The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra

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Movie Reviews of The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra

Movie Review: Ready for my Closeup, Mr. Shakespeare
Summary: 1 Stars

LaPotaire certainly puts her own stamp on this role, and it certainly won't be for everyone. If your idea of Cleopatra is along the lines of Tuesday Weld or Teri Garr, you won't be happy with this (we will not speak about Elizabeth Taylor a second time). But for my money, Lapotaire has the one essential requisite of a great Cleopatra: she's long in the tooth. No doubt she was dazzling in her day and she's not quite over the hill yet, but it has been a long time since the first Caesar swaggered through her bedchamber and this old queen is beginning to think about stretch marks. She's in love with Antony but more than that, she is love with herself and in love with love and she knows that this is her last big spin. She whines and she wheedles. She puts on all of her fading but still considerable charm. But then, when it comes time to die, it is she, the Egyptian, who knows how to "do it after the high Roman fashion, /And make death proud to take us."

Opposite LaPotaire, Colin Blakely's Antony is a creature of appetitites, a bit clueless in the way men are clueless, and not quite certain that he is as, ahem, manly as his distinguished predecessor (one way that you know that Cleopatra has still got it is that Antony goes so squiggly giggly in her presence). It's easy to see his magnetism and his capacity for reckless bravery; you don't doubt that he "didst drink /The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle /Which beasts would cough at." But in the end, you can't quite believe that he could ever get to the top of the greasy pole. This is, after all, a contender who botches his own suicide.

Jonathan Miller's production is eccentric in a way that one comes to expect from Jonathan Miller. The faux Renaissance style carries a certain kind of conviction but it does sacrifice the spaciousness that is so distinctive a feature of the play. The cast is a mixed bag, but good enough not to bog down the principals.

Is LaPotaire the greates Cleopatra ever? Oh, I doubt that. There have been hundreds - three by Helen Mirren alone, and I'd give more than a nickel to see any one of those three. I believe there is even a Judith Dench; if I live long enough, maybe I will live to see a Cleopatra from Kevin Kline. But for the moment LaPotaire is my Cleopatra, and I hope Amazon finds a way to show her to the world. Meanwhile, steer clear of Lawrence Carra; it's a mess.

Summary of The Plays of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1 - Antony and Cleopatra

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• Drama