As You Like It
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DVD details
Actor: Brian Blessed, Gerard Horan, Kevin Kline, Richard Briers, Richard CliffordBrand: Warner Brothers
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Cinematographer: Roger Lanser
Conductor: James Shearman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
DVD Reviews of As You Like It
DVD Review: great movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This dvd is a great performance. Set in Japan. it's a very interesting approach to the play.DVD Review: As You Like It
Summary: 5 Stars
This Shakespeare is so difficult story. I like very much this castting of Romola Garai.
DVD Review: Just As I Like It
Summary: 4 Stars
Whether it's middle-age, the smaller-screen format, or artistic maturity, Branagh has scaled back with this production, settled down, and the result is his most fluid and confident piece of work in recent memory--a lovely, life-affirming adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays by his most unabashedly populist interpreter. I love it, as one can only love a film by a spirit as generous, energetic and benevolent as Branagh's when he's at his best.
The early scenes in a feudal Japan-inspired court are somewhat muddled, but once in the magical Forest of Arden "As You Like It" hits its stride. Court intrigue blossoms into bucolic romance in the magical surroundings, and Branagh is able to make the forest seem at once gloriously real--the scenes were filmed on location in a Sussex park--and also touched by transcendental fantasy. He incorporates Japanese culture's philosophical view of nature to contrast the severe, shadowy court with the flowing lines of the sun-splashed forest--"tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." Patrick Doyle's lush pastoral score sounds like Ralph Vaughan Williams with an appropriate hint of the Far East.
Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director Ron Howard, whose greatest contribution to the arts thus far has been to squire Bryce), is positively radiant as Rosalind. Her winning smile, disarming wit, and approachable beauty mark her as the thinking man's Julia Roberts. She captures Rosalind's joie de vivre and makes critics reach for words like "luminescent" and "iridescent" when what they really mean is that they'd like to ask her out to pizza and a kung-fu movie if they weren't so busy staring at their shoes in her company.
Some critics have complained that Branagh downplays Rosalind in this production--a mystifying claim that would only be true if Shakespeare had been playing a zero-sum game, but there's plenty of great stuff to go around. Alfred Molina (sporting an Eraserhead hairdo) hams it up brilliantly as Touchstone; his scenes with earthy Audrey are hilariously bawdy. Romola Garai beguiles the time as Celia, her pre-Raphaelite beauty only enhanced by her willingness to do pratfalls. The Phoebe/Sylvius subplot is helped by young Alex Wyndham's winning turn as the lovelorn shepherd, Sylvius .
Purists may moan and groan, but Branagh has single-handedly done more to introduce the Bard to a broad audience than any other artist alive today. I was watching "Much Ado" once with my little brother Liam (who considers videogame Halo 3 the last word in the visual arts). Though only eight years old, he guffawed every time Michael Keaton, channeling Beetlejuice by way of Monty Python, appeared on screen as the inept constable, Dogberry. I myself fell in love with Shakespeare at a similar age thanks to Branagh's "Henry V".
"As You Like It" showcases Branagh at his best, combining wit with slapstick and beauty with a trace of melancholy. He modulates between pathos and hilarity with expert timing. This is a thoroughly entertaining production that should delight newcomers to the Bard as well as remind Shax fans of why the Forest of Arden is such an enchanting place to pass a few spellbound hours. And for conveying the joy and passion of Shakespeare to audiences young and old, as Nim once said of his King Henry, I say of Branagh: "I'd kiss his dirty shoe."
DVD Review: The Forest of Arden, Japan
Summary: 4 Stars
I have always been a fan of Branagh's vision of Shakespeare. His version of Henry V remains the best filmed Shakespeare adaptation, and the remainder of his work has been at a high level of quality. I even loved Love's Labour's Lost, although not with the same passion as some of his older adaptations.
With that in mind, I enjoyed "As You Like it". It certainly isn't my favorite Branagh Shakespeare, but then it certainly isn't among my favorite Shakespeare plays in the first place. It is hard to believe that Orlando could so ardently woo the boy Ganymede, only to be pleased when Ganymede does the grand unveil and reveals herself as Rosalind at the end. Something that works so well in Twelfth Night just doesn't do it here.
Sometimes a director can take a difficult play, like Julia Taymor did for Titus, and make something profound. That didn't happen in this case, and Branagh didn't really find the magic in the muddle. Setting it in Japan was a mistake, which distracts from some fine performances. I have no problem with mixing up the eras and settings for Shakespeare plays, but this one just didn't work.
