Stage Beauty...

[fajrdrako]

I went to see Stage Beauty with Marion and Vicky.

How nice to see a movie with good history in it,and a good understanding of history. Not that I am any expert on the 17th century stage, but there was, I thought, a delightful plausibility about all of it. There were some familiar people, like Samuel Pepys and King Charles II, and other people who were less than familiar. Who was this bisexual Duke of Buckingham? The grandson of the one who was mixed up with James !? Or - well, I suppose I could look up the history of that family and find out.

The movie is about the change that took place in the English theatre when women were given the right to take women's roles on the stage and men were forbidden to play women's roles. The hero, Ned Kyneston, who has specialized in female roles all his life, loses his livelihood. His dresser, Maria, forbidden to go on stage all her life - she becomes Desdemona and becomes a star. But it doesn't end their: their rivalry, their friendship, their love/hate relationship continues to develop as the plot curves and twists. So where I'd expected a movie about gender roles, I got a movie about actors coming to a crisis in their craft, and learning something about their own identities.

The best scene: Nell Gwynn seeing Ned putting down Maria's audition performance as Desdemona, calling him a bitch, and dragging off Maria for a visit to the King which would change all of their lives forever. Espeically Ned's.

Through the whole movie, I kept thinking that Billy Crudup (who played Ned) looked familiar but I couldn't place him. I looked him up on IMDB when I got home, and discovered to my suprise that I've never seen any of his movies. So why was he so familiar? (Okay, so I heard his voice in Princess Mononoke, but it was his looks, not his voice, that was familiar.)

One of the points of the movie is that the acting of the time (and the skills of the protagonists) develops from a stylized, grandiose style to a more naturalistic, effective style such as we would expect in plays, television and movies. I wondered if there was anything historical about this - it reminded me of the plot of The Dresser, which dealth with a similar shift in acting style in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Is that really what actors were like in 1660? If so, how does anyone know? Can we really see drama through the eyes of Pepys and his contemporaries? (I should know, I have him on my LJ friends' list, and always get a kick out of his diary entries, though he never answers my messages, the rotter.)

Marion and Vicky made a good point: that a similar change in actors' careers happened with the shift from silent films to talkies in the early 20th century.

This movie also kept reminding me of Shakespeare in Love, perhaps because of the subject matter - in Stage Beauty nothing much ever gets performed but Shakespeare, and always Othello at that, though other plays by Shakespeare are mentioned. Also because of the excellent performance by Tom Wilkinson, though I thought his performance here was better, and I much preferred Stage Beauty to Shakespeare in . Have I mentioned that Claire Danes was terrific?

Comments

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

stagebeauty_fic ...
Isn't it a gorgeous film?!

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Damn, damn, damn! I am so cross that I missed going to see this. It was only on for a week here and I wasn't watching closely enough. ::sulks:: I'll try the new rental place - just in case.

On the plus side of things, I did get to see Hero last Friday - and thoroughly enjoyed it. Visually enchanting, and enough twisty plot revelations to keep me guessing!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ooh, fic! Thank you for the link! I am ready to bask happily.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, Stage Beauty will at some point be available for rental on DVD. And worth it, too.

As for Hero - wonderful movie, isn't it? Incredibly visual and a lovely, twisty, alluring story.

Suddenly a number of movies are about to open that I'm dying to see and I don't know how I'm going to be able to afford them and save money at the same time. Aaargh! Excruciating.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen the film yet as it hasn't made it to Germany so far, but the Duke of Buckingham in question was actually the son of James I.' last boyfriend. Said boyfriend having been also Charles I. best pal and prime minister, after all. The second Charles and Buckingham Junior basically grew up together, went to exile together after Charles I. lost his head, and had tempestuos fallings-out and reconciliations during the Restoration. I don't know whether you've seen the recent miniseries about Charles II, but his relationship with Buckingham is one of the central themes.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The son - okay, I misjudged by a generation! I haven't seen all of the Rufus Sewell miniseries yet, but I have it on videotape and plan to watch it soon. I find the Buckinghams (father and son!) interesting.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

The question is whether Stage Beauty will ever be available to rent from either of the local video places. Gah! Sometimes I hate this stupid little country I live in. ::sighs:: Don't mind me, I'm just in a bad mood...

Would it help to list the films, and then to make a shortlist which you feel you absolutely must see at the cinema (at least once!), while the rest maybe you could wait and borrow on dvd? I mean, I'd be really upset if you didn't make it next October! :D

BTW, can I ask what films you're looking forward to?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I think you'll like the miniseries. The characters, male AND female, are all three-dimensional, and the acting, from Sewell to Rupert Graves (who plays Buckingham) to Ian McDiarmid (yup, Palpatine, the Emperor, of Star Wars fame) to Diana Rigg (chilling cameo as Henrietta Maria) is uniformly good.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like Ian McDiarmid - but I don't think of him as Palpatine, I think of him as Mickey Hamilton in The Professionals. Not my favourite episode by any means, but his role was interesting.

Diana Rigg is always a favourite.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd be upset if I didn't make it next October too, so I'll try to control my movie-going comics-buying habits!

I'm looking forward to:

• Alexander (with trepidation but enthusiasm - I know it won't be Mary Renault material, but... I just hope it will be good and will feed my current passion for classical history


• Finding Neverland


• Serenity - okay not till April... waiting, waiting....
  
• the extended edition of Return of the King - not in theatres, but it will still cost me money when I bite the bullet and buy it

After nothing in the theatres but movies I don't want to see for quite a few months now, this looks like a treat.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Alexander - yes, but with extreme trepidation. I can't say the idea of Colin Farrell is very promising. But I'd be very happy to be surprised...
Finding Neverland - oh, yes! Definitely! Also Johnny in The Libertine.
Is Serenity the Firefly movie? I know nothing about the series other than that it keeps getting recommended by people whose opinions I respect...
RotK - in 19 days time, I think! I haven't ordered it yet. Am trying to decide between getting it sooner or waiting a few days and getting it cheaper. I'm not feeling very patient...

Am still pondering Sean Bean. Problem is that my head's full of BSG right now - I downloaded and watched the first four episodes of the new series over the last two days, and it's addictive! And the drooling's getting out of control...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, I agree about Colin Farrell. I've only seen him in Daredevil and that wasn't very promising. But... it's Alexander.

Agree about The Libertine - I don't know when it's coming out.

Yes, Serenity is the Firefly movie. "Serenity" is the name of the site of a major (nasty) military battle in the background of the protagonist and also the name of the ship he buys and uses for smuggling and trading and other lucrative jobs.

I'm not feeling patient about ROTK either. Far from it!