Branagh's first Shakespearean film, Henry V, garnered Best Actor and Best Director Oscar Nominations, but more importantly won him the BAFTA for Best Direction. I thought Branagh's turn as Iago in the Bard's Othello was overlooked, though Hamlet, Henry V, and Much Ado About Nothing have been standard classroom fare since their VHS releases. Less commonly seen was Branagh's musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost, which dared to make one of the most challenging comedies light, accessible, frivolous, and fun. I adored this version. Everyone knows Shakespeare to be a poet and the namesake for top wordsmiths, why shouldn't the great standard love songs be held in such esteem? We need only to look at Twelfth Night for the infamous line, "If music be the food of love, play on." It is apt, even if the performers are less than stellar, and Branagh is clearly ten years older than his princely compatriots. If you're surprised to see Alicia Silverstone and Matthew Lillard amongst the cast, keep in mind that this is the man who put Keanu Reeves and Michael Keaton in Much Ado, and Robin Williams as Osric in Hamlet. No one can say Branagh doesn't know how to take chances.
Branagh has been a big-screen presence for years, directing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (with himself in the title role), and taking leads in Peter's Friends (with then-wife Emma Thompson), The Gingerbread Man, and Woody Allen's Celebrity. Not every job had to be Shakespearean, top-notch drama, or even high-brow comedy - how else can we explain Dr. Arliss Loveless, of Wild Wild West? A picture like How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog is much more Branagh-worthy.
Highly underrated and unusual, How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog isn't the instructional video its title would have you believe. As Branagh's character Peter McGowen says, "Maybe that's everything in writing - a catchy title." While it does cater to a particular audience - most indie films do, anyhow - the one-liners are deadly, if you can find them in the desert-dry humor. Peter's not doing well, and the stakes are high. You're only as good as your last play, and this current production is struggling. He's not sleeping, his mother-in-law is losing it, there's a strange man claiming to be him, and his wife wants a baby so desperately that she's offered to babysit the girl next door. At first, little Amy is Peter's nemesis: the child his wife wants, the babysitting responsibility he doesn't want, a distraction from his writing, and a girl (women don't tend to favor Peter). But Amy's got a sassy side that takes Peter by surprise, and they become friends. Their unlikely friendship changes Peter, his work, and his home life. As Peter's wife, Melanie, Robin Wright (still using her surname of Penn at the time) is almost unrecognizable, but a sheer delight. The perfect counter to Branagh's curmudgeonly writer. It took several viewings for me to fully appreciate the film, but it's even funnier if you know/realize that these characters - these people - actually exist, somewhere.
Despite a number of high-profile roles, the title role in Shackleton, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Franklin D. Roosevelt in Warm Springs, and Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn, excellent performances all, Branagh found a home in playing Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in several series for the BBC, based on the novels by Henning Mankell. An unusual structure for a television broadcast, each series consists of three ninety-minute episodes, each a film in its own right. (Sherlock owes its similar contract to the success of Wallander.) Wallander himself is an uncommon figure on telly screens, as he is not the hard-boiled detective so frequently portrayed on crime series. Damaged, yes, clever, absolutely, but there's a soft side to Wallander. His family life is, of course, complicated, and the obstacles he's forced to endure make it seem like he just can't catch a break. He's got a crack team to help him, and his doggedness is endearing. A fourth series is due out in 2014.
For a long time, the press wasn't quite sure what to make of him: wunderkind, or pretentious sod? Since remarrying in 2003, he seems to have settled down, and with Wallander, found favor with audiences and press alike. After a number of directorial duds (sadly including Love's Labours, a widely panned As You Like It, little-seen adaptation of The Magic Flute, and the modern remake of the Michael Caine/Laurence Olivier film Sleuth), Branagh brought his flair for grand scale theatrics to the big screen with Thor. It's thanks to Branagh that we have the Loki phenom of Tom Hiddleston, who previously costarred as one of the good guys in Wallander. In January, Branagh himself will take on the villain role in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, opposite Chris Pine. But first: the Scottish play.
Macbeth. Working with co-director Rob Ashford and a cast of nearly thirty, the production dominated the Manchester International Festival, selling out in nine minutes. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect is the locale: performances were held in a decommissioned church in Manchester. Audience members sat on both sides of a long, dirt hall of a stage; battle waged back and forth, even through rain. When they appear, the Weird Sisters earn their name, and with the church for a backdrop, themes of demonic possession are easily evoked. Alex Kingston (Doctor Who's River Song) is a worthy companion (haha!) for Branagh's Lady Macbeth. It's a testament to the wizened Branagh that he so generously shares the limelight, rather than dominates it. As wonderful as he is in the leading role, it's the supporting cast that makes Macbeth so good. Ray Fearon's Macduff stands out, as soon as he begins to recruit natural heir Malcom (Merlin's Alexander Vlahos) to reclaim his throne. Norman Bowman's Ross reminded me of Willem Defoe (that's a compliment), and Daniel Ings's Porter provided some much needed comic relief. Watching Shakespeare without concurrent study of it can be challenging, but Macbeth is entertaining, at the least. The vocal work is impeccable, from the strange intonations and deliveries of the Weird Sisters, to the variation in cadence from Branagh himself, which is always enlightening.
