Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'm sad to say it's poor and really, really, really dated., 28 Dec 2008
I did not enjoy this adaptation of Troilus and Cressida at all. I found it interminably slow, without any of the grandeur that either Shakespeare or the epic siege of Troy deserve, and without any of the interest or emotional involvement that either a love story or a war story require. It may be that this is because this is one of Shakespeare's 'problem plays', but to be honest I feel it is because this BBC production has dated badly. In the modern environment - where speed and excitement are fundamental, and audiences require entertainment to keep them interested - this production simply just does not stand up. We won't tolerate Shakespeare like this any more.
I came to this film having never seen Troilus and Cressida before, but having recently read it. I was hoping that this DVD would give me a greater insight into the play in case I wish to perform or direct it at a later date, or even simply see it again. I have also never seen any of the BBC adaptations before. I was simply hoping for an entertaining and traditionally presented version of Shakespeare's play. Instead, I got almost nothing, and had to force myself to sit through to the end - having paid the money to get it in the first place.
What are my complaints? They are as follows. Firstly, it is slow. It is over three hours long, and the dialogue is delivered at a snail's pace. Compare it with a modern Shakespeare film (Luhrmann's Romeo And Juliet [1997], or the The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons) and you will find it almost laughable. Secondly, the actors appear poorly cast and poorly directed. None of the characters bar Pandarus and Thersites are remotely defined - and despite that the latter's bizarre though funny camp-ness isn't really justified - and this is made more obvious by the legendary status of the likes of Achilles and Hector. None of the characters' appearances were differentiated, and the terrible, hammy "Shakespeare" voices used by many of them felt rather embarrassing.
Perhaps because of budgetary constraint, and certainly because of the date when the production was made, this production simply looked poor. Most of the scenes are seen in long, static camera shots, with no one but the speaker moving or even reacting. This means that when the dialogue is delivered as boringly as it is, it is difficult to keep one's attention on the film. The battle scenes at the end are also embarrassingly slow, boring and low budget, depriving the play of any sort of fitting and exciting conclusion.
There is no reason I can think of to recommend this play. Instead, I would recommend you read the play (try Troilus and Cressida (Arden Shakespeare: Third)) and use your imagination. I love the play, so if someone can tell me some reasons to like this, I'll happily go back to the DVD and watch it again. But for me, there's nothing here worth seeing!
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
General Details, Synopsis & Cast Details, 30 Aug 2008
A BBC TELEVISION PRODUCTION FULLSCREEN PRESENTATION
DVD REGION 2+4 PAL - Certificate 12 - Running Time Approx. 190 minutes
©BBC Television in association with Time-Life - All Rights Reserved
Originally Transmitted: 7th November 1981
COLOUR DVD PAL FORMAT - LANGUAGE: English - SUBTITLES: English (S.D.H.)
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"Lechery, lechery; still, wars and lechery; nothing else holds fashion: a burning devil take them!"
The bitter Trojan War drags on - the Greeks blame Achilles' apathy for low morale, while Troy's hero Hector challenges one of the enemies to a personal duel. And after her father exchanges Cressida for a Trojan prisoner, the war becomes personal for her distraught lover Troilus.
Jonathan Miller pitches his acclaimed production of this part-history, part-tragedy between satire and savage farce, highlighting Shakespeare's cynical standpoint where love is mocked and heroism made absurd.
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Enter the Prologue armed
PROLOGUE:
"In Troy there lies the scene. From Isles of Greece
The princes orgulous, their high blood chafed,
Have to the port of Athens sent their ships,
Fraught with ministers and instruments
Of cruel war. Sixty-and-nine, that wore
their crownets, from th'Athenian bay . . ."
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ANTON LESSER - SUZANNE BURDEN - CHARLES GRAY - BENJAMIN WHITROW AND JOHN SHRAPNEL
DIRECTED BY JONATHAN MILLER - PRODUCED BY SHAUN SUTTON
William Shakespeare Hys Most Excellent and Famous Tragedie of
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
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DVD Regions (2+4) ~ Certificate 12 - Running Time Approx. 190 minutes
©BBC TV Production in association with Time Life Television - All Rights Reserved
Produced & Distributed by DD HE/Simply Home Entertainment for A Superior Quality Reproduction
Originally Transmitted: 7th November 1981 - COLOUR ~ DVD PAL FORMAT
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Charles Gray as Pandarus - Anton Lesser as Troilus - Tony Steedman as Aeneas - Suzanne Burden as Cressida - Max Harvey as Alexander - Peter Walmsley as Servant to Troilus - Vernon Dobtcheff as Agamemnon - Geoffrey Chater as Nestor - Benjamin Whitrow as Ulysses - Bernard Brown as Menelaus
Anthony Pedley as Ajax - Kenneth Haigh as Achilles - Jack Birkett as Thersites (as The Incredible Orlando) - Simon Cutter as Patroclus - Esmond Knight as Priam - John Shrapnel as Hector - Elayne Sharling as Cassandra - David Firth as Paris - Paul Moriarty as Diomedes - David Kinsey as Servant to Paris - Ann Pennington as Helen - Peter Whitbread as Calchas ` Merelina Kendall as Andromache - Cornelius Garrett as Margarelon - Tony Portacio as Helenus - Peter J. Cassell as Deiphobus
~ et al . . . ~
Directed by Jonathan Miller
Adapted from William Shakespeare's original play
A Brief Historie of the Play
The story of the siege of Troy was the main subject of one of the greatest surviving works of classical literature, Homer's Iliad; probably Shakespeare read George Chapman's 1598 translation of Books 1-2 and 7-11. It also figures prominently in Virgil's Aenid and Ovid's Metamorphoses, both of which Shakespeare knew and used . . . Troilus and Cressida shows how a war caused by one love affair destroys another.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best of the Series, 31 May 2009
Jonathan Miller triumphs with a fascinating production of an unruly play. His eye for casting is faultless, and different from others in the series. This personal view is emphasized by his special precision as director in revealing the interplay of character. There is absolutely no rhetoric for sound's sake here - every character knows exactly why they are saying what they're saying, and who they're saying it to.
The running time of "Troilus" is 12 minutes longer than that of "Pericles," yet it feels around 45 minutes shorter. Much of this play is done with a single mobile camera in long, unblinking takes. This adds to the pressure on the actors and crew, and contributes to a special kind of energy.
The performances are all excellent, without an embarrassment in the cast. That is not always true in this series. The young lovers are fine. Charles Gray grabs the role of Pandarus, and shakes it within an inch of its life. This huge personality is almost too big for the small screen, yet he never quite outstays his welcome.
Ben Whitrow's Ulysses is perhaps the most clever, calculating and cold-blooded of any, in any version of the story I've seen. Anthony Pedley is a funny Ajax, and Kenneth Haigh and John Shrapnel are confident as Achilles and Hector. Esmond Knight as King Priam and Jack Birkett as Thersites are both blind actors, which adds a certain otherworldly quality to the proceedings. The physical production and sound design are both detailed and effective.
The book "The BBC Shakespeare Plays: Making the Televised Canon" by Susan Willis spends a whole chapter describing in detail the rehearsal, taping and editing of this "Troilus." Highly recommended reading.
P.S. The prologue is read off-camera by an uncredited actor. Could it be Alec McCowen? Whoever it is reads the Bard's words as they should be read, a model for would-be Shakespeareans to study.
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