As You Like It | 
| Actors: Brian Blessed, Richard Briers, Richard Clifford, Gerard Horan, Kevin Kline
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $18.26
You Save: $8.72 (32%)
New (33) Used (10) from $8.62
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 5086
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: HBOD94019D
UPC: 026359401923
EAN: 0026359401923
ASIN: B000SM6FKE
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
If you think stuffy old Shakespeare could be livened up with some ninjas, Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) has heard your call. Adapter/director Branagh has set the pastoral comedy As You Like It in feudal Japan, where the characters are still British (they live in a community established by Western merchants) but now have reason to dress up in lush Japanese fabrics and engage in sumo wrestling. Due to a feud between two noble brothers, Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard, The Village) is banished and ends up disguised as a man in a nearby forest. There she tests the faith of her beloved (and also banished) Orlando (David Oyelowo, MI-5), who can't recognize her because she looks like a Dickensian ragamuffin. Meanwhile, a variety of other star-crossed lovers romp around the forest and zen gardens, sparring about love and melancholy. Branagh, never a subtle director, takes every opportunity to squeeze in slapstick and action (like the aforementioned ninjas), but he also keeps the language clear and the movie is beautiful to look at. The strong cast includes Kevin Kline (who previously frolicked in a movie adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, Frida), Romola Garai (I Capture the Castle, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights), and Adrian Lester (Hustle, Love's Labors Lost). --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Emmy award winner Kenneth Branagh the man who redefined Shakespeare for a whole new generation with Henry V Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet brings the Bard's most delightful comedy to sensational life! Rosalind is a young woman living in the court of her uncle when she falls in love with Orlando a young gentleman of the kingdom. When Rosalind is banished she flees into the forest of Arden disguised as a man...only to encounter Orlando who has also been exiled! But can she win his heart disguised as she is? With a setting inspired by 19th century Japan and a star-studded cast including Kevin Kline (Dave A Prairie Home Companion) Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3 The Lady In The Water) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2 The Da Vinci Code) AS YOU LIKE IT once again proves that all the world's a stage. Come enjoy!Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY UPC: 026359401923 Manufacturer No: 94019
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 An English Teacher's Perspective June 15, 2009
M. Belfield (SoCal)
This is a wonderful adaptation of the play, but be advised that substantial script cuts have been made. Some of the nuance of the play has been lost, but overall the plot's integrity remains solid and the characterizations are consistent with the original script. My students enjoyed watching this video as a review for the test, but it doesn't substitute for a reading of the play. The epilogue is produced in a very clever way; I enjoyed that part the most. I would definitely recommend buying this video for classroom use.
great movie April 29, 2009
L. Rachetto (Fort Collins, CO)
This dvd is a great performance. Set in Japan. it's a very interesting approach to the play.
As You Like It March 12, 2009
Shinji Hayashi (Komaki, Aichi-ken, JAPAN)
This Shakespeare is so difficult story. I like very much this castting of Romola Garai.
 Just As I Like It March 2, 2009
John Murphy
Whether it's middle-age, the smaller-screen format, or artistic maturity, Branagh has scaled back with this production, settled down, and the result is his most fluid and confident piece of work in recent memory--a lovely, life-affirming adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays by his most unabashedly populist interpreter. I love it, as one can only love a film by a spirit as generous, energetic and benevolent as Branagh's when he's at his best.
The early scenes in a feudal Japan-inspired court are somewhat muddled, but once in the magical Forest of Arden "As You Like It" hits its stride. Court intrigue blossoms into bucolic romance in the magical surroundings, and Branagh is able to make the forest seem at once gloriously real--the scenes were filmed on location in a Sussex park--and also touched by transcendental fantasy. He incorporates Japanese culture's philosophical view of nature to contrast the severe, shadowy court with the flowing lines of the sun-splashed forest--"tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." Patrick Doyle's lush pastoral score sounds like Ralph Vaughan Williams with an appropriate hint of the Far East.
Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director Ron Howard, whose greatest contribution to the arts thus far has been to squire Bryce), is positively radiant as Rosalind. Her winning smile, disarming wit, and approachable beauty mark her as the thinking man's Julia Roberts. She captures Rosalind's joie de vivre and makes critics reach for words like "luminescent" and "iridescent" when what they really mean is that they'd like to ask her out to pizza and a kung-fu movie if they weren't so busy staring at their shoes in her company.
