It's interesting to see Shakespeare works told in a modern way. Especially when they are as conscious of it as the BBC version of Much Ado About Nothing. There were many hints and references to Shakespeare's time period and his other works, making this retelling even more fun than it already was.
Changing the language to a more contemporary one was a good idea. As good as the Joss Wheadon adaptation was, it still is a bit odd hearing people in a contemporary setting not speaking contemporary English. Even if the dialogue wasn't exactly the same, it still worked and told the same story. It's a testament to Shakespeare's stories and characters. You can literally remove all the dialogue, change the setting, and even modify character names but the story and way the characters act can stay the same and still work.
It's great seeing an adaptation like this, of a Shakespeare work, that works so well. It is made accessible with the language change and setting modification, and in that a whole new audience can learn to enjoy it. The audience daunted by reading Shakespeare can find a great version that is easy to understand and great fun all the way through.
This adaptation did a great job of capturing the story, while also making it easily comprehensible to modern audiences. You make a good point that you can take the language out of Shakespeare, and the stories and characters still hold up well.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely couldn't agree more. Reading Shakespeare is daunting and so is even watching movie interpretations that try to stay true to the language. This was a good way to show the story and interesting and funny at the same time. Plus as it's more modern it's more relevant to us which makes the viewer want to stay involved.
ReplyDeleteWhy must settings for films be made modern to be made relevant? Numerous award-winning and popular films show otherwise, showcasing historic settings and relying on earlier forms of language to communicate a story. If we recognize the inherent relevance of a good story, then why does setting matter? Do we only care about the new? If so, I'm concerned about how we go forward from this point with any true care for history.
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