Much Ado about Nothing- Reflection
Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is a play about marriage and love. The play brings out many themes and presents many theatrical elements wonderfully. For example, the song and dance performed during the wedding scene suggests a similarity between theater and dance.
This play brings out many themes, such as aspects of comedy, romance, and tragedy in the play. The movie uniquely presents the plays genre through the production and management. I was very struck by the casting of this play. It was filled with the lights of talented actors and actresses like Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. It was a very beautiful film and captures the artistry of Shakespeare.
I really like the way love is connected between the characters. Love, in this play, is always involved with tricks, games and disguises. Every step in romance takes place by way of masquerade. For example, Hero is won for Claudio by Don Pedro in disguise. Benedict and Beatrice are brought together through an elaborate prank. Claudio can be reconciled with Hero only after her faked death. Altogether, these things can suggest that love is a game based on appearances, poses and the manipulation of situations.
It is really interesting to see the chemistry between the characters, and how chemistry changes through the play. I feel this is one of Shakespeare’s plays that demonstrate comedy and the strength of love. The play had a happy ending, which I feel calls for a satisfaction for the audience.
I feel the soundtrack, which played, added and synchronized with the mood created in the play. The play conveyed a light- hearted tone. The setting and costumes consistently matched the tone the play had. The play was actually filmed in an Italian villa that matched the relative time and location of the plays setting. The costumes were mostly white giving them a youthful glow of innocence and purity. The last scene itself was a very happy moment in the play and all the design elements of the film worked wonderfully together to create a grand momentous feeling.
There is an aspect clearly noticeable- the transformation, which is kind of bizarre in the play. Ultimately, good characters remain good and evil characters are evil. There are, however, a lot of little changes as the characters learn about themselves and each other. The largest transformation, I think is how characters changed the way they treated each other.
Surprisingly, I really liked this Shakespeare play. Maybe, because of the way it was produced and directed. The setting and design elements of the movie coordinated perfectly. The cast does its justice to the script, which captures the romance and comedy in the play. Shakespeare wrote a variety of genres, but the lightheartedness of Much Ado about Nothing made it a pleasure to watch.
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