Stage Beauty; and a fanfic rec
Jul. 3rd, 2005 08:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBack in Munich, right in time to catch the end of the Munich Film Festival. The film I saw was Stage Beauty, which I'm aware is familiar with the English speaking since quite a while, but it hasn't been shown in Germany yet. I loved it.
To get the obvious comparison out of the way, what this has in common with Shakespeare in Love is that neither cares about factual accuracy very much, but one doesn't mind because of the cleverness and vitality, and because something quintessential about the theatre at the time is captured. Otherwise, the films are as different as an Elizabethan romp and a cynical, witty Restoration play would be.
Picking one of the last male actors in female roles and the first actress as the leads was an inspired idea, and as opposed to SiL, bisexuality in addition to fluctuating gender roles is very much text here. (The only thing the movie is inexplicably coy about is that Maria/Margaret Hughes would of course have been expected to have sex with her patron, the film's designated and funny heavy, Charles Sedley. I'd have waved it aside as implied if the script hadn't given Maria a line to the effect she never slept with a man before at one point where it just isn't believable.) I hadn't seen Billy Crudup in any other role before, but he was great as Ned Kynaston, believable when playing Desdemona or in a dress, exuding the self-confidence of a star early on and then slowly crumbling at the turn of events, with the scene of Kynaston having to perform a male character for the first time in front of the court being incredibly painful in the right way. As it echoes Maria's "auditioning" scene earlier where we saw her inexperience getting mocked by him, you at first think the film goes for comedy, but no, it's a terrible intimate falling apart moment in full public view, and causes Charles II (great supporting role by Rupert Everett) to abandon the cynicism for once, and utter the film's most essential line, "exile is a terrible thing for someone who knows his rightful place".
(BTW, of course this deliberate parallel between Kynaston and Charles foreshadows Kynaston's eventual, pardon the bad pun, Restoration.)
Speaking of memorable lines, though, there is the priceless moment when, after Kynaston's rant earlier on how he'll never act with a woman, Nell Gwyn bursts out with "bitch!". Because well, he is. Talk about a flawed hero.
Clare Danes, whom I remember as Juliet in Baz Luhrman's version, had the less showy but equally as important part as Maria, and sold me on Maria's ambition, mixture of love and rivalry towards Kynaston, and the transformation from inexperienced actress to believable actress required for the climax of the film to work. Said climax manages to work its trick on both the fictional audience within the film attending the play, and the movie audience, which is equally uncertain - he didn't... did he? And that's a wonderful feat to pull off.
Later on , it did occur to me that the film might be misread in its sexual politics as presenting heterosexual love as more valid than homosexual love, but I don't think that's likely. It's made quite clear that Buckingham dumps Kynaston because Kynaston has stopped being a star, the scene where Kynaston and Maria have sex for the first time, with them keeping switching sexual positions, is directly related to the central questions of gender, how much of it is self constructed, and identity which go throughout the movie, and the last line in the film, when she asks him "which are you now?" (i.e. woman or man) and the camera framing him against a veil, is his reply "I don't know". There isn't really a choice. Also, Kynaston playing Othello is pointedly different from the exaggareted maleness of Betterton doing so in the opening scenes; he finds his emotional access to the role in the jealousy he bears towards Maria for taking his place on the stage, not by constructing a macho male persona.
I'll now go and see whether it is out on DVD in Britain already, because I definitely want to watch this film again.
***
Alias rec:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kangeiko wrote a tasty Irina/Jack/Sloane threesome, Irina pov, set post season 4. Now I must just go and bother monanotlisa and andrastewhite some more...
To get the obvious comparison out of the way, what this has in common with Shakespeare in Love is that neither cares about factual accuracy very much, but one doesn't mind because of the cleverness and vitality, and because something quintessential about the theatre at the time is captured. Otherwise, the films are as different as an Elizabethan romp and a cynical, witty Restoration play would be.
Picking one of the last male actors in female roles and the first actress as the leads was an inspired idea, and as opposed to SiL, bisexuality in addition to fluctuating gender roles is very much text here. (The only thing the movie is inexplicably coy about is that Maria/Margaret Hughes would of course have been expected to have sex with her patron, the film's designated and funny heavy, Charles Sedley. I'd have waved it aside as implied if the script hadn't given Maria a line to the effect she never slept with a man before at one point where it just isn't believable.) I hadn't seen Billy Crudup in any other role before, but he was great as Ned Kynaston, believable when playing Desdemona or in a dress, exuding the self-confidence of a star early on and then slowly crumbling at the turn of events, with the scene of Kynaston having to perform a male character for the first time in front of the court being incredibly painful in the right way. As it echoes Maria's "auditioning" scene earlier where we saw her inexperience getting mocked by him, you at first think the film goes for comedy, but no, it's a terrible intimate falling apart moment in full public view, and causes Charles II (great supporting role by Rupert Everett) to abandon the cynicism for once, and utter the film's most essential line, "exile is a terrible thing for someone who knows his rightful place".
