Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 7, No. 0405. Saturday, 1 June 1996.
(1) From: Thomas E. Ruddick <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May 96 10:25:45 EST
Subj: RE: SHK 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
(2) From: Christine Mack Gordon <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May 96 11:43:15 -0500
Subj: Re: SHK 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
(3) From: Laura Cerrato <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May1996 11:27:01 ARG3
Subj: Re: SHK 7.0399 Brangh's *Midwinter's Tale*
(1)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Thomas E. Ruddick <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May 96 10:25:45 EST
Subject: 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
Comment: RE: SHK 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
I also saw "Midwinter's Tale" among a crowd of five at an art theatre. The
film critic at the Dayton (OH) Daily News had taken the film down hard,
claiming that as a comedy it wasn't funny--
Personally I found it enjoyable but I wonder about the degree of pleasure that
a non-theatre person would experience. Lots of the interest, for me, came from
the recognition of theatre "types" in the main characters-- perhaps these are
"stock" characters only to theatre people? (My companion, not a theatre
person, enjoyed the film--but she's prone to understand much of those things
from having hung around with me).
I found the ending of the film totally unsatisfactory and grating on my
sensibilities, and would have preferred that Branagh stopped the film right
after the wildly enthusiastic reception of _Hamlet_ --skipping all of the tidy
wrap-ups for the sub-plots, etc.
Thomas E. Ruddick, Edison (OH) Community College
(2)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Christine Mack Gordon <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May 96 11:43:15 -0500
Subject: 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
Comment: Re: SHK 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
I'd like to second Nick Clary's enthusiastic response to *A Midwinter's Tale,*
which played here in sophisticated Minneapolis for all of _one week_ at the
local art multi-plex and then disappeared completely. I usually don't see first
run films, but I had a feeling this might happen. The audience at the show I
attended with two friends was also very enthusiastic (and somewhat larger than
Nick's!). I found the film wonderfully entertaining as someone with a passion
for both theater in general and Shakespeare in particular. I also thought that
Branagh did a great job weaving the work of theater with the lives of the
people producing it. The film has great wit and offers very loving
appreciation of what live theater, in any venue, is all about. I also
appreciated his "take" on what success means in Hollywood terms. If you can't
see it on the big screen, no doubt a video release is somewhere in the
future--and this is certainly a film that will work well in that format too.
Chris Gordon
(3)----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Laura Cerrato <
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Date: Thursday, 30 May 1996 11:27:01 ARG3
Subject: 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
Comment: Re: SHK 7.0399 Branagh's *Midwinter's Tale*
I fully agree with you. I saw it some months ago by cable TV in Buenos Aires
and at first I thought it was an old film. I have just realized my mistake, now
that it is about to be shown commercially in Argentina. I am recommending it to
my students, and I hope I'll be able to buy the cassette.
Laura Cerrato
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