All's Well That Ends Well (1981)

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Siskoid
All's Well That Ends Well is one of Shakespeare's most underrated comedies, but then, it's part of the late cycle of plays where the romance tends to leave a sour taste in the audience's mouth. Nevertheless, the language is wonderful, and the story takes many surprising turns (and it starts with a parody of Hamlet!). The story? Helena is low-born but in love with a young Count, and she'll do anything to make him hers, up to and including healing the King of France and faking her own death. Shakespeare's throws in a cowardly soldier (Parolles) for good measure, and a naughty clown. All's Well is full of memorable characters. But the Count is a sore spot. He is such a douchebag, you don't WANT Helena to end up with him, and his praise of Paroles is as much an indictment of his bad judgement as his rejection of her. Not for the first time, the BBC production of a Shakespeare play miscasts a heroine - Angela Down is a bit too plain and dull for the part - but I love Donald Sinden's wise King and his warnings about deceiving appearances, and Peter Jeffrey is a good Paroles. The production actively uses mise en scène from Vermeer paintings, though this does lead to some unflattering lighting at times. But overall, I quite liked it. 6 years 1 month ago