{"id":459,"date":"2009-01-28T23:46:20","date_gmt":"2009-01-29T05:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=459"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:58:01","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:58:01","slug":"article-du-c-u-ebertfest-x-pt3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=459","title":{"rendered":"Article du C-U: Ebertfest X, pt.3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Big Ten\u201d<\/strong>
\nRoger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival reaches the end of a decade \u2013 but without its founder and host<\/p>\n

by Anthony Zoubek<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u201cI AM AN EBERT, BUT I\u2019M<\/strong> no Roger Ebert<\/strong>,\u201d Chaz Ebert<\/strong> told the Virginia Theatre<\/strong> audience prior to the screening of HAMLET<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Chaz explained that, during the recent trip to Florida<\/strong> \u2013 a venture on which Roger began strengthening and conditioning himself to be in fit enough condition to attend the festival \u2013 her husband\u2019s hip \u201cwent one way while the rest of him went the other.\u201d To not have him at Ebertfest<\/strong> surely leaves all of us \u201cto borrow his words, a bit melancholy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this festival is five days long,\u201d Chaz continued, \u201cand hope springs eternal. Right now, he\u2019s in the right place at the wrong time. I\u2019m sure he hopes you enjoy the festival as much as he enjoyed putting it together.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s beam all of that positive energy,\u201d she added, citing her \u201cnew age\u201d perspective. \u201cLet\u2019s see if we can get him here soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaz led the audience in a \u201cGet well, Roger!\u201d chant, repeated by David Bordwell<\/strong> \u2013 much louder \u2013 later in his pre-screening remarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he heard us,\u201d Bordwell said with a smile.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

EBERTFEST IS<\/strong> a product of the College of Media<\/strong> (formerly the College of Communications<\/strong>) at the\u00a0University of Illinois<\/strong>, and its presentation of HAMLET<\/strong> was sponsored in part by the Tawani Foundation<\/strong> and the Pritzker Military Library<\/strong>. Their contributions \u2013 in conjunction with the monetary donations of a variety of other sponsors \u2013 help keep the cost of Ebertfest passes at an affordable price for the general public that make Ebert \u201cthe people\u2019s film critic.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this production of HAMLET<\/strong> \u2013 the most complete film adaptation of William Shakespeare<\/strong>\u2019s work, it clocks in at 242 minutes and is one minute short of being the longest movie in history \u2013 Kenneth Branagh<\/strong> \u201cinherits the mantle of [Lawrence<\/strong>] Olivier<\/strong> and [Orson<\/strong>] Welles<\/strong>,\u201d Bordwell explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cBranagh provides an interesting flavor of contemporizing Shakespeare,\u201d he continued, \u201cnot just by mixing well-known British actors and American stars,\u201d but also by exhibiting \u201ca modernizing visual impulse,\u201d referring to the film\u2019s use of highly stylized zooms and pans amidst material written to be staged live for audiences.<\/p>\n

The film is also unique, said Bordwell, because of the accessibility Branagh gives to the delivery of dialogue, spending much of his time directing his performers to use \u201cexact diction,\u201d because \u201cShakespeare actually becomes intelligible \u2013 not dense \u2013 if you say his words precisely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That the film was shot and exhibited in 70mm<\/strong> manages to accentuate both its strengths and weaknesses in visual showmanship. The movie\u2019s interiors \u2013 filmed at the Blenheim Palace<\/strong> in the United Kingdom<\/strong> \u2013 take on a look so bold and textured that the aesthetics become as much of a bombastic character as Branagh\u2019s Hamlet can be. The 70mm photography of Branagh in his most eloquent and quieter moments bring a lively visual complexity to what is already one of the world of literature\u2019s most influential \u201ccollegial coming-of-age\u201d stories of all time.<\/p>\n

However<\/em>, when exhibiting Branagh\u2019s loudest and most overactive moments, 70mm heightens the extremes to which Branagh\u2019s interpretation of the character tends to go over the top. This is often because, though not entirely excused by, the Hamlet character\u2019s desire to make others think that he has gone mad. Luckily, the profundity other actors take in churning out every ounce of depth in even the most minute of roles \u2013 the best being Billy Crystal<\/strong> as a gravedigger \u2013 make Branagh\u2019s occasional inconsistencies ignorable.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, it is the film format alone, consistently capturing the three-dimensional quality of the movie\u2019s mise-en-scene<\/em>, which calls attention to Branagh\u2019s strengths as a director and actor. Such potencies help Branagh overcome the flaws of his own film which, ironically, the photography helps call attention to in the first place. Bordwell\u2019s line of praise of Branagh\u2019s 70mm approach \u2013 that \u201cthe use of widescreen allows us to literally encompass the extensions of Branagh\u2019s production\u201d \u2013 is also an applicable criticism of the film.<\/p>\n

Flaws aside, the raw power of Shakespeare\u2019s challenging tragedy brought most festival attendees to their feet for a rousing round of applause upon the movie\u2019s conclusion. I agree with Ebert\u2019s own assessment in his original review of the film; as Hamlet takes his place in the larger context of royal politics, the greatest benefit of a full-length version is that other characters (even those who, in previous adaptations, served only as background) are given rich opportunities to be fleshed out and understandable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Following the film, actor Timothy Spall<\/strong>, who played Rosencrantz, and Rufus Sewell<\/strong>, who played Fortinbras, talked specifically about the potency of this particular aspect of Branagh\u2019s interpretation. The film illuminates \u201ceven its bit characters,\u201d Spall explained. \u201cEvery actor thinks that the film\u2019s all about them anyway, even if they only have one line. Branagh [capitalized] on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sewell surmised that his seemingly time-consuming role in the film actually took a day to film. He came to the set and filmed his part even before principal photography on the movie began. \u201cBranagh had me come in before the start of [the shoot],\u201d Sewell recalled. \u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018Now, look over there \u2026 now, look over there \u2026 look angry, everyone\u2019s dead.\u2019 Then he cut that footage into and throughout the whole movie. It was an afternoon\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaz Ebert upheld another Ebertfest tradition by giving Sewell and Spall each a Golden Thumb Award<\/strong> \u2013 gold casts of her husband\u2019s hand with the thumb raised high.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Return to “The Big Ten” pt.2<\/a><\/p>\n

Continue to \u201cThe Big Ten\u201d pt.4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

HAMLET<\/strong> is a production of Castle Rock Entertainment<\/strong> distributed theatrically (U.S.)\u00a0by Columbia Pictures<\/strong> and on DVD (U.S.\/U.K.) by Warner Home Video<\/strong>. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced by David Barron<\/strong>, and stars Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Richard Briers, Charlton Heston<\/strong>, and Timothy Spall. 1996, 70mm, Color, 242 minutes<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big Ten\u201d pt. 3 \u00a9 2009 Anthony Zoubek. Used with permission.<\/p>\n

CUBlog edit \u00a9 2009 Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

All photography\u00a0\u00a9 2007 Warner Home Video<\/a>,
\nartwork \u00a9 1996 Castle Rock Entertainment\/Columbia Pictures<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to the fore, MacDuff\u2026<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit the Article Index<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Zoubek finally explains it all for the C-U Blogfidential readership. In this third entry, he offers a HAMLET assessment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,137,13,30],"tags":[136,1703,72],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-area-festivals","category-article-du-c-u","category-public-events","category-roger-ebert","tag-hamlet","tag-roger-ebert","tag-roger-eberts-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}