Having just seen a condensed version of Shakespeare's Scottish Play performed very convincingly in Scotland by a 6-member Scottish cast, I found this in my local video store.
The players in Scotland, with minimal sets but with talent and the right accents, brought all the richness of the dialog to life. It was understandable, it made sense, the characters became real, the drama came to life.
The contrast with this movie couldn't be greater. Shakespeare's words spoken by Australian gangsters? A daring concept.
But did it work? Hell, no. Not for a second. Silly to expect that it could, really. I don't know any Australian (or any other) gangsters, but it's not hard - especially since Tarantino - to imagine that they really really don't naturally speak in Shakespeare's words. The actors seemed uncomfortable trying to. They said all the words, but without conviction. It felt like they'd gone thru endless retakes to get the wording right, and called it a wrap when they had a take without any actual mistakes.
Contrast Richard III, updated to 20th century and filmed in part in Battersea Power Station: when the king's jeep gets stuck, and he yells "A Horse! A Horse! My Kingom for a Horse!!!" it was actually convincing.
Still, all's not lost. Look out for a version dubbed into Cantonese, and subtitled back into English in Hong Kong, then it might come across as an edgy piece of action cinema.
Until then, sadly, it remains a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
The players in Scotland, with minimal sets but with talent and the right accents, brought all the richness of the dialog to life. It was understandable, it made sense, the characters became real, the drama came to life.
The contrast with this movie couldn't be greater. Shakespeare's words spoken by Australian gangsters? A daring concept.
But did it work? Hell, no. Not for a second. Silly to expect that it could, really. I don't know any Australian (or any other) gangsters, but it's not hard - especially since Tarantino - to imagine that they really really don't naturally speak in Shakespeare's words. The actors seemed uncomfortable trying to. They said all the words, but without conviction. It felt like they'd gone thru endless retakes to get the wording right, and called it a wrap when they had a take without any actual mistakes.
Contrast Richard III, updated to 20th century and filmed in part in Battersea Power Station: when the king's jeep gets stuck, and he yells "A Horse! A Horse! My Kingom for a Horse!!!" it was actually convincing.
Still, all's not lost. Look out for a version dubbed into Cantonese, and subtitled back into English in Hong Kong, then it might come across as an edgy piece of action cinema.
Until then, sadly, it remains a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.