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lizg84
Reviews
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
For goodness sake
I have just seen this adaptation of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and was quite impressed. It isn't the best I've seen but it most certainly not the worst. A lot of these reviews seem to be complaining about the language, that it isn't in Standard English. I'm afraid these people may have failed to realise that this is a classic play by the greatest writer of all time. I wager there would be far more complaints had they 'translated' the script. I am a Shakespeare enthusiast, so I found the language simple to understand but I have watched many plays with friends who have little knowledge of Shakespeare and they have always managed perfectly well. The key is to approach with a broad mind and listen carefully to what they are saying. It isn't a different language, merely a different pattern of speech than we are used to. If you really try to understand the words, you will. Maybe it would be an idea for some of these reviewers to watch it again, with their minds open.
Journey's End (1988)
Excellent
Having studied the play before seeing this film, I can say that is a very good adaptation. The film runs very true to the Sherriff's work, though does exercise poetic license in a few parts in order to make it more accessible to the modern audience. The acting is superb; Northam, Petherbridge and Spall particularly stand out, capturing the harrowing experience of trench warfare excellently. The gritty realism is extremely successful in this particular production, capturing the mood of the play perfectly. As if the excellence needs anymore clarification, the 'Blackadder' lot based the final episode of 'Blackadder Goes Forth' on this particular adaptation (worth seeing as it is funny but devastating at the same time). I won't ruin the end for you, but it's definitely worth watching for.