With the Film Group, we compared two film adaptations of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing: Kenneth
Branagh’s 1993 version and Joss Whedon’s 2012 adaptation in terms of setting,
customs, characterisation, camera movements and language changes in order to
reveal whether the choice of medium constructs a different reading of the
original text or not. As I was comparing the two films with paying close
attention to language and language changes, I realised that there are certain
changes within the script of both adaptations, some of which are only minor and
stylistic changes without considerably altering the reading of the original
text, but we can also find more decided differences that ultimately alter the
meaning, the emotional appeal or the emphasis of the original text.
I would like to point out those changes that are more outstanding and
eye-catching compared to the original Shakespearean text. These are not simply
stylistic or syntactic changes, but ones that modify the emphasis on certain
important elements, or just not able to properly depict the original depth of
emotions. One instance can be seen in Leonato’s passage, “I know not. If they
speak but truth of her, /These hands shall tear her; if they wrong her honour,
/The proudest of them shall well hear of it” (Shakespeare 95) has been changed
in both films that also changed the meaning of the original text as well. In
the 2012 version Leonato says: “these hands shall tear thee”, which is a
justified and reasonable modification with view to the fact that on the screen
he has his hands on his daughter and he is addressing her. However, in the 1993
adaptation the first part of Leonato’s speech has been completely omitted,
leaving only the following lines: “if they wrong her honour, /The proudest of
them shall well hear of it.” It suggests that he is no longer doubting that
Hero is innocent, while Shakespeare’s text contains a feeling of doubt on
Leonato’s part.
Similarly, Claudio’s outburst, “O, what men dare do! What men may do!
What men daily do, not knowing what they do” (Shakespeare 89) is completely
omitted from the 1993 adaptation. If the director had kept this speech like
Whedon in his own film, it would have intensified the feelings of Claudio and
his rage. The same depth of emotions is missing from the 1993 version, for it
only contains one part of Hero’s speech: “They know that do accuse me; I know
none” (Shakespeare 95), while the 2012 adaptation kept the whole passage of
Hero as it is written in the original text, thus expressing that she feels
completely helpless and betrayed.
A last major change to observe – maybe the most serious to point out –
is the moment when Hero collapses, for she swoons at a completely different
moment in Branagh’s movie. According to the original text, Hero swoons after
Claudio says goodbye to her: “But fare thee well, most foul, most fair”
(Shakespeare 92)! This has been preserved in the 2012 version. Despite the fact
that he had been hurt and he thought that Hero cheated on him, he still says
goodbye and shows affection to her. However, according to the 1993 adaptation,
Hero collapses as a consequence of Don Pedro’s words, when he accuses her of
cheating and “vile encounters they have had / A thousand times in secret” (92).
Although Claudio looks back and wants to see if she is alright, this scene
lacks the considerable emotional appeal by the change in the order and the
sequence of events, as it is not Claudio’s speech that causes the swoon of
Hero, but Don Pedro’s, and he does not even say goodbye to her as it is written
in Shakespeare’s play.
Considering a film, it is very hard to decide what to include and what
to omit, although there are certain passages and lines that must not be omitted
or changed. There are certain key moments and events that had been altered in
both versions. Some changes are only minor ones that do not change the meaning
of the original text ultimately, but both versions contain major changes that
may modify the meaning of the text, by lacking the depiction of the exact same
emotional appeal and depth on the screen that is included in the written text
of Much Ado About Nothing.
Works cited
Much Ado About Nothing. Dir. Joss Whedon. Lionsgate, 2012. DVD.
Much Ado About Nothing. Dir. Kenneth Branagh. BBC
Films, 1993. DVD.
Shakespeare, Williams. Much Ado About Nothing. Ed. R. A. Foakes. London: Penguin Books
Ltd, 1968. Print.
Vivien
Miss
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