Kenneth Branagh is set to move away from his huge Shakespeare movie adaptations and turn to Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. From Coming Soon:
Joseph Kaiser, Ben Davis, Rene Pape, Lyubov Petrova and newcomer Amy Carson will play the lead roles in the story about Prince Tamino (Kaiser) and his sidekick, Papageno the birdseller (Davis), as they battle evil forces to rescue Princess Pamina (Carson). Pape will play the priest Sarastro, while Petrova will portray the Queen of the Night.
It’s no secret that I think Branagh is a pagan God of Shakespeare and indeed of cinema. His adaptations have been truly superb, and his achievements to date have been stunning. I only wish he could turn out more movies and quicker. That, and of course that he’d come and give us an interview!
What do you think of the idea that he’s turning to an Operatic adaptation? I’d love to see more Shakespeare from him, but I suspect I won’t be disappointed with this one. Thoughts?
Love Mozart’s symphonies, but I’m not a great fan of The Magic Flute. Nothing dramatic happens, as I recall. Puccini would have made a better choice, IMO.
If anyone could pull it off, it is Branagh. Count me in!
Wow. Good luck on making The Magic Flute with a comprehensible plot that any person can follow from beginning to end! It gets away with it in opera because the sets are wonderful and inventive (including most recently Julie Taymor’s Met production, or the older Chagall-designed prod.) and the music is pretty, and people just don’t expect much out of opera librettos. Even then, the most forgiving die hard opera fans complain about this plot above all others.
As a movie, it is going nowhere without a real story. They’d have to employ “poetic license” to the hilt to come up with anything like a workable script.
I’m sure they’ve thought about that, but we’ll see what they come up with to do about it. I sense another “Prospero’s Books.” Or, “Oh, how pretty!…zzz…zzzzzz…snort..zzzz.”
Put this on the list of Must See! I love Kenneth, and I too, wish there was more out there to worship. ;)
I think Kenneth is the most underrated actor among us today. His performances from Shackleton to Harry Potter 2 to Shakespeare – he has range.
Plus he’s smart. My biggest disappointment is QUANTITY as well.
What do you think of him as a BOND? Too old?