I’ve missed this man. There’s something about Branagh that the screen loves, now I may be biased, but actually I’m not. It’s true. Even in Harry Potter he was resplendent. Oooh, I’ve come over all Shakespearean!
News from The Guardian is that Kenneth Branagh is set to continue his Shakespeare adaptations with the play As You Like It. He’s put a few such tales under his belt, with probably two of his finest being the complete original text version of Hamlet, which fans eagerly await on DVD, and Love’s Labours Lost. I thought that was truly magical, combining the rhyme of Shakespeare with the beauty of Cole Porter, inspired. If you hadn’t guessed I am an unbelievably huge fan.
Branagh, who made his name with a film version of Henry V, is to direct Kevin Kline and The Village’s Bryce Dallas Howard in a new version of the Shakespearian comedy As You Like It for which filming is set to start in April.
Variety’s Michael Fleming reports that the adaptation will be set in the late 19th century and that it is being financed by HBO. Branagh himself is likely to take a small role – possibly that of the court jester, Touchstone – and Adrian Lester (who appeared in Branagh’s musical version of Love’s Labours Lost), Brian Blessed and Jimmy Yuill are also said to be taking supporting roles.
Fabulous. His casting is original, his direction can be very inspiring, and his adaptations of Shakespeare just stunning to watch. Now, I expect there are many who disagree!
