Stage Beauty
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Movie Reviews of Stage Beauty
Movie Review: A tragic ending
Summary: 5 Stars
Starting with the ancient Greeks, tradition held that all roles in a play were to be played by men. Whether the role was male or female made no difference. There were various reasons given to justify this (most of them rather chauvinistic, but that's beside the point). It was the way things were in the realm of theatre.
Then, one day in the 17th century, a mere 300 years ago, this tradition came to an abrupt end. Women(!) started portraying women(!) in plays - on stage! This was a truly radical idea.
The present movie tells the story from an interesting angle, that of the men who played women in plays. Billy Crudup portrays just such a man. It's not so easy for him to merely begin playing men's roles as he was trained from adolescence on to play a WOMAN. Period.
Suddenly, Crudup's character goes from being one of the most popular actors in Europe to being on the very bottom of the actor's guild food-chain. The story is rather heart-wrenching, and Crudup does a remarkable job of playing an actor in a very vulnerable spot. Claire Daines is beautiful and superb as the pioneering "first" actress.
The movie is fixated around the death scene of Desdemona in Shakespeare's OTHELLO. I believe that this scene is picked as symbolic of the "end of the line" of male actors playing female roles. Whether that assessment is correct or not is for you to decide.
In any case, if you're a fan of Shakespeare, the Thespian art or Period movies in general, this film is certainly for you. In a word, it is.....tragic.
Movie Review: I rented it--now it's going on my Wish List
Summary: 5 Stars
Some people may not realize that those lovely female roles the Bard immortalized were at first brought to life by male actors. Ned Kynason (Billy Crudup) was one such actor and the top of his form til King Charles declared that women should play women's roles.
I thought when I came into this that I'd be cheering the women on, but I couldn't quite do that. "Stage Beauty" presents both sides of the story with such compassion it's hard not to see how wrenching the whole situation is.
As Ned says---playing women's roles gave pretty men something to hope for. He spent years under a relentless master, deleting every male gesture from his person. He truly believed that the true challenge of acting was for a man to play a woman.
Yet, there is Maria (Danes), the dresser to the great man who longs to play Desdemona herself. What hope is she to have save as a dresser and mender of Ned's fine gowns? When she 'borrows' Ned's pillow and gown and plays Desdemona illegally, she sets off a chain of events that reverses the trend of English theatre.
And why shouldn't it be so? After all, "Paris had women actors for years."
"Stage Beauty" has so many great lines, you could spend an afternoon just going back to the good scenes. Costuming, acting, everything was spot on.
I had only intended to rent this film, but I'm adding it to my Wish List and will eventually own it for my collection. It's that good and that well worth watching again.
Movie Review: One of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen
Summary: 5 Stars
As a non-English native speaker, it is difficult for me to express my enthusiasm for this magnificent movie - especially since it deals with one of the richest, unique elements of English culture - the world of Shakespeare.
But I'll try, because the movie is just extraordinary.
Stage Beauty is conceived much like a play by Shakespeare, with its layers of complexity behind the apparent simplicity of its powerful story, its well-crafted characters, and its underlying themes (interactions between genders, definition and pursuit of Excellence, disorder versus order). In fact, it is highly reminiscent of Othello in its central themes - and, not surprisingly, Othello the play is at the heart of the movie.
The performance of the actors is simply stunning - they effortlessly take viewers from one emotion to the next; and watching them portray players who in turn play roles (of their own gender or not) is an absolute delight.
However, acting skills are enablers - what really allows the cast to deliver such a compelling performance is the movie's overall structure, and the consistent way in which it deals with its core themes. In fact, the movie progresses in such an irresistible way that it culminates with a man and a woman simply greeting each other before a rehearsal - the masculine Excellence and the feminine Excellence, finally defined, and facing each other at last - after a period of disorder and conflicts.
An absolute jewel.
Movie Review: Has Oscar potential for Acting
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a period drama set in 1660 London, when it was illegal for women to act on stage. It follows the entangled paths of the last great female actor Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) and the first female actress Maria (Claire Danes), at the historical moment when King Charles II (Rupert Everett) decrees that women be allowed (then required) to play the female roles. Add sexual politics, some gender-weaving, and clever dialog. The film starts off abit slowly for my tastes, and Maria getting cold feet to play a role she's done before seemed more "convenient" than believable, just to intro the means of a story climax. So, the story has a few (but very few)weak spots. While the acting does not!! It is beyond flawless... not just the leads, but it is consistently well acted by EVERY actor/actress in the entire cast. It has Oscar nominations for acting written all over it. Directing, Set Design, Make Up, etc...all impressively done. I do not like period dramas, and was expecting to write a witty negative review. Instead, I'm recommending it to friends, and expecting to watch it more than once. While this does not have the same comedic infusements of "Shakespeare In Love", it is very hard not to think of them as kindred. Both are good date films, likeably Shakespearian, and full of Oscar worthy acting. Good dramatic twists and life lessons. And for a historic/period drama dis-liker, like me to recommend it, says a lot about what you can expect from this twisting period drama.Movie Review: a beautiful movie with a beautiful soundtrack
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a fantastic and whimsical movie. Like other reviewers have pointed out, it's historical accuracy isn't exactly perfect. However, I'm not an expert on the late 1600's, are you? I doubt that, unless you are, you're like to be bothered by these inaccuracies.
Claire Danes gave a wonderful performance. I haven't seen her act so well since Les Miserables. I would have chosen another actor instead of Crudup, because the chemistry between the two seemed a little lacking. However, this might actually have added to the realism of the whole plot... (because of the sexual ambiguity of Crudup's character). The two seem a bit awkward together at times, but then again, I suppose they're supposed to!
I'm not going to summarize this movie. If you want to know that badly you should just watch it. I will say it has a GORGEOUS soundtrack, with a folky, warm feel. The costumes and scene decoration (as if I even need to say it) were spectacular. And the art direction and cinematography were added a real fairy-tale quality to the whole thing. Whimsical is the word that keeps popping to mind. Some of the scenes and ideas were quite silly.
Overall it's a MUCH better movie than say, Shakespeare in Love. First of all, not so cheesy. Second of all, a lot more bawdy. Just go watch it!