Bath Film Festival 2006

As You Like It

Inspired by a visit to a temple in Kyoto, Kenneth Branagh imagines the bard’s skittish romantic comedy relocated to 19th century Japan. The Forest of Arden (recreated here in Shepperton Studios) is the pastoral limbo in which Rosalind, exiled to the forest by Duke Frederick (Brian Blessed) and incognito as Ganymede, tests the trueness of her lover Orlando. A terrific cast, as you’d expect from Branagh, is topped by Bryce Dallas Howard (Manderlay, The Village) as Rosalind and Romola Garai (Vanity Fair) as her faithful sidekick Celia. The Japanese aesthetic results in an interpretation of Shakespeare as visually ravishing as it is daring. The festival is indebted to Lionsgate Films for making As You Like It available for these GB première screenings. CB

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