my humble opinion on 'As You Like It' 2006 ~ international modern Shakespeare?

plot and characters

I am no fan of Shakespeare but the truth is that I like his comedies more that tragedies. so this is the kind of story I enjoy very much

performance

let me be brief. this is the kind of modern movies that don't offend the original by its 'modernness' and retains enough impressive power from the play itself, but adds the scenery (not only in terms of nature) which only makes it more interesting to watch. 'international' cast, 'international' clothes and 'international' background set were all to the point and fitting absolutely. the child, the little girl in me loved the wedding scene greatly

 but the rest of the scenes were not less perfect

cast

Bryce Dallas Howard was good, really good... I wonder if 'twas her character that didn't allow me to fall in love with her

Janet McTeer as Audrey - weeeell... I didn't recognise her >___< for the sake of justice I must say she was almost impossible to recognise when I saw her only once and only as a 'male role player'
and finally, Romola Garai - this is who really impressed me and made me like her character. this I understand perfectly - if not for her acting I wouldn't like Celia so much, but Celia was already a character just for an actress like this. well of course I don't know much about Ms Garai, but she seemed very natural here

let me only say about others that they were very, very good. perhaps the English style of acting is closer to me, that is why I am saying so...

conclusion

a lot of fun, a bit of romance and enough original philosophy - that is what I would call this movie

my humble opinion on 'Albert Nobbs' ~ can I really call this an opinion?

'tis more about the feelings than a proper analysis or systematized evaluation. probably this is not the case when I can free myself from the impression and think calmly

plot and characters

this is a story that starts peacefully and ends peacefully, not too stirring up and intriguing, but never too boring, on the other hand. this story has the 'balance' that I usually value very much, and this is why I loved it. this is the slice-of-life that doesn't look like complete nonsense

apart from the main character living the life of the opposite sex - and another character being the same - there was nothing outstanding or unusual. there were daily routine things and special events, sad moments that touched me and a pinch of humour to make the story even more enjoyable

even if there weren't much screen time for minor characters, they had enough to let the spectators feel the time and the mores
I am no expert to speak confidently, but I do think that everything looked realistic, and everything was exactly what I would like to see

visual aspect

speaking of what I would like to see - I had enough interior to enjoy, a few streets to cast a short look at, and plenty of clothes to look more closely. one could probably want a greater panorama of the times - views of old Dublin, pictures of lovely countryside, chic salons, or something else - but I doubt the movie was aiming that high. I do believe the atmosphere can be created with less scale but more efforts. and efforts I saw in abundance
by efforts I mean how much attention was payed to every single scene and all the people and items that filled it

acting
strange 'twould be if acting was bad while everything else is absolutely splendid. however, this movie also didn't do without a blot on the landscape. the blot has the name of Mia Wasikowska
when I first saw her in 'Alice' I thought that the poor (terrible, awful, disgusting... I can go on, but I won't) Russian dub contributed greatly to her image of young incapable girl with expressions, gestures - and voice, of course - of a stone. now I see the Russian voice actress didn't change much
Mia did everything written in the script and told by the director-and-whoever-else like a good girl and but never crossed the necessary line to become realistic
this is crying, even if 'tis silent crying

and this is crying

but this is not 

I don't want to say these screenshots convey everything there was, so these three images are probably not enough to explain that some actors and actresses were good and Mia... wasn't as good. however I just could not make myself believe in her when everybody else, every character was a real, credible, living person, including all the supporting roles. I even think that this is an insult from me to mention no names here when all those people played so well, but the post would become too long and I'd like to finish with a praise for all of the crew

conclusion
even though there were hot passions, and tragedies of fate, and love and death, I still believe this is a peaceful story done in pastel colours. and people who are wondering about the main character's way of life, as well as that of Mr Page, can have this as an answer
it's not like

p. s. and the accents! a really fascinating mixture of people from different places (in terms of both geography and social standing) with their own pronunciation... oh I don't know how to express how I loved this aspect, in addition to everything else