One of my current fav actors...
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
36 - Pericles
Thought I'd leave an obscure one for towards the end in case it turned out to be another hidden gem, but sadly no. The story seems to be just a collection of fairy tales added together and linked by that gabbling Gower bloke. It put me in mind of Stephen Sondheim's 'Into the Woods' but obviously without the warbling or the wolves (or the giant for that matter!)
And finally - Although I say they are based on fairy tales I'll admit that I've never heard of either 'The Tale of the Incestuous King' or 'The Story of the Nice Chatty Whore'. At least I don't recall the Disney versions...
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35 - Hamlet
I should also like to take this opportunity to pay homage to another great playwright, Tom Stoppard, who's wonderful 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' masterfully weaves an ingenious parallel comedy into the tale of the Danish prince. If you can I suggest you read the two back to back or at least see the 1990 movie with Messrs Roth and Oldman.
Speaking of films I am ashamed to say that of all the excellent cinema adaptations of Hamlet out there I have only see Mel Gibson's! (I feel dirty just admitting that) I promise to rectify that mistake very soon but am torn between Olivier and Branagh.
And finally - The true moral of the play must be not to over think the issue as the procrastinating-princes' death-debate leads to an unhealthy revenge-ratio of eight for the price of one!
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Orson Welles and Peter O'Toole on Hamlet
Or, as someone else put it, "Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia discuss Hamlet"
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