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that would have called for a retake. That aged in the way we expect.
some. Will Shakespeare is young and not
never happens. Even the cover art work Congratulations, Susan. You go, especially known or appreciated in an
should stand as an embarrassment to girl!
era whose stages are dominated by the
Sony.
plays of Christopher Marlowe. Despite
However I suspect that most purchas- THE GREAT MOVIES
his youth he is already burned out, and
ers cared neither about the accompanists
he tells his confessor, a hilarious 16
nor the recording engineer. They wanted
to confirm that they hadn’t been fooled,
that this unlikely singer really could hit
the big time. Hit it she certainly did. In
Italy, for instance, I Dreamed a Dream
outsold all sales ever by a singer who was
not Italian. When she toured Japan, her
arrival was preceded by several offers of
marriage, and the riot squad had to be
called to Narita airport to keep order.
But let’s get a listen to the CD
itself.
Of course, I Dreamed a Dream is
included, and it’s a pleasure to hear it
without all that cheering drowning out
passages. It’s very good, as I expected
it to be. She also sings Cry Me a River,
the Julie London song that was also
one of Barbra Streisand’s very first hits.
Significantly, Boyle had already recorded Shakespeare in Love
the song a decade before for a charity Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow
project. I heard it on the Internet, and I Alliance 114753 (Blu-ray)
must say it gave me goose bumps. Here it Gerard Rejskind: Whoever decides
is in much better fidelity…well, somewhat what films will be re-released on Blu-ray
better fidelity. She also borrows songs and which will not certainly took their
from the Rolling Stones (Wild Horses) own sweet time getting around to this
and Madonna (You’ll See). She was a delightful masterpiece. It is a natural,
church singer, and so she includes How however, because not only is it a much-
Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace and Silent praised film, with Oscars for best film
Night. She does all of them well. and best actress, but it is a movie that
There was some fear that the PR can be seen again and again. It is so rich
people would get their hands on her and that each time you will discover new
make her over into something she is not. delights. It is worth investing in the best
Her hair would be redone by a world- possible version.
class coiffeur, she would wear Prada, and There may be nothing more difficult
she would be put on a crash diet. I’ll bet than getting into the mind of a great
they thought of it, but it hasn’t happened, creator, as witness the endless string of
and I hope it won’t.
uncreative movies about classical music
What Susan Boyle can offer us is her composers (the single exception is of
remarkable voice, a refreshing change in course Amadeus). Shakespeare would
an era when so many “singers” actually seem doubly difficult to tackle, since —
take pride in never having studied their in contrast to Mozart — we know next
craft, and — just as important — a sense to nothing about his life. Director John
of the meaning of the songs she sings. As Madden and his screenwriters turned
for the myth surrounding her surprise this seeming handicap into an opportu-
success, we don’t really believe that just nity. If we know so little about the life of
anyone can succeed if he/she works hard this great dramatist, are we not free to
enough, but we do want to believe that invent it? And “inventive” is an adjective
justice is not totally absent in the world, that appropriately describes this remark-
and that real talent has a chance of being able film.
recognized even if it doesn’t come pack- The tone is tongue in cheek, and then
th
Century version of a psychotherapist,
that “I have lost my gift. It is as if my
quill is broken.” He has allegedly been
working on a play with the absurd title
of Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter,
but has not gone beyond practicing the
autograph no one is yet asking for. The
owner of The Rose, one of London’s two
theatres, is Philip Henslow (Geoffrey
Rush). He is eagerly awaiting the play
because he is in hock to a usurious lender
who is holding his feet to the fire…in the
most literal sense. However, not only is
the play unfinished, and indeed unbegun,
but Henslow owes Shakespeare
money for his last piece, and it turns out
that a verbal agreement isn’t worth the
paper it’s written on.
Enter Viola de Lesseps, daughter of
a rich family. She is star-struck, having
learned some of Shakespeare’s sonnets
by heart, and dreams of being on the
stage herself. That was impossible at a
time when female roles were played by
pre-puberty boys, and the Master of the
Revels (the wonderful Simon Callow)
is all too ready to close a theatre for
How the electronic version “obscenity.” works Disguised as a man, she
lands the role of Romeo, and that of
We don’t mean this version, because you already know Juliet how it (who works. has It’s replaced a PDF, Ethel in what is
and you open it with Adobe reader, etc.
no longer developing as a comedy) goes
But we also have a paid electronic version, which is complete, to a young without boy who banners is closer like to puberty
this one, or articles in fluent gibberish.
than expected.
That one, because it is complete, has to be ordered with a Now credit this card. creates To open problems that
it, you also have to download a plugin for your copy of Adobe the film Reader does or not Acrobat. quite solve. Is Viola
You’ll receive a user name and password to allow you to download plausible your in her full masculine copy of disguise?
the magazine. You’ll need the same user name and password (“It the wouldn’t first time fool you a child,” open comments a
the magazine on your computer, but only the first time. After boatman, that, and it works quite like right any too.) Worse yet,
other PDF.
when later in the film she purports to be
For details, visit our Electronic Edition page. To buy an a man issue disguised or subscribe, as a woman, visit we need to
MagZee.
suspend our disbelief by the neck until it
is dead. Yet in every way the film is such
a delight that before long we become
willing accomplices of the actors and the
director.
Of course we would have guessed
right away that Will and Viola would
fall in love, even if the film title hadn’t
given it away. And common sense tells us
that, in the age of arranged marriages,
the little rich girl will not marry the poor
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 73
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