Problems with the play aside, Branagh certainly managed to paint a pretty picture. The scenery and costumes are lush, and every actor is beautiful to behold. The most commendable part of "As You Like It" is how fantastic all the actors are. Branagh has a habit of casting "Hollywood stars" instead of actors, and sometimes their performances come off like dead bricks in the midst of bubbles and light air.
Bryce Dallas Howard is excellent as Rosalind, effortless pulling off her lines and acting with the language. Her male disguise is pretty silly; they didn't even bother to try and hide that much feminine beauty, so it could be said she was wrong for the part but you forgive her everything when she comes out in full splendor at the end. Kevin Kline was no surprise, as I have seen his Shakespeare chops before, and he is a fantastic Jaques. Alfred Molina as the clown Touchstone was a bit underused, but I can see how Branagh didn't want his foolishness to overshadow the love story. Regular Branagh cast members Brian Blessed and Richard Briers are perfect, of course. They were born to do the Bard's work. I was disappointed that Branagh didn't cast himself in a role, as I always love his interpretations, and the film was weaker for not having him in it.
What unfortunately did not work was the Japanese setting. In truth, there was no Japanese setting, and I am not sure why this choice was made. It seems to have been done solely so that the opening wrestling scene can be a sumo match, and from there on it is just distracting, and at times even silly. Branagh apparently thinks Westerners are ignorant of Asian cultures, as he has his cast doing Chinese Tai Chi in the middle of a forest. But hey, all Asians are alike right? Bad move Kenneth...The lion attack was also made ridiculous by the setting. Not so many wild lions roaming the forests of Japan...sometimes disbelief can only be suspended so far.
So if you ignore the poor choice to set this play in Japan, it is really well done. It is sad to see the potential of knowing this could have been great, but I am ultimately happy with it. Anyone who enjoys Branagh's Shakespeare is going to enjoy "As You Like It".
DVD Review: The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
Where would Shakespeare be without Kenneth Branagh? A dry homework assignment? A poor player shuffled off this mortal coil? A Charles Lamb or Sparks Notes summary sucked in the night before finals only to be regurgitated and forgotten 24 hours later? Kenneth Branagh's As You Like It, like all Branagh productions, is brilliant--a wonderful romp through the Forest of Arden that bears no resemblance to the old Olivier version of some 70 years ago. (No offense, Olivier; after all, that stylized display of theatrical delivery was all the rage in your day, even if it wasn't in Shakespeare's day.)
The language flows trippingly from the players' tongues; and, if that's not good enough, verbatim subtitles are available on this DVD version for people like me who like textual props on screen. Whether you already love Shakespeare or have never really warmed up to all that flowery language, posturing, and gesticulating--and maybe feel a little guilty because, well, you're supposed to like him--you'll love this Branagh adaptation, which remains true to the text, bringing it to life with a vitality and joy that would make Shakespeare himself shout, "Bravo."
Description of As You Like It
Emmy award winner Kenneth Branagh, the man who redefined Shakespeare for a whole new generation with Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, brings the Bard's most delightful comedy to sensational life! Rosalind is a young woman living in the court of her uncle when she falls in love with Orlando, a young gentleman of the kingdom. When Rosalind is banished, she flees into the forest of Arden disguised as a man...only to encounter Orlando who has also been exiled! But can she win his heart, disguised as she is? With a setting inspired by 19th century Japan and a star-studded cast including Kevin Kline (Dave, A Prairie Home Companion), Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3, The Lady In The Water) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, The Da Vinci Code), AS YOU LIKE IT once again proves that all the world's a stage. Come enjoy!If you think stuffy old Shakespeare could be livened up with some ninjas, Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) has heard your call. Adapter/director Branagh has set the pastoral comedy As You Like It in feudal Japan, where the characters are still British (they live in a community established by Western merchants) but now have reason to dress up in lush Japanese fabrics and engage in sumo wrestling. Due to a feud between two noble brothers, Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard, The Village) is banished and ends up disguised as a man in a nearby forest. There she tests the faith of her beloved (and also banished) Orlando (David Oyelowo, MI-5), who can't recognize her because she looks like a Dickensian ragamuffin. Meanwhile, a variety of other star-crossed lovers romp around the forest and zen gardens, sparring about love and melancholy. Branagh, never a subtle director, takes every opportunity to squeeze in slapstick and action (like the aforementioned ninjas), but he also keeps the language clear and the movie is beautiful to look at. The strong cast includes Kevin Kline (who previously frolicked in a movie adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Frida), Romola Garai (I Capture the Castle, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights), and Adrian Lester (Hustle, Love's Labors Lost). --Bret Fetzer
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