Shakespeare

‘The Lost King’ Review: Sally Hawkins Stands Out as Amateur Historian Seeking the Truth

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

The search for the truth about Richard III gives Hawkins another excellent showcase for her talents.

Philippa Longley (Sally Hawkins) is having a difficult time in her life. She’s been overlooked for an exciting position at her job, she suffers from chronic fatigue, and she and her ex-husband John (Steve Coogan) are trying to raise their children together as they deal with their separation. After she sees a particularly affecting performance of Richard III, Philippa becomes fascinated by the title character, and the questionable legacy of the man—believing his past to be more fiction than fact. In Richard III, Philippa sees a bit of herself, another misunderstood person who deserves defending. In order to find out the truth about Richard III and his past, Philippa decides to try and find his remains that have long been lost to rumor.

On this journey, Philippa is often visited by Richard III (Harry Lloyd), who waits outside her home, quietly waiting for her assistance in finding his remains. It’s a bit of magical realism injected into this story of a person who followed her beliefs, as opposed to the “truths” that people tried to push on her. Philippa’s quest is largely influenced by her belief that Richard III is buried in a car park, and while Philippa certainly does her research on this matter, it’s her faith that she’s right that seems to guide her journey in The Lost King.

Directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity) and written by Coogan and Jeff Pope, The Lost King often feels like this trio’s last collaboration, Philomena, which also found a woman (often assisted by Coogan) attempting to find the truth out about a sordid past. Like Philomena, The Lost King is about an underdog trying to take on the establishment, and how that challenge can often feel like fighting against a brick wall.

Philippa finds herself meeting with a group called the Richard III Society, who similarly wants to find out the truth about the departed king, stating that Shakespeare’s play was simply more attractive than the truth. As The Lost King goes on, it seems as though the same could be said about The Lost King itself. This is a decent underdog story that often works thanks to reliable performances, but it’s hard to imagine that the real story isn’t far more interesting than the one that we’re being presented. It’s as if Coogan and Pope almost don’t feel confidence that the original story is interesting on its own, instead, inserting in ghost kings to add a little something to this story of a woman trying to find a buried king.

Like so many of Frears’ films, The Lost King works because of the compelling cast on hand. Hawkins is naturally great as Philippa, a woman who has been passed over far too many times, and doesn’t want the same fate to continue for Richard III. Hawkins brings a vulnerability to the role, and yet a power and determination that sees her through this quest. The Lost King works not because of Frears, Pope or Coogan, but because Hawkins can bring a great amount of compassion and care to this character who just want to make things right—even if it’s for a long-dead royal.

Coogan is also quite good here, and the dynamic between him and Hawkins is also a welcome addition, as John becomes wary of Philippa at first, then slowly becomes warily supporting in her journey. Coogan’s arc is lovely, and some of the finest moments in The Lost King rely on watching these two eventually get closer together in a way they haven’t been in years. If we take anything from The Lost King, it’s that Coogan and Hawkins should certainly play off each other in more films

Like Frears’ most recent films, Florence Foster Jenkins and Victoria & Abdul, The Lost King is slightly meandering for the first half, building to a rousing payoff in the final act for these characters. While the journey to find King Richard III’s bones might drag at times, the third act manages to make for an excellent dénouement—even though it largely focuses on an excavation crew digging holes in a parking lot. Say what you will about Frears’ films, he knows how to win over an audience in the final act.

But it’s in the excitement of the film’s final third where the weight of the rest of the film can be felt. As Philippa seemingly gets closer to her goal, there’s a rousing joy to the end of this journey, especially when she comes face-to-face with the men along the way that have held her back. The real power and heft of this narrative all feels pushed to the backend of the film, which in hindsight, makes the first two acts feel fairly unremarkable by comparison.

Like Frears’ most recent films, Florence Foster Jenkins and Victoria & Abdul, The Lost King is slightly meandering for the first half, building to a rousing payoff in the final act for these characters. While the journey to find King Richard III’s bones might drag at times, the third act manages to make for an excellent dénouement—even though it largely focuses on an excavation crew digging holes in a parking lot. Say what you will about Frears’ films, he knows how to win over an audience in the final act.

But it’s in the excitement of the film’s final third where the weight of the rest of the film can be felt. As Philippa seemingly gets closer to her goal, there’s a rousing joy to the end of this journey, especially when she comes face-to-face with the men along the way that have held her back. The real power and heft of this narrative all feels pushed to the backend of the film, which in hindsight, makes the first two acts feel fairly unremarkable by comparison.

Source: ‘The Lost King’ Review: Sally Hawkins Stands Out as Amateur Historian Seeking the Truth | TIFF 2022

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Audio Edition

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love in unexpected ways. In the woods outside Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves into couples—but not before

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love in unexpected ways. In the woods outside Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves into couples—but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another. The king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over an orphan boy. To punish Titania for opposing him, Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom. Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of “Pyramus and Thisbe.”

This new unabridged audio recording of the well-respected edition of Shakespeare’s classic—expertly produced by the Folger Theatre—is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.

Listen to a sample of the recording above and buy the audio as a CD or a download.

 
 

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Owls in the early modern imagination: Ominous omens and pitiable sages

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By Haylie Swenson

Owls were bad omens for Shakespeare and his contemporaries, but the prophecy and wisdom they symbolized also made them objects of satire.