Leaving the theater, I couldn't help but think, "Branagh's still got it." He's a long way from retirement, and I expect we'll see many more important, creative contributions from him.
Notes:
- The last time I was at the Avon, it was to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Frankenstein. (I called it "FrankenBatch.") This time, it was Kenneth Branagh in Macbeth (I call it "MacBranagh"). Both productions are produced by the National Theatre in London; both men have played Victor Frankenstein.
- Branagh is a real-life Frankenstein. By casting Hiddleston as Loki, he has created a monster. I'm hilarious.
- Wait for it... Branagh's Chamber of Secrets costar Daniel Radcliffe is set to play Igor to James McAvoy's Frankenstein in a January 2015 release. It should go without saying, but: release date subject to change. When's Hiddleston's Frankenstein going to surface? Was he not invited to the club? Is that why he left Wallander? (Just kidding. I'm pretty sure I made that up.)
- With the new Jack Ryan film, both Benedict Cumberbatch and Kenneth Branagh will have played villains opposite Chris Pine. What would happen if we pitted them against each other? What project would that be? Julius Caesar? An all-male cast of All About Eve? Perhaps Branagh would be willing to play Claudius in the (rumored) Cumberbatch Hamlet next fall in the West End.
- Macbeth Composer Patrick Doyle has worked on eleven films with Kenneth Branagh, starting with Henry V. He will be providing the music for Branagh's upcoming Cinderella, starring Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Lily James, and Richard Madden.
Macbeth. Working with co-director Rob Ashford and a cast of nearly thirty, the production dominated the Manchester International Festival, selling out in nine minutes. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect is the locale: performances were held in a decommissioned church in Manchester. Audience members sat on both sides of a long, dirt hall of a stage; battle waged back and forth, even through rain. When they appear, the Weird Sisters earn their name, and with the church for a backdrop, themes of demonic possession are easily evoked. Alex Kingston (Doctor Who's River Song) is a worthy companion (haha!) for Branagh's Lady Macbeth. It's a testament to the wizened Branagh that he so generously shares the limelight, rather than dominates it. As wonderful as he is in the leading role, it's the supporting cast that makes Macbeth so good. Ray Fearon's Macduff stands out, as soon as he begins to recruit natural heir Malcom (Merlin's Alexander Vlahos) to reclaim his throne. Norman Bowman's Ross reminded me of Willem Defoe (that's a compliment), and Daniel Ings's Porter provided some much needed comic relief. Watching Shakespeare without concurrent study of it can be challenging, but Macbeth is entertaining, at the least. The vocal work is impeccable, from the strange intonations and deliveries of the Weird Sisters, to the variation in cadence from Branagh himself, which is always enlightening.
Leaving the theater, I couldn't help but think, "Branagh's still got it." He's a long way from retirement, and I expect we'll see many more important, creative contributions from him.
Notes:
- The last time I was at the Avon, it was to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Frankenstein. (I called it "FrankenBatch.") This time, it was Kenneth Branagh in Macbeth (I call it "MacBranagh"). Both productions are produced by the National Theatre in London; both men have played Victor Frankenstein.
- Branagh is a real-life Frankenstein. By casting Hiddleston as Loki, he has created a monster. I'm hilarious.
- Wait for it... Branagh's Chamber of Secrets costar Daniel Radcliffe is set to play Igor to James McAvoy's Frankenstein in a January 2015 release. It should go without saying, but: release date subject to change. When's Hiddleston's Frankenstein going to surface? Was he not invited to the club? Is that why he left Wallander? (Just kidding. I'm pretty sure I made that up.)
- With the new Jack Ryan film, both Benedict Cumberbatch and Kenneth Branagh will have played villains opposite Chris Pine. What would happen if we pitted them against each other? What project would that be? Julius Caesar? An all-male cast of All About Eve? Perhaps Branagh would be willing to play Claudius in the (rumored) Cumberbatch Hamlet next fall in the West End.
- Macbeth Composer Patrick Doyle has worked on eleven films with Kenneth Branagh, starting with Henry V. He will be providing the music for Branagh's upcoming Cinderella, starring Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Lily James, and Richard Madden.
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