Bless Shakespeare because you’d think that the most stupid, immature, gullible, dumb-witted, short-tempered, easily rage-baited men who could suddenly pounce on you at the drop of a hat (e.g. a cartoonishly evil man claiming cartoonishly untrue things) with such misogynistic bile and cunning hatred are a product of our sorry century and then you open a play and they have a name and it’s Claudio
My fave version of Much Ado About Nothing (2011, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre) was deleted from YouTube and now I shall sulk and be miserable forever. Save me, o enlightened people who know where to watch certain plays for free.
I've been trying to peer pressure my bff into watching Much Ado About Nothing with me (my fave Shakespeare comedy), and he wanted to have everything in our house set up first etc etc. But he agreed to watch it yesterday and we had a lot of fun absolutely cackling at, well, almost everything.
I do think it's one of the most purely funny Shakespeare plays that are still really good, especially when performed/directed well. We were watching the Joss Whedon version—yes, I know, but I bought it back when it came out and it's still my favorite—and Nathan Fillion's Dogberry is an utter delight, and honestly there are a bunch of script and directorial choices that make it my favorite.
I particularly like Amy Acker's Beatrice: she can be charmingly witty, vulnerable and hurt, sweet and supportive, an adorable dweeb, and ferocious and hard as nails. The way her face changes in the grand romantic scene with Benedick is fantastic—there's this moment where you just see her features harden before she says "Kill Claudio" that I love. I also really loved how often she's visually framed with Hero in the later part of the story: sometimes literally holding her but often visually paired with her in a way that highlights her priorities.
Benedick is pretty good in this version, as well—not as impressive as Acker or Fillion, I'd say, but I like how Benedick initially seems to be a rather callous asshole only for him to be gradually revealed as the most profoundly decent man in the play—not that the competition is steep, but still—especially with regard to women, and how he's, well, also an adorable dweeb until it really matters, at which point he turns deadly serious. And I really like their dynamic once the story gets rolling.
I also love that it doesn't back away from how shitty Claudio is while keeping to the text of the play. He and Don Pedro seem the gentler, sweeter, more romantic characters early on, but the text itself becomes an indictment of them (and Leonato!). My best friend, who hasn't read this/seen another version of it in years, was just like "She's not wrong!" when Beatrice told Benedick to kill Claudio, and shouted "STAB HIM!!!" when Benedick confronts him :D
I really like the performance of Leonato, as well—the way this thus-far affectionate, mild seeming patriarch becomes the most proximate threat to Hero (it really feels like he might snap her neck at any moment) and only seems able to conceive of Hero as a potential victim when told so by other men is terrifying. And Hero herself has a sweetness and dignity but also charm that I enjoy in a character who can be a bit limp in performance.
I do prefer Keanu's Don John though, for peak unpopular opinions.
Of course, I was also reminded of my Pride and Prejudice is to Much Ado as Clueless is to Emma theory, haha. The Much Ado elements are thoroughly overhauled, rearranged, and modernized in plenty of ways, but I think P&P still draws a lot of raw material from it. And I think it's interesting to look at not just Elizabeth and Darcy as Beatrice and Benedick(/Don Pedro, since Darcy combines elements of both), but things like how Austen works to recuperate Claudio in Bingley (not altogether successfully IMO honestly, but a valiant effort that works well enough) and displaces the worst elements of his character onto Wickham. It's not the only influence but it's very striking.
(This is not an original observation, lol; the first time the comparison was made in print afaik was in a March 1813 review of P&P, which had only been published a few weeks earlier at the end of January.)
Upon finishing Much Ado About Nothing for the first time, I have concluded that a) everyone is completely insane, they and seem to make a competition out of finding the most complicated solution to problems. Claudio is in love with Hero? Well he certainly can't just tell her, like any normal person would. No, Don Pedro needs to pretend to be him so that he can woo her on Claudio's behalf. Claudio thinks Hero is cheating on him? Don't try and talk to her! Obviously, what he should do is wait until their wedding and then denounce her, in front of literally everyone. The wedding was a disaster and Hero fainted? Well we'd better tell Claudio that he fucking killed her. Yeah, that'll definitely solve everything. I could go on. B) Don Pedro is sad, lonely, and bored, and he tries to amuse himself by messing with his friends love lives. There is no other reasonable explanation as to why he was so willing to pretend to be Claudio to set him up with Hero, and them immediatly start messing around with Benedick and Beatrice. C) poor Leonato should get an award for putting up with all this bullshit. D) Benedick is my babygirl and no one can take that from me.
BENEDICK: Were you in doubt, sir, that you asked her?
LEONATO: Signior Benedick, no; for then were you a child.
Shakespeare tells that, "My wife says so" joke in at least three plays (I know it's in Taming of the Shrew, feel like there is another), but this is a fun twist. Given that these are all men, I'm trying to determine if Leonato means the follow up as a compliment or an insult.
Either way, Leonato proves he has some game as well as his niece and Benedick is a renowned man whore.
Benedick. [Coming forward] This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it seems her affections have their full bent. Love me! why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured: they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her; they say too that she will rather die than give any sign of affection. I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions and can put them to mending. They say the lady is fair; 'tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; 'tis so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her. I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage: but doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humour? No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married. Here comes Beatrice. By this day! she's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in her.
William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, Much Ado About Nothing (Act II, Scene III)
There needs to be more GIF's from this movie. This is a sampling of my favorite scenes. None of these GIF's are mine. I just love the movie and have no idea how to create a GIF.
