How to make people watch Shakespeare: Just put Tom Hiddleston in everything
Before we review the recording of the live broadcast of the Donmar Warehouse production of Coriolanus, which was screened by the British Council on September 5 and 6 at Greenbelt, let’s get Tom Hiddleston’s pants out of the way.
We know that Tom Hiddleston is probably the most charming person on earth at present. He is so adorable that in the Marvel movies, his Loki lays waste to the capitals of worlds, and we not only forgive him, we make excuses for his behavior (Well, you know, he’s really a frost giant adopted by Odin and he had to grow up in Thor’s very large shadow). In The Deep Blue Sea with Rachel Weisz he is feckless and lovely; in Only Lovers Left Alive with Tilda Swinton, he is depressed and lovely. We did not like his Henry V in The Hollow Crown, but we blamed it on his director’s approach to our favorite jingoist play. He is so articulate it is almost irritating—interviewed by foreign reporters he replies in their language, he is fluent in dead languages, and he will explain the difference between Original Pronunciation and Received Pronunciation. He is unfailingly polite and willing to indulge in silliness. In short he is apparently perfect, which would make us want to punch him in the face if he didn’t carry it with humor and grace.
In Coriolanus he plays a character who is proud, martial, too honest for his own good, and a terrible elitist who scorns the masses. He is so hot the audience went into puberty, and that includes the old people. During very intense scenes, you could hear “Awww” and giggles. Every time Coriolanus kissed his wife Virgilia, someone would ask, indignantly, “And the actress still gets paid??” We three affected intellectual superiority, but could not help having this conversation.
– Are those jeans store-bought or custom-tailored?
– You’d have to be tall and lean to pull off high-waisted jeans like that.
– They’re very form-fitting.
– Well, you know. Shakespeare, tights.
– We can see what religion he is.
You cannot say that the director did not know what effect Hiddleston was having on the audience. Later she put him in an oversized t-shirt and there were gasps and coronaries as the viewers realized he wasn’t wearing anything under it. Bravo. We must use everything we can to engage with the audience.
This would just be objectification if Tom Hiddleston weren’t brilliant as Coriolanus. The proper review when our pulse rate returns to normal.
We’re glad Coriolanus is not showing at the same time as Norte or we would sneak out of our movie and cheat on Dostoevsky with Shakespeare.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 7th, 2014 at 23:52
OMG! Visible P***S Line!
September 8th, 2014 at 00:35
The entire second half was particularly riveting. That climactic scene between Volumnia and Coriolanus towards the end was electric. His performance was terrific all throughout but it was especially raw and moving (tears and snot streaming down his face) in this portion. For once, his character truly listened to another person and lay down his anger and pride. His eyes said it all. How could you not yield if you had a mother like that? I wonder if he cried night after night the way he did in the film.
As far as sexiness goes, that shower scene– even if he was clothed, covered in greasepaint, and dimly-lit in it– was attention-grabbing. Hindi ko makalimutan ang shaking of the head and spraying water all over part na yan. (Shallow observation: hindi kaya natalsikan ng droplets ang mga nasa front row?)
The role of the wife seemed diminished here, in comparison to that of Jessica Chastain’s in Ralph Fiennes’s Coriolanus. It seems to me that Chastain had more of an impact in that version (or maybe I just remember Chastain more because of her Hollywood star status).
Did you find the ending rather abrupt? Am not familiar with the play, so I do not know if, perhaps by cutting out lines of dialogue, the director somehow gave us a version that felt truncated right at the end. At any rate, that visceral (literally), dramatic end was powerful.
September 8th, 2014 at 07:00
Thank you for your article and for watching Coriolanus Ms Zafra! The British Embassy Manila would be interested to invite you to more of these kind of events. If you are interested, please do send us an email at greatcampaignph@gmail.com Cheers!
September 8th, 2014 at 07:41
Ooops. Should have written: “As far as sexiness goes, yes, he has it in spades. While titillation was not the intention, that shower scene– with him covered in greasepaint and dimly-lit — was attention-grabbing.”
September 8th, 2014 at 11:18
Sana ipalabas ulit! Ansarap mag-“feeling proud girlfriend” ahhahahah!
And if I may add — we not only forgive him for wearing the same rotation of maybe 5 shirts, we find it charming.
September 8th, 2014 at 11:58
While not exactly a fan of Tom H I only read good things when this play was going on. If I knew this was being shown in Greenbelt, man, I would have loved watching it! Is there any chance of another showing? Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing Hamlet next year, I hope they show it here too! And his Frankenstein with Johnny Miller.
September 8th, 2014 at 21:24
Because of a ticket booking mix-up, my friends and I saw the first public screening. Been following it when it started screening last year in London, and it was one of those performances that you’ll be dying to see because (a) it’s Hiddleston and (b) it’s Hiddleston playing a different kind of “villain.” As expected, with Hiddleston as Coriolanus he managed to make the character charming and appealing (particularly the part where he was asking the people for their approval) despite being a douchebag to the people.
I sent a link to this article to my friend who I watched it with, and she said “maybe Jessica was at the same screening as we are” because of this part:
“He is so hot the audience went into puberty, and that includes the old people. During very intense scenes, you could hear “Awww” and giggles. Every time Coriolanus kissed his wife Virgilia, someone would ask, indignantly, “And the actress still gets paid??”
Then again as far as Hiddleston is concerned, there will always be someone in every screening that will squeal and giggle and gasp at everything he does.
We also overheard someone commenting that the English is so “luma” it’s hard to understand. I had this reaction:
http://i.imgur.com/gwSrjP3.gif
(For the whole story behind that clip [it’s Shakespeare-related], watch here: http://teamcoco.com/video/nathan-fillion-internet-meme?.src=ap:80851)
@avignon: True. Birgitte’s Virgilia seemed bleh, the only part she showed some spark was when she and Volumnia confronted the two tribunes.
All in all it was an awesome experience. Not the same as seeing it live but close enough as this is a “once in a lifetime” situation. I wish more NT Live screenings will be done here (perhaps as an alternative to just showing British films for film fests). I believe NT performances are filmed, but not all are released for NT Live. Would’ve loved to see Cillian Murphy’s “Misterman.” The trailer for “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” shown during the interval for Coriolanus seemed awesome as well.
@danielle: Cumberbatch’s Frankenstein will be screened again in the UK for NT Live due to public demand. Hopefully here too!
September 10th, 2014 at 21:05
I was reading and my son, Uno asked, “Sino ‘yan?” I answered, “Si Loki.” Then he asked again “Nung hindi pa s’ya god?”