Sonnet #112
- Episode aired Aug 12, 2014
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
Photos
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Featured review
S1.75: Sonnet #112: An odd but effective interpretation plays like a chiller more than romance
I am almost glad that my opinions on these films will be pretty much never read by anyone because I am sure that for the artists making these films and, in particular, the text coaches working with them, my simple takes on the sonnets would have them rolling their eyes. So it is with 112 because I took away the basic meaning that "you are my everything", but much better stated! The sonnet goes into detail how much this is the case and, while it doesn't read like a romantic piece of poetry due to the discussion of flaws, perception, death etc, it certainly did not occur to me the way that the film plays it out.
I suppose that, without the romantic context, the declaration to someone that they are everything, that only their view matters and that the connection is so strong the world seems dead compared to the subject, well, it is a bit creepy to say the least; and it is this aspect that the film plays to. In the film a young woman is in a snowy Central Par; she seems totally alone – maybe there is nobody left in the whole world, never mind the park. She sits on a bench, behind which she hears a phone ringing from the snow; she answers and a man's voice begins the delivery of the sonnet. While he does this, the camera takes in the young woman who is tense, but also lots of shots of dead forest and snow, while the music adds to the sense of chill and threat.
This sense continues across the film and, while I really doubt that Shakespeare envisaged the text being delivered as if from some serial killer or stalker, it actually works pretty well. With this new context the words carry menace and they do seem eerily suitable for an obsessive crazy to be saying to a beautiful young woman who is trapped in a sort of dead dreamscape world. Kendall's voice work does the trick in that regard, but Hip-Flores is also convincing as a little lost and yet not frightening, strengthening the feeling that the whole thing is occurring in a weird dream-like state.
An odd interpretation of the sonnet for sure, but it is one that works, with all aspects coming together well in a creepy, threatening tone that is engaging and very different than I expected!
I suppose that, without the romantic context, the declaration to someone that they are everything, that only their view matters and that the connection is so strong the world seems dead compared to the subject, well, it is a bit creepy to say the least; and it is this aspect that the film plays to. In the film a young woman is in a snowy Central Par; she seems totally alone – maybe there is nobody left in the whole world, never mind the park. She sits on a bench, behind which she hears a phone ringing from the snow; she answers and a man's voice begins the delivery of the sonnet. While he does this, the camera takes in the young woman who is tense, but also lots of shots of dead forest and snow, while the music adds to the sense of chill and threat.
This sense continues across the film and, while I really doubt that Shakespeare envisaged the text being delivered as if from some serial killer or stalker, it actually works pretty well. With this new context the words carry menace and they do seem eerily suitable for an obsessive crazy to be saying to a beautiful young woman who is trapped in a sort of dead dreamscape world. Kendall's voice work does the trick in that regard, but Hip-Flores is also convincing as a little lost and yet not frightening, strengthening the feeling that the whole thing is occurring in a weird dream-like state.
An odd interpretation of the sonnet for sure, but it is one that works, with all aspects coming together well in a creepy, threatening tone that is engaging and very different than I expected!
helpful•00
- bob the moo
- Aug 17, 2014
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content