On film: A fascination with Sir William Shakespeare

There’s no corner of the globe that went unexplored by the English poet, playwright and actor Sir William Shakespeare, in his lifetime. Yet, when all the world’s a stage for the person widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist, what happens when your play ends? That’s a question the great British actor and Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, who has been fascinated with the life of Shakespeare since his teens, attempts to answer.

With the upcoming Sony Classics theatrical release of “All is True,” which Branagh produced and directed as well as shared screenwriting credits with Ben Elton, he gets to play Shakespeare in all of the Bard’s multi-faceted and complex rendering. And, let’s be honest, Branagh is convincing as a middle-aged Shakespeare in the final years of his life. He was just 52 when he died in 1616.

“I’ve never let the truth get in the way of a good story,” Branagh as Shakespeare says, staring directly at the camera. However, as we learn, “If you’re honest with yourself and whatever you write, all is true.”

“All is True” is set after Shakespeare returns a distraught man to Stratford following the devastating 1613 fire that destroys the Globe Theatre during the first production of his “All is True” (“Life of Henry VIII”). At home with his family, wife Anne (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) and daughters Judith (Kathryn Wilder) and Susanna (Lydia Wilson), Branagh’s Shakespeare attempts to ease his grief, both from the fire and the death at age 11 of his only son, Hamnet (Sam Ellis), by planting a memorial garden. 

Through out the 101-minute film, which I saw a sneak preview of last Sunday in Washington, D.C., we see the many sides of Shakespeare as a human being: multi-faceted, complex, kind. He was an individual with great creative strength – after all he was a great and prolific writer – but we see him as a very flawed individual, too, as he deals with reconciliation and mortality. For all his proclivity – 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and a few other verses – and for all of his lofty and noble wisdom in his writing, we witness Shakespeare’s struggles as a husband and father at home, trying to apply the same insights that made his writing so prolific in his own life.

As an aside, imagine the opportunity to play opposite those whom you respect. There’s the potential to be intimidating. Yet, Branagh, along with Dench and Academy Award nominee Ian McKellen, show us how acting works through nuance and with just the right tone of voice. “All is True” is a Shakespearean labor of love – filled with great dialogue and conversation between Branagh and Dench as well as the all-to-brief scene featuring Branagh and McKellen as the Earl of Southampton – and we get to see and enjoy arguably the greatest Shakespearean actors of our lifetime all in one film. Each shows us how acting works. 

“All is True” is an meant to be a gentle elegy about the end of Shakespeare’s life. Along with the early and buoyant years that “Shakespeare in Love” showed us, “All is True” serves as a worthy bookend. By the conclusion of the film, we realize that Shakespeare truly has lived a remarkable life.

This "Hamlet" needs to be seen and not just heard

National Theatre Live: Coming to a cinema near you. /
Benedict Cumberbatch in "Hamlet."

Ever wanted to experience the best of British theatre without having to trek to London? Now you can, thanks to National Theatre Live, where all the world's a stage even if the stage is on a big movie screen.

One night recently, my wife and I drove to the Century 14 cineplex in downtown Walnut Creek, Calif., about a half-hour's drive from our East Bay home, where we thrilled to an enjoyable evening of London West End theatre come alive on the big screen.

For just $20 a ticket, we were treated to the National Theatre Live's cinematic presentation of the critically-acclaimed "Hamlet," Lyndsey Turner's monumental Barbican production of the 1603 iconic William Shakespeare play about the melancholy prince of Denmark, that was broadcast to a global audience of more than 225,000 on 1,400 movie theater screens in 25 countries around the world.

I was one of those near quarter-million experiencing one of the greatest moments of theatre I had ever experienced. Yet, what I was watching was more a film than a play, but without any compromise to the live appeal of theatre.

That total represents the largest global audience for a live broadcast of any title in National Theatre Live history. Not to worry if you missed out on the excitement. Additional encores of "Hamlet" are scheduled to be shown in movie theaters later this month.

Since its debut in 2009, among the National Theatre Live presentations beamed to theaters include: "Frankenstein" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating between the title role and Dr. Jekyll; "King Lear," produced by Sam Mendes; and "A Streetcar Named Desire," which starred Gillian Anderson.

Throughout, "Hamlet" had plenty of "visual swagger" and, of course, there was an infinitely touching prince, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, whom U.S. audiences have grown to love from his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in "Sherlock" on PBS's Masterpiece.

"If there's one good thing about the avalanche of hype surrounding the (Hamlet) production, it's that it made Shakespeare seem sexy. That's quite a feat," wrote Lyn Gardner in The Guardian, one of London's pre-eminent newspapers and news websites.

"The production has been accused by several critics of being overly cinematic, but its visual swagger,  with its indigo hues, comes into its own on the screen. It would be worrying if this production set a precedent for stage shows that are directed and designed with an eye to the live screening and a global audience rather than those seeing it in a theatre," added Gardner.

On the night we watched "Hamlet" -- October 15 -- the audience was comprised mostly of middle-aged suburban adults. There were the curious fans like us, who were eager to see Cumberbatch tackle the title role of Hamlet -- both as a prep-school misfit and as a toy soldier -- and to embrace and enjoy outstanding theatre. In addition to Cumberbatch, there were stellar performances given by Ciarán Hinds as Claudius and Sian Brooke as Ophelia.

The only thing missing that would have made our night more complete -- and something that makes attending West End theatre unique to an American -- was a vendor selling ice cream cups in the stalls during intermission.

Seeing National Theatre Live's "Hamlet" reinvented for a 21st Century audience reminded me of this: "Hamlet" needs to be seen and not just heard. And, seeing a larger-than-life Cumberbatch up-close and personal for three hours added up to one hell of a wonderful night of theatre on the big screen.

Photo: Courtesy of Google Images.