Some critics have complained that Branagh downplays Rosalind in this production--a mystifying claim that would only be true if Shakespeare had been playing a zero-sum game, but there's plenty of great stuff to go around. Alfred Molina (sporting an Eraserhead hairdo) hams it up brilliantly as Touchstone; his scenes with earthy Audrey are hilariously bawdy. Romola Garai beguiles the time as Celia, her pre-Raphaelite beauty only enhanced by her willingness to do pratfalls. The Phoebe/Sylvius subplot is helped by young Alex Wyndham's winning turn as the lovelorn shepherd, Sylvius .
Purists may moan and groan, but Branagh has single-handedly done more to introduce the Bard to a broad audience than any other artist alive today. I was watching "Much Ado" once with my little brother Liam (who considers videogame Halo 3 the last word in the visual arts). Though only eight years old, he guffawed every time Michael Keaton, channeling Beetlejuice by way of Monty Python, appeared on screen as the inept constable, Dogberry. I myself fell in love with Shakespeare at a similar age thanks to Branagh's "Henry V".
"As You Like It" showcases Branagh at his best, combining wit with slapstick and beauty with a trace of melancholy. He modulates between pathos and hilarity with expert timing. This is a thoroughly entertaining production that should delight newcomers to the Bard as well as remind Shax fans of why the Forest of Arden is such an enchanting place to pass a few spellbound hours. And for conveying the joy and passion of Shakespeare to audiences young and old, as Nim once said of his King Henry, I say of Branagh: "I'd kiss his dirty shoe."
The Forest of Arden, Japan February 4, 2009
Zack Davisson (Seattle, WA, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have always been a fan of Branagh's vision of Shakespeare. His version of Henry V remains the best filmed Shakespeare adaptation, and the remainder of his work has been at a high level of quality. I even loved Love's Labour's Lost, although not with the same passion as some of his older adaptations.
With that in mind, I enjoyed "As You Like it". It certainly isn't my favorite Branagh Shakespeare, but then it certainly isn't among my favorite Shakespeare plays in the first place. It is hard to believe that Orlando could so ardently woo the boy Ganymede, only to be pleased when Ganymede does the grand unveil and reveals herself as Rosalind at the end. Something that works so well in Twelfth Night just doesn't do it here.
Sometimes a director can take a difficult play, like Julia Taymor did for Titus, and make something profound. That didn't happen in this case, and Branagh didn't really find the magic in the muddle. Setting it in Japan was a mistake, which distracts from some fine performances. I have no problem with mixing up the eras and settings for Shakespeare plays, but this one just didn't work.
Problems with the play aside, Branagh certainly managed to paint a pretty picture. The scenery and costumes are lush, and every actor is beautiful to behold. The most commendable part of "As You Like It" is how fantastic all the actors are. Branagh has a habit of casting "Hollywood stars" instead of actors, and sometimes their performances come off like dead bricks in the midst of bubbles and light air.
Bryce Dallas Howard is excellent as Rosalind, effortless pulling off her lines and acting with the language. Her male disguise is pretty silly; they didn't even bother to try and hide that much feminine beauty, so it could be said she was wrong for the part but you forgive her everything when she comes out in full splendor at the end. Kevin Kline was no surprise, as I have seen his Shakespeare chops before, and he is a fantastic Jaques. Alfred Molina as the clown Touchstone was a bit underused, but I can see how Branagh didn't want his foolishness to overshadow the love story. Regular Branagh cast members Brian Blessed and Richard Briers are perfect, of course. They were born to do the Bard's work. I was disappointed that Branagh didn't cast himself in a role, as I always love his interpretations, and the film was weaker for not having him in it.
What unfortunately did not work was the Japanese setting. In truth, there was no Japanese setting, and I am not sure why this choice was made. It seems to have been done solely so that the opening wrestling scene can be a sumo match, and from there on it is just distracting, and at times even silly. Branagh apparently thinks Westerners are ignorant of Asian cultures, as he has his cast doing Chinese Tai Chi in the middle of a forest. But hey, all Asians are alike right? Bad move Kenneth...The lion attack was also made ridiculous by the setting. Not so many wild lions roaming the forests of Japan...sometimes disbelief can only be suspended so far.
So if you ignore the poor choice to set this play in Japan, it is really well done. It is sad to see the potential of knowing this could have been great, but I am ultimately happy with it. Anyone who enjoys Branagh's Shakespeare is going to enjoy "As You Like It".
|
|
|
