- The film opens with a few quotes, the last of which is "All the world's a stage." This was really effective, especially since the setting of the film was in Japan. Just goes to show that Shakespeare wrote about human experiences that can happen to any one around the world. This also made me think of an article I read a year or two ago titled "Shakespeare in the Bush." An anthropologist goes to West Africa and tells the tale of Hamlet to a small tribe, and she recalls her experience and the feedback she received from telling this universally themed story. Really, check the article out.
- The film shows the actual, physical banishment of Duke Senior. It held much more emotion and made me realize that it wasn't likely to be a peaceful event, but rather highly charged and emotional. You just don't get that by reading the text.
- I liked seeing that Orlando and Oliver were still separated in status by their styles of clothing. Orlando the poor peasant worker in ragged, unkempt clothes and his "evil" older brother dressed to the nine.
- Also, still talking about Orlando and his brother, I didn't understand why Oliver hated his youngest brother so much, but when I watched the film it hit me. Oliver was envious of his brother's kind heart, and the fact that people still admired him even though he was restrained by his brother to have any gentlemanly qualities, he was still loved. This mirrors the brotherly relationship between Duke Senior and Duke Frederick; Duke Fredrick was incensed near the end of the play to find that even though his elder brother was banished to the forest, young men still flocked to Duke Senior because he was so admirable a leader. This made Duke Fredrick realize his efforts were futile, hence he went on his way to the forest to experience the life of a hermit. I'll get to this later, I'm sure.
- As for Rosalind, she was still very sweet and lovely, but not in a silly, giddy, over-the-top way.
- The scene where Duke Fredrick banishes Rosalind was done in a very interesting manner. He comes in, yells at Rosalind and tells her she is banished, then takes Celia aside and speaks to her so lovingly to try to convince her he was doing this for her good, all the while she pretending to be swayed by his words only to tell him he might as well banish her. Then, enraged, Duke Fredrick rushed back to Rosalind, and yells more. Very interesting, if you ask me. It was very effective in developing Duke Fredrick's character, as well as Celia's.
- Adam, the servant of the De Boys household, had a short soliloquy when he and Orlando were leaving the estate. This was a particularly interesting take on the scene, especially after learning in class that soliloquies are more of a convention of Shakespearean tragedies, and that comedies are more back and forth between characters. And this soliloquy form shows up rather a lot in this movie. I think this helps give more depth to the characters, showing that they are more thoughtful and reflective of situations and experiences that they have.
- When Jaques pleads with Amiens to continue singing, it has Jaques sitting in the middle of a circle in a zen garden. This has some interesting implications, such as showing that Jaques, although melancholy, is very philosophical.
- Along the same lines, Touchstone is doing Tai Chi in the scene when he meets Jaques. This definitely could be showing the translation of the human experience between cultures. Maybe?
- Also, there seemed to be something about Jaques being vegetarian in the movie. I didn't catch ANYTHING like that while reading the text, but it certainly goes with his character. I'd be interesting in knowing more about that.
- Jaques "All the world's a stage" speech is more of a philosophical inquiry than him preaching to the forest court. More like he was thinking to himself, pondering about the state of life than telling everyone how it really is. I liked this presentation of the speech a lot.
- Something else I must have missed entirely in the text was about Corin's previous life as a priest. I have no idea how I missed that, but it certainly was clear in the film.
- Another thing that I wondered about was when Orlando and Ganymede first met in the forest, Orlando says there is no clock in the forest. Then later on in their meetings they mention specific times, like two o'clock.
- Then there is a scene where it shows Duke Fredrick by himself, looking rather remorseful for the things that he did to his brother and his court, and shows that he gained nothing from it because he ended up being alone. Hence his being repentant and going into the "wild" of the forest to commit to a life of hermitage. Then Jaques followed the same path, staying in the green world to find peace. So at the end of the movie it shows Duke Fredrick sitting under a tree in a meditative state while the wedding party runs and dances by, then Aliena sees her father, kisses his head, and carries on her way. Then after she runs by, he smiles. I thought this was very sweet and a nice touch to show repentance and forgiveness, and ultimate kindness.
This really was an absolutely wonderful film. As I was reading As You Like It I didn't think I would like it very much, mostly because I was comparing it to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Whereas I thought AMND was much more interesting because of its many layers, I felt AYLI lacked a lot of conflict. But as it turns out, AYLI deals with the more philosophical musings of life, and that's where the conflict lies. I really enjoyed this play and the issues it made me wonder about and think about. Especially my original ponderings on gender confusion, which was cleared up a lot by Dr. Burton's explanation of homosociality in Shakespeare's time. This answered the question I had about in what circumstance it would have been socially okay for Orlando to kiss Ganymede, as is mentioned by Rosalind when she talks about Orlando's lips, indicating that the two kissed while Rosalind was disguised as Ganymede. Makes sense now under the definition of homosociality.
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