# Dear Kenneth Branagh: Please pass the crack pipe. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235 "2005-05-24T06:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/1 "2005-05-24T06:51:14Z")
From the professor of a friend of mine: > [@](#): > > **Branagh returns to a labour of love** > (Filed: 17/05/2005) > > Kenneth Branagh’s mission to make Shakespeare accessible took a blow when his film of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ flopped, but now he’s back with a Japanese-inspired ‘As You Like It’. He talks to John Hiscock. > > Five years have passed since Kenneth Branagh last steered William Shakespeare to the screen with an all-star, singing, dancing version of Love’s Labour’s Lost that not only failed to find an audience, but performed so dismally that it torpedoed his plans for two more Bard-based frolics. > > Branagh: ‘I’m trying to make Shakespeare accessible and inspire the opposite of reverence’ > > Undeterred, Branagh changed direction and took roles in other films, television productions and on the London stage. Now he feels enough time has elapsed for him to return to his first love. > > So, with financing in place, enthusiastic producers and an intriguing cast, the man often described as “the new Olivier” is once again immersed in Shakespeare, this time directing an ambitious, Japanese-influenced film of As You Like It. . . . . > > His approach to As You Like It has been influenced by his voluminous research into Japanese literature and his interest in the English adventurers who went to Japan in the 19th century. Although it is being filmed at Shepperton and on location in West Sussex, Branagh wants to > invoke what he calls the beauty and simplicity of the Japanese landscape, while making the Forest of Arden a much wilder, more surreal place. He is also taking advantage of the Japanese setting to borrow from the martial arts world and to underline the dangers inherent in the play which he feels are often neglected in stage productions. > > “The research is an enormously enjoyable part of it,” he said. “Sometimes I think I’d rather spend six months doing the research and not do the film.” > > Not in this case, however. Even after 25 years in showbusiness, Branagh has retained his capacity for wonder. > > “I find it miraculous how these things get done,” he marvels. "You spend a year, 10 years, 15 years trying to get it together and it’s absolutely amazing that one morning we have a call sheet and we begin to shoot As You Like It. > > "I shoot one actor for a bit and then someone else and someone else and I’ll put it together and somehow at the end it becomes this big thing with 600 people watching it and you think, ‘How on earth did this happen?’ " > > Variety’s Michael Fleming reports that the adaptation will be set in the late 19th century and that it is being financed by HBO. Branagh himself is likely to take a small role - possibly that of the court jester, Touchstone - and Adrian Lester (who appeared in Branagh’s musical version of Love’s Labours Lost), Brian Blessed and Jimmy Yuill are also said to be taking supporting roles. > [@](#): > > **AS YOU LIKE IT begins Principal Photography 22 April 2005** > > Principal photograph on the feature film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT beginhs today. Directed by Kenneth Branagh - and marking his fifth Shakespearean screen adaptation - AS YOU LIKE IT features a cast that includes Kevin Kline (De-Lovely, Oscar(r)-winner for A Fish Called Wanda), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), Adrian Lester (The Day After Tomorrow), David Oyelowo (BBC 1’s Spooks), Alfred Molina (Frida), Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) and Romola Garai (Vanity Fair). With a setting inspired by 19th Century Japan, AS YOU LIKE IT will shoot on location near London and in studio at Shepperton Film Studios. > > Shakespeare’s lightest and most delightful comedy, AS YOU LIKE IT celebrates the enduring power of love in all its many disguises. Witty, playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in which Rosalind and Orlando’s famous courtship is played out against a backdrop of political rivalry, banishment and exile in the Forest of Arden. > > Commenting on inspiration and intentions for AS YOU LIKE IT, Branagh said: “I visited Kyoto, Japan for the first time fifteen years ago and felt the sublime landscape and fascinating culture could be an inspired setting for this quintessential romantic comedy. With sumo, martial > arts and cherry blossom we hope that the drama and the joy can combine to produce a wonderfully enjoyable film.” > > Branagh has previously adapted and directed the following works of Shakespeare for the screen: Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, Henry V, and Much Ado About Nothing. Henry V earned Branagh a BAFTA Film Award for Best Director, along with Oscar? nominations in both the Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role categories. Branagh’s additional directing credits include Dead Again, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, In The Bleak Midwinter and Peter’s Friends. > > AS YOU LIKE IT is a production of The Shakespeare Film Company, financed by HBO Films. AS YOU LIKE IT is directed by Kenneth Branagh and produced by Branagh, Judy Hofflund and Simon Moseley. Joining Branagh once again will be twice Oscar nominated Composer Patrick Doyle (Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility) and Oscar nominated Production Designer Tim Harvey (Hamlet). Director of Photography will be long-term Branagh collaborator, Roger Lanser (Much Ado About Nothing). Editor is Neil Farrell (Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet). Costume Design will be by Susannah Buxton (BBC’s Tipping the Velvet). Make-up Designer will be Oscar(r) and BAFTA Film Award winner Jenny Shircore (Elizabeth). WHAT THE HELL. (Hee hee hee!) Japan? Martial arts? Not an Asian cast member in sight? …_Martial arts?