Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This is a simple comedy by Shakespeare. Nothing to deface the world with laughter or to haunt your sleepless nights. But we find in this light comedy some themes that are dear to our playwright. Love, and love, and love. The love of a girl for a boy, of a young woman for a young man, a love that cannot exist because of the social difference between the two. The ingenuity and creativity of the young woman who saves the life of the king with the medical knowledge she received from her father, and the promise of the King to give her any man she wants. She chooses the young man who is well obliged to oblige and get married, which does not mean consume the union. He goes to the war and the young woman is going to follow and with some other young women she will trick him into impregnating her and an exchange of rings will make the situation very difficult for him. So the union has been consumed sort of on the side and the young man graciously accepts his defeat and declares his love. That is slightly artificial but Shakespeare in his comedies at times is slightly superficial. Another theme that is dealt with nicely is the "captain" that takes care of the young noble man we are dealing with when serving in the military. He is a liar, he is a coward, he is also running after skirts as much as he can. Shakespeare disgraces him with some kind of conjuration and he ends up nearly a beggar, stinking to hell and blazes and ready to do anything to get a penny. That's a very simple version of what Falstaff is going to be later but he is funny in some ways though pathetic. The BBC is adding to that play that is mostly taking place in France, and a little in Florence, a setting and costumes that are, in the house of the young man, very close to the Flemish school of painting, Rembrandt and the Van Eyck brothers. That gives to the play a post-Renaissance touch that is slightly surprising.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

Alain English Though not nearly as much fun as some of Shakespeare's better comedies, this is nevertheless good fun to watch. Although it irritates me to see Shakespeare performed in stodgy period dress, it's still a well-acted piece.I was especially fond of Peter Jeffrey as the foppish Parolles. I like Shakespeare when he portrays upper-class idiots as he has a tendency in too many of his plays ("Measure for Measure", "A Midsummer Night's Dream")to portray the working classes as fools or rustics whose natural place is subservient to the lords and ladies who are so often his principal characters. This is patronising, but is some way made up for here. Jeffrey is excellent fun and his verbal duels with Micheal Horden's Lafeu are the best scenes in the play.Angela Down is very good is the smart Helena, and Ian Charleson has the right mix of charm and sullenness as Bertram, her unwilling choice of husband. Pippa Guard is very fetching as the maid Diana, and Donald Sinden gives a good performance as the King of France.By no means a classic of Shakespeare's, it's still a good watch.

angelofvic This award-winning BBC production brings life, enormous appeal, and intelligence to a play criminally underperformed. It's a pleasure to watch ... and re-watch ... and re-watch.Let's start with the fact that the production itself has been hailed far and wide for its beauty and visual precision. Director Elijah Moshinsky patterned it after paintings of Vermeer, and even though this may be unknown to the viewer, it has a remarkable subliminal impact.Now for the cast: Angela Down is the truly perfect Helena (the heroine of the play). She looks the part -- comely yet intellectual -- and speaks her lines with the perfect emotional fit. Most importantly, her diction and enunciation, and the speed at which she says the bard's words, make everything she says perfectly understandable and perfectly apt within that emotional fit. The viewer never has to wonder "What did she just say?" or "What does that mean?" Nonetheless the lines are fluid, musical, emotional, and very human. To me, this is the sign of a true Shakespearean actor.Celia Johnson as the Countess Roussillon (Bertram's mother and Helena's guardian) is equally fantastic. She's a pleasure to watch and listen to. Consummate acting.Ian Charleson as Bertram, Helena's very reluctant love object, is suitably sullen and morose, yet we see the physical beauty and the inherent charm, nobility, and charisma which attracts Helena to him. Charleson, a very internal actor, never overplays the part. To some extent he sometimes almost underplays it, occasionally speaking softly whilst his compatriots declaim more loudly or forcefully. Yet he holds our attention and fits the role very well.The supporting cast is almost without exception quite admirable -- some remarkably so. Excellent casting, and a lot of excellent acting.All in all, a very good production which makes the play easy to understand and enjoy.Highly recommended.

Dan1863Sickles Chaste, thoughtful Helena loves cold, self-centered Bertram. But when the handsome young man rejects her common birth with aristocratic scorn, unexpected events lead to deception and passion! This dark Shakespeare play is one of the real gems of the BBC collection. Everything is right about the costumes, the actors, the sets, and the lush sensuality of the presentation. Ian Charleson as Bertram is more of a villain than a hero through much of the play, laughing at Helena's tears and running off to play with his soldier friends. Yet when lust strikes him in turn, he is humbled. Pippa Guard is refined and hauntingly beautiful as Diana, the girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" (or the Elizabethan equivalent) whom the haughty Bertram plans to seduce. Diana is not just a cheap tramp. She has a desperate purity. Far from welcoming the noble's advances, she reacts like a frightened deer, or a cornered rabbit, shying from Bertram's cynical touch. Only the shrewd scheming of Helena and her high-born friends (including a king who recognizes her true worth) allows her to capture Bertram's heart at last. Humbled and humiliated by his total downfall, (and Diana's scorn) Bertram falls into forgiving Helena's open arms and proclaims his passionate devotion.A sexy play, full of romantic longing, arrogant elegance, and sheer unadulterated desire!