Examination Day

[poliphilo]

So now we can put the Shakespeare books away. And the DVDs. How many versions of Hamlet do we own- is it four or five? There's Larry's and Mel's and Nicol's and Ken's. So four?  Yes, four.  I've really enjoyed this year.

We went to Stratford twice. Once for a workshop and once to watch David Tennant play Hamlet. We saw Lear at the Globe. We've watched film versions of Cymbeline, Richard II, Measure for Measure, Macbeth. 

The last thing we watched together was Kozintsev's Lear. I didn't like it much. It's got the commissars breathing down its neck.  The guy playing the king is like a little fluffy chick. I understand the director picked him out of a crowd of extras because he liked his eyes.

Ailz is in the front room now with her invigilator.  Every so often I can hear the rattle of her keyboard. It's good how the Open University allows disabled students to be examined in their homes. She's just taken a mini-break and I've carried in hot drinks.

Comments

[serennos.livejournal.com]

Am mentally sending good luck...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[nostoi.livejournal.com]

Too late for wishes of luck but I hope she did well!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

There are still a few more minutes to go. Disabled students get an extra half hour. Heigh-ho, it's been a nervy morning.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Good luck to Ailz!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Good luck to Ailz! I did the 30 point pre-cursor to the course Ailz has been doing and really enjoyed it too. It transformed my view of Shakespeare. School had totally put me off.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I've always loved Shakespeare. My school had us acting him- which makes all the difference. Before I reached my teens I had been both Macbeth and Mark Antony.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

I must say, "invigilator" sounds so Roman, as if someone in a very fussy toga and carrying a bundle of rods is standing about the front room cross-examining her in Cicero tones.

(We don't have that term in the U.S., so I'm free to make up these fantasies about it before checking Google.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Heh, heh, heh...

I wonder what word you guys use. I can't think of a synonym.

hope it went well

[(Anonymous)]

Do hope it went well for Ailz. love Jenny and Ian

Re: hope it went well

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[senordildo.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the Kozintsev Lear yet, though Ive read his making-of book. I remember it being somewhat profound but I was more impressionable back then. His Hamlet is sometimes said to to be the best film version, but Shakespeare in translation is not quite Shakespeare to me. Make sure to watch the Peter Brook Lear if you can find it on VHS.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Very few film versions of Shakespeare really work. I'm fond of Olivier's Hamlet- because it's so 1940s- but it's a pared down and very tendentiously Freudian version of the play. The one Shakespeare movie I unequivocally love is Orson Welles' mash-up of the Henry IV plays- Chimes at Midnight.

Shakespeare on DVD

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Though I'm a stickler for the bard being performed verbatim, and I squirm at the attempts to update his plays - I must admit that, cinematically, two of the best adaptations have been Kurosawa's - particularly 'Ran.'

Welles' 'The Chimes At Midnight' I have only seen dubbed in Spanish with subtitles, still impressive.

Cheers

Olivier...

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

his Lear for TV, 1984 was it? Excellent!

Re: Olivier...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have good memories of that- especially the opening scene, where I thought Olivier wonderfully embodied Lear's self-delusion.

Re: Shakespeare on DVD

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ran and Throne of Blood are remarkable. And much better than most attempts to film Shakespeare using the original text.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

So how did her exam go? Please give her my love.

(I thought about her yesterday while opening a box and finding one of her handmade cards--a violin made of strings.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

She wasn't too happy with it, I'm afraid. But, we'll see. The results are due out at Christmas.

Ailz sends you her love by return :)