_ I’m almost laughing too hard to compose this post properly. And, I have to admit, I’m a little anticipatory. From the names we’re given, here’s the cast as best as I can figure: Adrian Lester as Orlando Bryce Dallas Howard as Rosalind Romola Garai as Celia (quite similar to Amelia Sedley, in some ways) David Oyelowo as Oliver Kevin Kline as Duke Senior Brian Blessed (or Alfred Molina?) as Duke Frederick Kenneth Branagh as Touchstone Janet McTeer as Audrey (Audrey’s usually younger, but not with a Touchstone as old as Branagh, I think) Jimmy Yuill as William (he played Constable Dull in _Love’s Labour’s_, and I know Branagh loves reusing his actors ;)) I can’t figure out who of those names would play Jacques, who is age-wise the middle brother of Oliver and Orlando, and what Blessed and Molina are doing. 🙂 And after that little exercise, my main reaction is still “Kenneth Branagh, WHAT THE HELL?!” …yeah, I’m a little excited to see it. Because seriously. WHAT THE HELL?! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/2 "2005-05-24T07:07:19Z")
It’s a safe bet the thought process went like this: “Akira Kurosawa’s _Ran_ and _Throne of Blood_ are bloody _classics._ People _like_ Shakespeare with a Japanese flavour. _I_ should make a Japanese-styled Shakespeare adaptation.” Hey, Ken, can I get a hit off that, too? ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/3 "2005-05-24T07:13:45Z")
Wait. That guy in the first posted article is named _John Hiscock_?! Good god. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/4 "2005-05-24T07:54:20Z")
Hey, it sounds cool to me. Why not? It’s not as if there’s a certain way you _have_ to do Shakepeare. This new experiment of his might not work - it probably won’t - but it will definitely be interesting. Besides, it can’t be weirder than _Prospero’s Books_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/5 "2005-05-24T08:31:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Hey, it sounds cool to me. Why not? It’s totally ridiculous, that’s why not. I mean, being inspired by Japan in general and Kurosawa in particular, and fusing that inspiration with a totally different genre that you’ve been passionate about all your life, bringing martial arts forms and Japanese-inspired costumes into it? And then not even filming it in Japan, but on a sound-stage at Shepperton, and at non-Japanese locations? Clearly, the man has gone off the rails, because nothing good could _ever_ come of such a quixotic project. It’s not really even worth talking about, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hang out in one of the dozen _Star Wars_ threads that are cluttering up the joint. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/6 "2005-05-24T09:19:26Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It’s totally ridiculous, that’s why not. I mean, being inspired by Japan in general and Kurosawa in particular, and fusing that inspiration with a totally different genre that you’ve been passionate about all your life, bringing martial arts forms and Japanese-inspired costumes into it? And then not even filming it in Japan, but on a sound-stage at Shepperton, and at non-Japanese locations? > > Clearly, the man has gone off the rails, because nothing good could _ever_ come of such a quixotic project. > > It’s not really even worth talking about, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hang out in one of the dozen _Star Wars_ threads that are cluttering up the joint. 😉 Neat 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/7 "2005-05-24T09:26:46Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It’s totally ridiculous, that’s why not. I mean, being inspired by Japan in general and Kurosawa in particular, and fusing that inspiration with a totally different genre that you’ve been passionate about all your life, bringing martial arts forms and Japanese-inspired costumes into it? And then not even filming it in Japan, but on a sound-stage at Shepperton, and at non-Japanese locations? > > Clearly, the man has gone off the rails, because nothing good could _ever_ come of such a quixotic project. > > It’s not really even worth talking about, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hang out in one of the dozen _Star Wars_ threads that are cluttering up the joint. 😉 Funny your post is. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/8 "2005-05-24T11:47:02Z")
I think it sounds neat. It could only be better if it were dubbed and the lips don’t match the voices. Oh, and a big lizards stomps all over the set…that’d be cool. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/9 "2005-05-24T13:29:45Z")
Huh. I’ll see it, I think it sounds kind of cool, if more than a little odd. I love Kevin Kline, Bryce Howard impressed me in _The Village_, and I must always see any movie with Brian Blessed. Sounds miles better than that singing/dancing/Alicia Silverstone having disaster. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/10 "2005-05-24T13:37:17Z")
Again - why not? How ridiculous do you find West Side Story? I mean all that dancing and hispanics. One of the sure signs of Shakespeare’s genius is how his work shines in different settings and contexts. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/11 "2005-05-24T13:56:51Z")