Owls were bad omens for Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The general of the French forces, facing an English emissary in Henry VI, Part 1, calls him “Thou ominous and fearful owl of death, / Or nation’s terror and their bloody scourge!” (4.2.15) Similarly, when Richard III receives bad news on the battlefield, he reacts by shouting “Out on you, owls! Nothing but songs of death” and striking the messenger: “There, take thou that till thou bring better news” (4.4.536-537). When in King Henry VI, Part 3 the titular king wants to wound Richard, he says “The owl shrieked at thy birth, an evil sign” (5.6.36). Continue reading →

Review: The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet by Olivia Hussey book review.

Review written by Edith G. Tolchin.

Olivia Hussey became an international celebrity at the young age of 17 when she landed the role of Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. She was perhaps the most famous teenager in the world in 1968.

Born in Argentina but raised in Wimbledon, England, Ms. Hussey was totally unprepared for the shooting stardom that would accompany that one “little” role.

She does an amazing, and amusing job of sharing her experiences with, and recollections of, filming that now famous Shakespeare piece.

Hussey says, “While it brought me fame—for whatever that’s worth—and glamour, it also thrust me into a spotlight that, while intoxicating, was at times too bright and too revealing.” After all, she had limited experience when she began filming at 16.

That singular role led her to meet numerous famous people such as the Queen of England (where she peed herself from fear), Bridget Bardot, and Liza Minelli. There was a famous poet in Moscow, and she shared a cab ride and a kiss with Paul McCartney before he married Linda Eastman.

She met her first husband, Dean “Dino” Paul Martin (of Hollywood royalty) in London, while both were still in their teens. She was reluctant at first, but “the elevator doors opened and out poured American sunshine.”

On a movie set with Robert Mitchum, he was known to host dinner parties where everyone complimented his excellent cooking skills, though not everyone knew he cooked with hashish.

On that same movie set, she had an abusive relationship with troubled actor Christopher Jones, who later visited her in Hollywood, and beat and raped her. Her residence at the time was the same house where Sharon Tate was killed by the Manson family, though Olivia moved in five weeks afterward. It was her agent’s home.

Hussey eventually got engaged to Dino Martin when she heard rumors he might marry Candice Bergen. Dino’s father, Dean Martin “was like watching a movie and knowing it would become one of your favorites.”

She had her first son, Alexander, with Dino, but they shortly divorced when Olivia was 23. She took to a meditation group to help her cope with the split. This led her to her guru, the Swami Muktananda, who would hold a vital, almost cosmic relationship with her until he passed in 1982.

Olivia met her second husband, Akira Fuse, when she was working in Japan. He was a famous singer and they married in 1980. Hussey had her second son, Max, in 1983. Living between Japan and Hollywood took its toll on their relationship and although they remained friends, they divorced a few years later.

Dino, with whom she still had a close relationship because of son Alex, was killed while flying an Air National Guard airplane in 1987.

The two years between 1987 and 1989 were traumatic for Olivia who had to deal with the divorce from second husband, Akira Fuse, the death of Dino Martin—her first husband, and the death of her mother in England as a result of emphysema.

She met her third husband, David Eisley—this time a Harley-riding, leather-clad rocker—in the late eighties at Jerry’s Famous Deli in L.A. “This man could not have been more different from the men I was used to.”

Yet something clicked and they are together still, having been through feast and famine, including being swindled out of millions by managers she trusted.

Her third child, India Joy, was born in 1993 but Olivia was forced to return to work a month later because all her money was gone. They were forced to downsize several times, casting aside the Hollywood glitz for life in the valley and a growing menagerie of animals including horses, potbelly pigs.

A much-desired role as Mother Teresa in 2003 somewhat helped Hussey back on her feet. But she felt ill during the shoot in Sri Lanka and just attributed it to be the weather and poor environment.

“For five, maybe more, years it grew—ignored, undiagnosed, and unchecked.” She was finally diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2008 and subsequently had surgery. While combining conventional medicine with holistic medicine, Olivia has been in remission for ten years now.

Her husband, David, and actress daughter, India Eisley, have helped Olivia get back on her feet.

A final scene in the book shows Juliet (Olivia) reunited with her Romeo, the actor Leonard Whiting almost 50 years later in London during a happy visit with his family, while India was shooting a movie there.

With a seemingly magical mysticism about all aspects Hussey’s life, this book will be a draw for both old and young hippies alike.

Love, loss, deaths, births, travel, coping with agoraphobia and fighting cancer—these all sound like a soap opera but this is the life that Olivia Hussey, now in her late sixties, has led.

The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo and Juliet is a must for international movie buffs with an interest in films of the latter half of the 20th century. Be prepared for a colorful tour around the world, as well as lessons learned, in words and pictures.

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The best Shakespeare films – ranked!

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment
Clare Danes in Romeo + Juliet

20. As You Like It (1992)

Despite its hey-nonny-nonny reputation, Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy, written during a time of immense social upheaval, has sharp edges. Or at least it does in this modern-dress version by director Christine Edzard, which makes it into a thinly veiled commentary on the inequalities of post-Thatcherite Britain. Arden becomes a cardboard city in London’s Docklands, while the “court” from which Rosalind (Emma Croft) and co are expelled is a glitzy bank. Heavy-handed but thought-provoking.

. 19. Julius Caesar (1953) 

Marlon Brando as Mark Antony.It may be a little too plush and self-satisfied, but Joseph L Mankiewicz’s golden-age Hollywood version of the tragedy some Americans regard as their own has stood the test of time. Perhaps its most impressive aspect is the cast: John Gielgud, James Mason, Deborah Kerr, Louis Calhern. Marlon Brando’s blazing turn as Antony (“Lend me your ears”) is so riveting that you almost forget Roland Barthes wrote an entire essay mocking the wigs. [ . . . ]

Read CompleteTop 20 at Source: The best Shakespeare films – ranked! | Film | The Guardian