Critic Barry Forshaw’s take on Ralph Feinnes’ kinetic celluloid interpretation of the feted Shakespeare play
A personal note: Ralph Fiennes premiered the stage version of his radical modern dress version of Shakespeare’s classic five minutes away from where I live in Islington at the Gainsborough Studios (where Alfred Hitchcock made several of his classic English films) before its conversion to flats.
Those who were at this performance will remember this as a particularly memorable - and edgy - theatrical occasion, and it’s good to be able to report that the actor/director’s impressive filmed version replicates the powerful emotional impact of this kinetic take on the text (ruthlessly pruned) while making the Bosnia-style battle settings even more pungent.
All of the acting is impeccable, but perhaps the real honours go to Vanessa Redgrave as the imperious Roman general’s equally fearsome mother.
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