Love's Labour's Lost (2000)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
A scholarly king and his three companions swear off the society of women for three years, only to have a diplomatic visit from a French princess and her three ladies-in-waiting thwart their intentions.
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What critics compared Love's Labour's Lost to
Working with the doomed Scottish weather experts (the trio, which also includes Simon (Adrian Lester, "Love's Labour's Lost") and Dennis (Richard McMillan), are reminiscent of the Australian satellite guys of "The Dish"), Jack works out a model that predicts the Northern Hemisphere will be encased in ice within 48 hours.
In recent years, the most popular musicals have been kitschy Disney animations or grand but apologetic efforts, like Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge" or Kenneth Branagh's "Love's Labour's Lost" -- both of those tried to atone for the artificiality of the form by casting people who couldn't sing.
After Hamlet — a critical success, though not a financial one – Branagh floundered a bit, directing another Shakepeare adaptation, Love’s Labour’s Lost, then The Magic Flute, followed by yet another Shakespeare work, As You Like It.
Not a stranger to creating lavish set pieces for pictures like “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Branagh crafts opulent visual compositions that are stunning for their brilliant balance of color, light, and scale.
Kenneth Branagh has directed several Shakespeare adaptations, including revisionist versions of “As You Like It” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” so he’s not averse to taking artistic risks with beloved material.
As with his most lavish Shakespeare adaptations ( Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost ), Branagh flaunts a theatrical flair, emphasizing the material’s inherently old-fashioned qualities.
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When it does appear, it doesn't make much of a splash, even when filmmakers try to give it a fresh spin as did Woody Allen in "Everyone Says I Love You" and Kenneth Branagh in "Love's Labour's Lost."
In keeping with a recent motion picture trend that anarchonistically applies modern music to period pieces, Moulin Rouge ventures down the same trail explored by the likes of Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost and the woefully inept A Knight's Tale.