Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is true to the characters, plot, and language of the original play. However, it is not just a flat, uninspiring copy. Instead, it builds on Shakespeare's language and the play's cast of characters with the addition of cinematography, sound, and other elements. The effectiveness of these elements is especially prevalent in the early part of act 1, scene 1, where Benedict and Beatrice trade barbs after Claudio and Hero have been introduced. The effective use of sound and blocking in this scene serves to highlight how others view Benedict and Beatrice, while the casting and cinematography very clearly signal to the audience who the villain in the play is. What is most interesting about this is that these things are present in the original, but the film enhances them. Branagh's adaptation shows how a theatrical presentation of a play can bring it to life with the addition of cinemaotgraphy and other techniques.
Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy which follows the problems faced by two young people, Claudio and Hero, when the jealous Don John interferes in their marriage. A second plot to Claudio's marriage is the "merry war" (I.1.54) between Benedict and Beatrice. This couple serve as comic relief by being at each other's throats throughout the play before finally admitting their feelings for one another and marrying. Both the original script and Kenneth Branagh's screen adaptation of the play neatly show these two plots progressing at the same time. In Act 1, Scene 1, when Claudio and Don Pedro first arrive at Leonato's mansion, both couples are on screen together for the first time.
In Shakespeare's original script, much of this first scene of the play is given over to Beatrice's banter with the messenger about Benedick, or banter between the two of them once he arrives. Because "the essence of a Shakespeare play is its language," ("dialogue") the conversation between Benedick and Beatrice is the main way we learn about the characters in the original script. However, the script is less effective at introducing other plots. Don John, the antagonist, gets only one line, and Claudio's and Hero's romance is not mentioned until halfway through the scene, when Claudio pulls Benedick aside and asks him "didst thou note the daughter of Signor Leonato?" (I.1.146). Although the first scene of the written play is amusing, then, it does not establish the conflicts or main characters as effectively as it could.
In Branagh's screen adaptation, on the other hand, both sets of relationships are well established a few minutes into the film, and Don John's role as the antagonist is also clear. Benedick and Beatrice's relationship is established partly by their dialogue, just as in the play, but the movie's cinematography also highlights their comic role. For example, in lines 101-130, the two have their first on-screen dialogue. In the play, this happens with the other characters still present, but none of them comment on the dialogue. In the movie version, however, the other characters go off to one side while they talk. This effective use of blocking, or "moving actors on, off, and around stage" ("Movement") makes it far more obvious that they are separate from the main plot.
When it comes to the main plot, that is also much more obvious in Branagh's version. This is partly due to blocking again, as both Claudio and Hero look at each other eagerly when they are first on camera together. Don John, while he still does not speak during this opening scene, is also shown briefly on camera just after Claudio and Hero exchange glances. The way he looks away from the screen, visibly upset, combined with the interplay between Claudio and Hero, makes it clear that the two characters are destined for each other, and that Don John will try to stop them. The effect is increased by the fact that the actor for Don John has dark hair and dark stubble, while Claudio and Hero are both of lighter hair color and more cheerful.
The use of blocking in the movie's cinematography and the director's use of casting highlights differences between the play's characters and plots effectively. By the time the opening scene is finished, the audience knows exactly what the play will be about, and who the characters are. By using the elements of cinematography not present in the text of Shakespeare's original play, Branagh's adaptation presents a truly outstanding movie.
Works Cited
"Movement (blocking"). THE 421: Shakespeare Stage & Film. Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
"Dialogue, silences, pauses." THE 421: Shakespeare Stage & Film. Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
Branagh, Kenneth, and William Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing. Great Britain: Renaissance Films, 1993.
Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. Open Source Shakespeare. Retrieved from: http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=muchado
