Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.Young lovers, and soon to wed, Hero and Claudio conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles, Benedick and Beatrice, to wed as well.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 wins & 11 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDuring the Oscar season in early 1994, the Samuel Goldwyn company spent $10 million campaigning for this movie to garner Oscar nominations. They sent bulky packets to all members of the Academy and played up the movie in hopes of getting it on the final ballot. The movie, though highly acclaimed and (unusual for William Shakespeare) a box-office hit, received no Oscar nominations. All in all, the effort wound up being much ado about nothing.
- GoofsThe masquerade ball features an accordion, which was not invented until 1822.
- Crazy creditsRarely for a Kenneth Branagh-directed film, the credits do not run until after the first scene.
Featured review
Uneven, but terrific at it's best
Not my favorite Shakespeare play, lacking the rich, playful complexities of some of the Bard's other comedies, I've always felt on a pure plot level this feels more simplistic, ill-logical and forced than most of the works by the greatest writer in the English language.
That said, Branagh's adaptation has some sensational elements. The best of all is the relationship between Branagh and Emma Thompson (then married in real life) as Benedick and Beatrice. As they showed in their brief time together in Branagh's "Henry V" the two are both magnificent at making Shakespeare feel human, spontaneous, modern and above all fun. Both create terrific characters – two bull headed intellectual wits who obviously belong together, but who managing to use their words and wit to keep tripping themselves up, like some Shakespearian version of the best of Tracy and Hepburn.
The star studded cast all do good work, although the much lesser known Richard Biers is perhaps the most wonderful in his simple, warm human reality as Leonato. The film looks great, filmed on an estate in Tuscany with beautiful grounds and that Tuscan light forming a backdrop too our story.
But, in the end, the play's the thing, and much of the other character's stories. well acted as they are, feel too melodramatic and heavy handed for the fun, light feel of the film (Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckensale both do excellent work as Claudio and Hero, but their storyline's over-dramatic swings are hard to overcome). The score also feels over-the-top, especially in the more dramatic sections, which in turn adds to the feeling that there's something too uneven in the tone. The comedy (e.g. Michael Keaton's very weird but entertaining Dogberry), is so broad, that it's hard to put it in the same film with the over- sober tone of the story of the young lovers.
None-the-less there's a lot to like if one overlooks some unevenness in both story and presentation.
That said, Branagh's adaptation has some sensational elements. The best of all is the relationship between Branagh and Emma Thompson (then married in real life) as Benedick and Beatrice. As they showed in their brief time together in Branagh's "Henry V" the two are both magnificent at making Shakespeare feel human, spontaneous, modern and above all fun. Both create terrific characters – two bull headed intellectual wits who obviously belong together, but who managing to use their words and wit to keep tripping themselves up, like some Shakespearian version of the best of Tracy and Hepburn.
The star studded cast all do good work, although the much lesser known Richard Biers is perhaps the most wonderful in his simple, warm human reality as Leonato. The film looks great, filmed on an estate in Tuscany with beautiful grounds and that Tuscan light forming a backdrop too our story.
But, in the end, the play's the thing, and much of the other character's stories. well acted as they are, feel too melodramatic and heavy handed for the fun, light feel of the film (Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckensale both do excellent work as Claudio and Hero, but their storyline's over-dramatic swings are hard to overcome). The score also feels over-the-top, especially in the more dramatic sections, which in turn adds to the feeling that there's something too uneven in the tone. The comedy (e.g. Michael Keaton's very weird but entertaining Dogberry), is so broad, that it's hard to put it in the same film with the over- sober tone of the story of the young lovers.
None-the-less there's a lot to like if one overlooks some unevenness in both story and presentation.
helpful•40
- runamokprods
- Sep 5, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Mucho ruido y pocas nueces
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $11,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $22,549,338
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $108,617
- May 9, 1993
- Gross worldwide
- $22,549,338
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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