Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen" is a fascinating play, possibly a great one. This stripped-down version is worth watching if you have not seen the original, but it has been "adapted" to fit a TV time slot and leaves out too much. A distinguished cast turns in gripping performances, substantially helped by the constant reiteration on the soundtrack of one of Schubert's most haunting slow movements. But after reading the play and then watching the film again I found that many nuances are lost. A drama has been turned into a recitation.
These criticisms reflect above all on Howard Davies, who adapted the play and directed the film. Perhaps he is not to blame for the misbegotten notion of hacking the play down to the trunk, but the pruning (or maybe butchering) could have done more competently. I could not believe my ears when I heard Rea (Bohr), in a description of the process of nuclear fission, utter the words "two hundred and eighty" although Frayn's original text clearly states (in numerical form which I cannot reproduce here) "2 to the 80th power ... a number with 24 noughts." Whether Davies authored the error or merely let it pass as director, it is evidence that he was simply not up to the job. Still, the person who should hang is the one who thought of cutting the play down to 90 minutes in the first place.
These criticisms reflect above all on Howard Davies, who adapted the play and directed the film. Perhaps he is not to blame for the misbegotten notion of hacking the play down to the trunk, but the pruning (or maybe butchering) could have done more competently. I could not believe my ears when I heard Rea (Bohr), in a description of the process of nuclear fission, utter the words "two hundred and eighty" although Frayn's original text clearly states (in numerical form which I cannot reproduce here) "2 to the 80th power ... a number with 24 noughts." Whether Davies authored the error or merely let it pass as director, it is evidence that he was simply not up to the job. Still, the person who should hang is the one who thought of cutting the play down to 90 minutes in the first place.