(BTW, of course this deliberate parallel between Kynaston and Charles foreshadows Kynaston's eventual, pardon the bad pun, Restoration.)
Speaking of memorable lines, though, there is the priceless moment when, after Kynaston's rant earlier on how he'll never act with a woman, Nell Gwyn bursts out with "bitch!". Because well, he is. Talk about a flawed hero.
Clare Danes, whom I remember as Juliet in Baz Luhrman's version, had the less showy but equally as important part as Maria, and sold me on Maria's ambition, mixture of love and rivalry towards Kynaston, and the transformation from inexperienced actress to believable actress required for the climax of the film to work. Said climax manages to work its trick on both the fictional audience within the film attending the play, and the movie audience, which is equally uncertain - he didn't... did he? And that's a wonderful feat to pull off.
Later on , it did occur to me that the film might be misread in its sexual politics as presenting heterosexual love as more valid than homosexual love, but I don't think that's likely. It's made quite clear that Buckingham dumps Kynaston because Kynaston has stopped being a star, the scene where Kynaston and Maria have sex for the first time, with them keeping switching sexual positions, is directly related to the central questions of gender, how much of it is self constructed, and identity which go throughout the movie, and the last line in the film, when she asks him "which are you now?" (i.e. woman or man) and the camera framing him against a veil, is his reply "I don't know". There isn't really a choice. Also, Kynaston playing Othello is pointedly different from the exaggareted maleness of Betterton doing so in the opening scenes; he finds his emotional access to the role in the jealousy he bears towards Maria for taking his place on the stage, not by constructing a macho male persona.
I'll now go and see whether it is out on DVD in Britain already, because I definitely want to watch this film again.
***
Alias rec:
kangeiko wrote a tasty Irina/Jack/Sloane threesome, Irina pov, set post season 4. Now I must just go and bother monanotlisa and andrastewhite some more...
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 09:32 am (UTC)Yes, it is. Has been for a while so you should be able to find a copy at a reasonable price. We saw it some time ago and both really, really enjoyed it. I thought Billy Crudup was awesome in such a demanding role and the film's climax had me right on the edge of my seat. I didn't think the film quite got the recognition it deserved because of its perceived similarities to Shakespeare in Love, which are more apparent than real. Very glad you enjoyed it as much as we did.
You're torturing me with these Alias recs you know *g*. My new white as snow spoiler free persona won't let me read them!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 09:48 am (UTC)Alias recs: well, you know, I did rec season 2 and season 3 stories as well on occasion!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 09:59 am (UTC)The *big* problem with Alias is that I haven't seen most of Season 1 and all of Season 2, so anything with Spy!Mommy is completely out as I don't want to be spoiled for her relationship with Jack until I've seen it for myself. We had started watching Season 1, but stopped when Season 4 came on (being masculine J can't multi-watch *g*). We'll get back to it again when Season 4 is over!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 06:10 pm (UTC)But if you've watched The Orphan, you can read my
Nadia study (http://www.livejournal.com/community/alias500/20314.html)
And Symmetry (http://www.livejournal.com/community/alias500/21806.html) which is about Sloane and Jack directly after the season 3 episode Hourglass (aka the one where Sloane gets executed but resurrected by Jack afterwards), which you already saw.
And you might like Yahtzee's take on Jack between seasons 2 and 3 (http://www.livejournal.com/community/alias500/22726.html) (i.e. when he thinks Sydney is dead - remember, that's how season 3 starts); Irina gets mentioned, but nothing beyond you already know from having seen the third season and the fourth up to this point.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 01:11 pm (UTC)I first saw it on a satellite channel, and it was shown together with a history of cross-dressing, which while it didn't go all that deeply into the subject, was factual, looked at drag kings as well as queens, and really just added to the evening.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 01:32 pm (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/users/rozk/51860.html
And yes, amen to the ending. Have read some professional reviews now and can't believe they missed it, saying instead the ending was Ned got "straightened out" literary.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 01:52 pm (UTC)Roz's review makes me long for someone-not-me to write fic based around the characters.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 07:29 pm (UTC)I don't actually have much to say on the subject, as I am crap at reviewing myself, but look, I post on your livejournal anyway!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-04 08:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-03 08:09 pm (UTC)I had pretty much similar reaction on it, as in – I am still surprised that Maria didn’t have sex with her patron, believe the historical inaccuracy here is of little importance, and enjoyed the gender roles and the sense of self in the characters. I did a longish post on it here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/avrelia/74624.html), if you are interested.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-04 05:40 am (UTC)