About them not filming Japan in Japan: It would be very difficult for Kurosawa to film things like _Ran_ in Japan today. So much of the natural landscape has been covered with concrete or criss-crossed with power lines, that there isn’t really an unspoiled area large enough to masquerade as Old Japan anymore. (For example, almost all of the “Japan countryside” scenes in _The Last Samurai_ were filmed in New Zealand.) Taking that into account, when Mr. Branagh says this: > [@Kenneth Branagh](#): > > I visited Kyoto, Japan for the first time fifteen years ago and felt the **sublime landscape**. . . I’m inclined to think that he didn’t really visit Kyoto. (There are some beautiful shrines and temples in Kyoto, but for the most part they’re completely surrounded by the generic cityscapes of “Modern Japan.”) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/12 "2005-05-24T14:04:17Z")
You had me at “Brian Blessed.” You lost me at “Kevin Kline.” (Seriously, who told the guy he could do Shakespear? I love him in contemporary roles, but his period stuff makes my brain hurt. He just has much too much of a modern energy to him.) I’ll admit _Love’s Labours Lost_ sucked the big donkey ass. But all Branagh’s other Shakespear works (and _A Midwinter’s Tale_) were wonderful. I will hold true to my faith and hope that he won’t screw this one up as badly as _LLL_. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/13 "2005-05-24T14:34:57Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > You had me at “Brian Blessed.” > > You lost me at “Kevin Kline.” (Seriously, who told the guy he could do Shakespear? I love him in contemporary roles, but his period stuff makes my brain hurt. He just has much too much of a modern energy to him.) I thought Kline as Nick Bottom was the best part of the recent _Midsummer Night’s Dream_. But then, I don’t think I’ve ever properly understood the ‘modern energy’ complaint. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/14 "2005-05-24T14:45:23Z")
Re: Brian Blessed and Kevin Kline: Remember, Branagh had Robert DeNiro and John Cleese for _Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein_ and he still managed to royally muck it up. I’m still mad at my friend for dragging me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/15 "2005-05-24T14:59:24Z")
I saw a production of **King Lear** by Pittsburgh’s **Unseam’d Shakespeare Company** several years ago that borrowed a good bit of Asian an Middle Eastern imagery. It also incorporated modern elements, interpretive dance, and some unusual music. Some of it was rather…ridiculous. At other times, it soared. So I’m not willing to write off Branagh’s vision for his project just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/16 "2005-05-24T15:21:32Z")
> [@Orual](#): > > I thought Kline as Nick Bottom was the best part of the recent _Midsummer Night’s Dream_. He was. I’m not sure what’s inspiring the laughter here unless it’s just uninformed snobbiness. Heaven forfend people should try and do something new and weird with Shakespeare. Better to just do it in Last year I saw a production of _The Tempest_ that included a few Asian elements. They weren’t a problem. I know of other productions that have done the same thing. It’s not like this is even close to the weirdest adaptation of Shakespeare I’ve ever heard of. I heard great things about _Scotland, PA._ Like **tagos** said, there’s _West Side Story_, and _Forbidden Planet_ is after a fashion _The Tempest_ in space. So I don’t know why the fuck Japanese influences are so weird. I don’t know if it will work, but with that cast and what we know I think it could. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/17 "2005-05-24T15:22:42Z")
Crap. “Heaven forfend people should try and do something new and weird with Shakespeare. Better to just do it in” 17th century costumes with proper English accents, 'cuz that’s how it was written. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/18 "2005-05-24T15:35:22Z")
I’ve always liked Kline doing Shakespeare – although I’ll happily admit I like Kline in almost everything. As for the Branagh project, my reaction isn’t really “How _dare_ he mess with the canon like that!” (I will happily admit to being the owner of his _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, which as far as I can tell no one else on the planet likes ;)), but more– “Dude, NINJA SHAKESPEARE!” Because seriously. NINJA. SHAKESPEARE. (I didn’t mean “pass the crack pipe” in a _bad_ way.) …NINJA SHAKESPEARE! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/19 "2005-05-24T15:38:50Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > I’ve always liked Kline doing Shakespeare – although I’ll happily admit I like Kline in almost everything. > > As for the Branagh project, my reaction isn’t really “How _dare_ he mess with the canon like that!” (I will happily admit to being the owner of his _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, which as far as I can tell no one else on the planet likes ;)), but more– > > “Dude, NINJA SHAKESPEARE!” > > Because seriously. NINJA. SHAKESPEARE. > > (I didn’t mean “pass the crack pipe” in a _bad_ way.) > > …NINJA SHAKESPEARE! Ninja Shakespeare does sound ridiculous. Pirate Shakespeare, though, would totally rule. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235/20 "2005-05-24T17:19:04Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > As for the Branagh project, my reaction isn’t really “How _dare_ he mess with the canon like that!” (I will happily admit to being the owner of his _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, which as far as I can tell no one else on the planet likes ;)), but more– > > “Dude, NINJA SHAKESPEARE!” > > Because seriously. NINJA. SHAKESPEARE. I’ll chime in with another “So?” Last year I saw a _Kung Fu Medea_ on stage. It was brilliant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-kenneth-branagh-please-pass-the-crack-pipe/305235.md?page=2)