Mystery in Music

No lies, this is my favorite of all the plays we've read so far. I'm a sucker for the fantastical, the dark, the mysterious and mythilogical (think Tim Burton, i.e. my hero) and this really does it all for me. I am absolutely ecstatic about getting to see this on Saturday, and am hoping the visuals live up to my expectations. The rich, murky palette is a refreshing contrast to my previous read, As You Like It. Long twisted shadows, streaming moonlight, gritty textures, gnarled trees and dark uncertainty. . . What can I say. . . I'm twisted.

Visuals alone do not a production make, however (as I sit listening to Hans Zimmers brilliant soundtrack to Inception. . .let's not even talk about how brilliant that movie was). There are a miriad of references to noises and music in this play; for example:

(III.ii.135)
Caliban:
Be not afeard: the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again

Someone explain to me why I never heard
about this??? It was out just last year!

 (I.ii.452)

 Ferdinand:

Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?

It sounds no more: and sure, it waits upon

Some god o' the island. Sitting on a bank,

Weeping again the king my father's wreck,

This music crept by me upon the waters,

Allaying both their fury and my passion

With its sweet air: thence I have follow'd it,

Or it hath drawn me rather. But 'tis gone.

No, it begins again.

This play is full of mention of music; "solemn and strange" music (as at the magical feast), "sweet airs" . . . not to mention, music follows Ariel - a mythological, spritely creature - wherever he goes. It was a device for leading Ferdinand to Miranda, as well as waking the men before Antonio and Sebastian had the chance to kill Alonso.

Music and enchantment are eternally intertwined and inseperable. As we discussed in class, Romance (more in the sense of fantasy and the supernatural) is often heavily associated with music (and vice versa) because of its irrational, whimsical qualities.

I also feel strongly because of my time as a sound technician for shows in high school. Sounds and music can really have a strong impact on the tone and atmosphere. So, I decided to choose some (royalty free) music that I would implement into the sound design for The Tempest if I were staging it.

Royalty Free Music by Kevin Macleod,  http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

As I Understand It. . .

Ok. . . I lied. I don't. Sure, the plot makes sense, the characters, although a little too quick to marry, are not exactly an enigma. But. . .in reading the play, and watching the different film versions, the why is a little fuzzy.

So. . .I guess I'll start with a discussion of the only film version that didn't take serious dedication to get through; namely, Kenneth Branagh's 2006 version.

He did a lot of interesting things in this film - most of which I liked, a few which I question.

The first was the setting; Branagh chose 19th century fuedal Japan for this, where the main characters are aristocratic British merchants building up their little empires in the foreign land. It sounds a little strange and off-beat at first, but it lends itself to the story surprisingly well. Besides, I think it embodies a sort of exotic, far off places Shakespeare so often liked to set his plays, and I think he would have approved. The stunningly colorful location undoubtedly enhanced the romantic sentiments. Not to mention, certain elements of the culture added a fresh twist to the storyline; the wrestling match between hired-muscle "Charles" and Orlando is turned into a Sumo-wrestling match, the overthrow of the Duke is carried out by a league of Samurai warriors, and Orlando's poems fill the tree like leaves instead of merely being tacked on.

Norm Lewis as Javert

David Oyelowo as Orlando

Another interesting thing Branagh chose to do was to have a colorblind cast, at least in the case of Oliver and Orlando. As far as I know, the odds of two black men having a high rank in society as these two did in this time frame was unlikely, unheard of even. However. . .it didn't bother me much. Perhaps there is some historical exception in fuedal Japan, but it didn't matter. The actors he chose were phenomenal in their roles (and, as brothers, at least they were the same race, so it was at least realistic in that sense). It reminded me of watching the 25th Anniversary Les Miserables concert, where the actor portraying Javert, (who also, historically, probably would not have been) was black. But once again. . .I could care less, because, as with As You Like It, he was AMAZING. 'Nuff said!

Nick Jonas. . .nothing more than a pretty boy

Oddly enough, this same cast Les Miserables featured Nick Jonas as Marius. After watching his performance, I was a little nausiated and concluded he was only chosen to attract the interest of adolescent girls who wouldn't notice the obvious, extremely out-of-place pop vocal styles that the poor sap couldn't shake off long enough to do some real singing for one measely concert.  To me, sometimes, it's better to have decent talent than to be true to historical accuracy. (Well. . .okay, I'm not saying he's a bad singer, but he didn't perform correctly. . . if that makes sense. I hated his performance).

This is when Rosalind is supposed to be "Ganymede". . .
are you fooled? I'm not. But if Orlando actually is,
 than this scene would be even more awkward
than it already is . . .

Which leads me into the things I didn't enjoy about this film. Rosalind and Celia. . .much like Nick Jonas. . .chosen for their extreme beauty and ability in one respect. . . but negligent in some other necessary abilities. True, Rosalind was great at playing her female role. But nothing changed when she became a man. She didn't try to sound like a man, and, quite honestly, she looked every bit like a girl in trousers. A fake beard at least would have helped. No one, realistically, would have been fooled, least of all Orlando, one who has her image on his mind frequently.

I wonder if it was specific choice of Branagh's, to try to ease the transition of them falling in love so it wasn't so sudden. . .if Orlando sort of knew it was her. . . at least that's what I want to believe, because he was coming on pretty strong to "Ganymede," and otherwise that bit would come off as something entirely different.

The other was that ridiculous ending. . .after the wedding, they broke out into this confusing dance number, which wasn't really befitting of the time or place. . .and VERY heavy on vocals. And the odd thing was, sometimes the actors would try to mouth the words like it was they were singing, and sometimes not. . .leaving me confused. I remember watching this same movie a few years ago, and bursting out into uncontrollable laughter when that number started up. . .that part needed help.

And, as mentioned, I am still at a loss as to why Shakespeare wrote this. Perhaps, I need to re-evaluate my thinking and ask different questions. . .

But, interestingly enough, as I was searching for pictures to add to this post, I came across this blog:
http://shawnandshakespeare.blogspot.com/2010/10/as-you-like-it-2006.html
Perhaps some new insight will come of it? After all, he's pretty much got an archive of posts on almost every Shakespeare play there is. Maybe he can help with yours too. . .