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Sirona
Reviews
Cymbeline (1982)
Winning order out of chaos
Cymbeline has been described as an experimental tragi-comedy, or among the first dramatic romances, but neither is adequate to describe the perfection of the final scene of the play when Shakespeare weaves golden unity from the chaos of loose threads. Mr. Moshinsky breathes life into this production by using the palette of the great Dutch Masters whose paintings minutely chronicle the mundane but serve as visual metaphors for the existence of the transcendent which underscores every moment. In a great cast, two performances really stand out. Helen Mirren's Imogen, the symbol of fidelity, resonates with tragic depth and constancy. The range of her voice is given full sweep especially in the ironic scene in the cave after she awakens from her drugged sleep. Claire Bloom's Queen, a very glacial villainess, scared me much more than if she had been portrayed as a stock evil step-mother.
Much Ado About Nothing (1984)
Beauteous ambivalence
Lunghi and Lindsay are the savory core of this handsomely done comedy. They make it divinely clear that conflicts of the heart far outweigh a mere war of wit and word. Beatrice and Benedick open before our eyes with beauteous ambivalence. At first brittle and glib and tightly closed, they are drawn together by conspiratory deceit, which acts only to release the truth of their emotional vulnerability and allow them to find what they dared not wish for; the perfect mate. A very thoughtful and nuanced version of the play.
King Lear (1983)
Thou art a soul in bliss
The whole production was beclouded with grayness, as suits the theme of seeing/sight, yet the acting was elegiac. Diana Rigg and Dorothy Tutin were as seeming kindly as they were brutal. Robert Lindsay's Edmund was as poisonous as he was seemingly loving and loyal. But what I take away most specially was Olivier, as Lear, lifting a lock of his dead Cordelia's hair in his bowed hands to his face, taking a breath, a last scent. I cried. It was a most elegant summary of a parent's loss.
Fierce Creatures (1997)
Brute Farce
When Cleese and the Game Keepers enter, the show turns on some real comedic volume. The farce is droll and silly enough until the plot takes a conventional, sentimental turn. I felt like someone was beating me over the head with wooden bananas when Jamie Lee had the enlightenment scene with the "gorilla." It turned the film to sentimental slush. I didn't find anything to laugh about after that though I kept hoping the movie would return to the dark side of the farce.
Strike It Rich (1990)
Light as a feather
Robert Lindsay tapped lightly through this story of a man who finds love when he least expects to and then almost loses it when he fails to value love as he should. Molly Ringwald was charming as the young woman he loves. John Gielgud, as the cunning Grand Old Man, makes promises he too easily forgets and sets up the plot for the mayhem to follow. I thought this film had the feel of an Ealing Studios comedy from the 1950's. I only regret that there weren't more hazards to befall Robert Lindsay, who can meltdown on screen funnier than almost anyone else.