncovered by a chance meeting between one of Don John sdrunken conspirators and the local watch; a comic collection of miscreants led by the ineptand exceptionally inarticulate constable Dogberry (MICHAEL KEATON).Meanwhile we watch the amusing progress of the unlikely romance between Beatriceand Benedick, created by the affectionate manipulation of their of much Ado About Nothing - Entertainment Film - Popular AuthorThe chances are that even if you have not yet read one of Shakespeare s plays, as a groupyou probably know quite a lot About him already. In groups, write down on a large piece ofpaper everything you know About Shakespeare and his plays. The following questions mightprovide a useful starting was Shakespeare born?

4 In which century? Can you name any of the plays hewrote? Do you know the story of any of them? How many characters from his plays can youname? Do you know the names of the theatres he was associated with in London? Hasanyone made a film of one of Shakespeare s plays before? Can you name any? Do youknow the director s names? Do you know who starred in the film(s)?Once you have compiled your list, combine your information with other groups. Now, inyour groups, see if you can work out why Shakespeare is so well known, and why or how hiswork has survived for all these years. It's worth considering the difference between a 'wellknown and a 'popular author. And if Shakespeare s plays are not on the best-sellers list,can you explain why they are read, studied and performed so often?

5 Before you see the filmADAPTING SHAKESPEAREWhen dealing with adaptations from a Shakespeare text, as in the case of " much Ado AboutNothing , we are faced with a specific problem. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuriestheatre directors have usually adopted an approach to staging the plays which did not existin Shakespeare s rime. They will have sets, often quite lavish, which show the change ofscene, period costumes for the actors, special lighting effects. The idea of having sets andbackdrops means that between each scene there is a pause whilst the scenery is Shakespeare s time, the flow of the play was far more like the flow of a film - as oneset of actors left the stage another would appear.

6 Like the film, which has no pausesbetween scenes, so the audience of Shakespeare s time would not have expected anypauses in the who adapts a literary text into a film obviously faces problems. Theseproblems can arise not simply from the text itself but also from the attitudes of the audienceand the us start with the text itself. One thing that we need to bear in mind is that the plays wereoriginally intended as scripts for actors and not as texts for readers. You are probablystudying the text in a lot of detail. Unlike a poem, which is normally written for close reading,a play text is nor written for the same purpose. It always assumes that part of the impact willcome from what happens on the stage other problems do you think would face someone who is adapting a literary text into afilm?

7 In small groups write down as many as you can think INTO FILMC onsider the problems of making a film of a Shakespearean text especially:- Problems with the language including difficult words and expressions, people s names Problems with the setting and context of the play:- How do we make it relevant tocontemporary society? How do we cope with very different conventions of courtship andlove? How do we "translate" the humour of the play?- How do we market and sell such a film when the wider audience will not know the originaltext. After all " much Ado About Nothing " has nor been filmed decisions were made in preparing the text for filming bearing in mind the obvious truthabout film:- You can easily cut from location to location without having to verbally establish it;Actions can speak louder than words.

8 - Cutting some characters lines will obviously change the balance in favour of the chart below write down what you think are the major differences between seeing afilm, watching the play in a theatre and reading the text of the PlayText5 SETTING THE SCENEThe opening, or exposition, of any film is important nor only because the story begins there,but also because it usually establishes the style of what is to you watch the first five or ten minutes, you will probably be able to identify the differentelements that help create the mood or atmosphere of the scene. To make your task easier,the chart below sets our the main elements in a box. Before you watch the film, have a go atfilling in each box, listing what you expect to Else6 KENNETH BRANAGH'S ADAPTATIONRead the following statements by Kenneth Branagh who is the producer/director and leadingactor in the film.

9 The play is one of the greatest romantic comedies ever written. Like many of Shakespeare scomedies it s very earthy and lusty. People seem to fall in love through a fury of summermadness. My intention was to make explicit in the film what is only implicit in the play I wanted this to be a fairy tale - beautifully dressed and lovingly photographed - that can alsobe very frightening at times. Like all good fairy tales, there s a strong dark undercurrent tothe story. lt s also very, very funny. TaskBear these statements in mind during your viewing in order to discuss whether you agreewith Branagh s feeling About the film and his method of ViewingOPENINGSS tarting a film is always difficult, even more so when there is a complicated plot andrelationship of characters to establish (and, in the case of " much Ado About Nothing , thesetting of the play is the Italy of Shakespeare s imagination).

10 You might like to compare theopening of much Ado About Nothing with the opening of other film versions of Shakespearetexts, such as Zeffirelli s Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet .TaskLook at the opening of the film. Beatrice s voice is heard speaking, Sigh no more ladies ,whilst we see the words writ large upon the screen underscored by Consider the effect of this bearing in mind that we have already mentioned that thelanguage could pose a problem. How does the actress read the poem? How does it help thecharacter establish a sympathy with the audience?7- We then go to an artist s watercolourview of the villa. Consider this image interms of an idealised We then go to the real image of the villawhich is even more stunning than thepicture.


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