The scene starts with an idealistic painting done by Leonato of the surrounding landscape. As this is a comedy, this is quite appropriate, as Shakespeare’s comedies are set in an idealistic world. The camera then shows us the real landscape, with hills and rolling plains and old villas. Beatrice is still reading the poem, while the camera panning, showing us who is taking part in the picnic. Then we see Beatrice, who is sitting in a tree and is very tanned. The camera moves upwards from her legs, showing her tanned and with her legs apart. She sits apart from everyone else, impressing on us her independence. This is Branagh’s interpretation of her character. The scene and the atmosphere created is of happiness and optimism.
When the messenger’s horse arrives, there is suddenly a sense of urgency in the air, as if there has been a tragedy. The horse arriving very fast, and the breathlessness of the messenger, conveys this. There is an entire orchestra in the background, playing fast-paced music. Everyone is suddenly worried and anxious, shown by the camera panning across the entire group and showing us everyone’s face. When the messenger delivers his message, which says that Don Pedro is to arrive at Leonato’s villa, everyone is relieved and happy again. The music stops when Leonato reads out the rest of the message, to make the audience have fewer things to distract them. The main plot is hinted to us, when Leonato mentions Claudio, and the camera cuts between Leonato and Hero, who looks bashful. Now we know that Hero in love with Claudio, shown to us by Hero looking at the ground at Claudio’s name. Another sub-plot is revealed when Beatrice asks about Benedick, and insults him in front of everyone. They are only friendly jests, and here we discover the rivalry between Beatrice and Benedick. And Beatrice’s independence is again shown when she stands up for herself to both Leonato, her uncle, and the messenger. Her boldness and quick thinking, with her feeding the messenger a grape and her witty remarks are also obvious. Her talk about Benedick is punctuated with her eating grapes, as if Benedick doesn’t matter to her, and that she’s only asking casually.
When they see the horses of the men who were at war arriving over the hill, there is, again, a great sense of urgency, with all the men and women rushing off to get ready. You only hear the music first, and then the sound of the horses’ hooves on the ground. This is an effective way of gradually building up a character in front of you, showing their horses, then their company banners, then their faces, one by one. This is when you get to see most of the main male characters arriving on horseback from the war. There is another bout of strong, urgent music, and you can see both sides in slow motion. This is very effective, as it shows you the men and women individually. Slow motion is used to give us the impression that things seem slower because everyone is charged, emotionally. It shows the women excited because the men have come back from the war. The music then changes to martial, when the men are the only ones shown by the camera, all on horseback.
When the men and women are getting bathed and dressed, there is a bit of “innocent fun”, using “tastefully done” nudity. This might have been put in to keep the audience interested and is innocuous, so unlikely to offend anybody. This is also an open display of sexuality and romance, used by Branagh to convey innocence and openness on the part of the young people. There is also a bit of comedy inserted with Margaret powdering her visible chest above her dress line, showing her character to be very showy and ostentatious. Again, there is the fast-paced music, and the camera focuses on, momentarily showing Beatrice just adjusting her hair, a hint telling us that she doesn’t care much about her looks. Stirring music then starts playing in the background as Don Pedro, Don John and other main characters march into the villa. The men are shown in formation, showing us that they are soldiers and men of strict discipline. The camera cuts between the men and the women in the upstairs windows, as they hurry down to meet the men in the courtyard. The camera gradually moves to lower floors of the villa, showing more women peeking out of windows. At this point, you notice the subtle differences between the men. Don Pedro’s men are dressed in dark blue, while Don John’s in black, and this, as we can work out, is the uniform the men wore at war. This tells us that the two sides are similar, but not the same as each other, as are the colours black and blue. And we also see the women and men living in the villa come down to the courtyard to greet the soldiers, with subtle hints again. This is a visual representation of their pairings. When Don Pedro, Don John, and their men enter, along with Leonato and his group, the camera shows us a top view, and then shows us Hero stands opposite Claudio, and Don Pedro opposite Leonato, and cutting between Don Pedro and Leonato, and their celebratory hug and subsequent conversation.
The music switches to soothing, cheerful music, relaxes you, as the viewer, and tells us of a celebratory atmosphere. More hints are given to us about plots, where Claudio glances across the courtyard and smiles, and the camera cuts to Hero, who looks down and blushes. This is another hint provided to us at a subconscious level that Hero and Claudio are in love.
When Benedick starts a battle of wits with Beatrice, you can see the concentration of everyone else around them. Everyone looks at them, as if this is something that is akin to street theatre, as if it’s something to watch. The camera cuts between the two of them very fast, giving us a sense of something close to awe at the speed these two think up cutting remarks. At the end of this, after everyone has finished laughing, the music, which had stopped at the beginning of the joust, starts again, but morosely, as everyone notices Don John. As the music is silenced, everyone is quiet, and Leonato approaches him, while in the background, a violin plays sad music, as if something has happened to Don John, and there is cause for grief. Leonato speaks in a hushed voice, as does Don John, who also stutters when he speaks, giving us a feeling that he is slightly sinister. Don John stands off to one side, showing us that he is a loner and even stands apart from his men and his brother, telling us that there is hatred between the two. After this scene, everyone forgets about him and walks off, content about life in the villa. Cheering, uplifting music in the background gives us a heightened sense of a party atmosphere.
Thus, Branagh has successfully made the play into a film without a hitch. He uses a variety of filming techniques unavailable to those on stage, and used them well to create and introduce likeable characters. He has managed, in about 10 to 15 minutes, to introduce most of the plot details, characters and themes of the play, “Much Ado About Nothing”.
