After a rehearsal, the director gathers his small cast together before lunch, giving them feedback on their work so far. While he talks, one of the actresses considers him with affection while bemoaning her inability to deliver clearly in words the way she feels about him.
I was surprised to hear the additional dialogue at the start of this short film – it is a device that so few of the films have used that it sticks in the memory when they do. In this case it works very well because it sets up the scene well, and also creates a sense of realism to it, since the non-Shakespeare dialogue feels natural and is engaging. This fades to the rear while the actress delivers the sonnet with a mix of sadness and affection – it is a mix that could easily have been sappy, but Gleason does really well, making it feel tangible to the viewer. It helps that the object of her affection is already one with whom she has a connection, Chris Sarandon (he of Fright Night and Princess Bride fame); he doesn't have the text to deliver, but his engaging performance in the bookends makes the film work better than it otherwise would have without the fuller context.
The setting of the New Amsterdam Theatre is really well used, and looks beautiful – I have never been to this place but the film presents it with such rich colors and warmth that I instantly felt welcomed, and the sense of the place added to my openness to the emotion of the text and the character. It is a simple piece but I liked very much what it did, and how well it avoided being a cloying with the sentiment it delivered – instead it felt real and quite heartfelt in its delivery, thanks in big part to how well Gleason delivers it within a very well presented frame of the short film.
I was surprised to hear the additional dialogue at the start of this short film – it is a device that so few of the films have used that it sticks in the memory when they do. In this case it works very well because it sets up the scene well, and also creates a sense of realism to it, since the non-Shakespeare dialogue feels natural and is engaging. This fades to the rear while the actress delivers the sonnet with a mix of sadness and affection – it is a mix that could easily have been sappy, but Gleason does really well, making it feel tangible to the viewer. It helps that the object of her affection is already one with whom she has a connection, Chris Sarandon (he of Fright Night and Princess Bride fame); he doesn't have the text to deliver, but his engaging performance in the bookends makes the film work better than it otherwise would have without the fuller context.
The setting of the New Amsterdam Theatre is really well used, and looks beautiful – I have never been to this place but the film presents it with such rich colors and warmth that I instantly felt welcomed, and the sense of the place added to my openness to the emotion of the text and the character. It is a simple piece but I liked very much what it did, and how well it avoided being a cloying with the sentiment it delivered – instead it felt real and quite heartfelt in its delivery, thanks in big part to how well Gleason delivers it within a very well presented frame of the short film.