It had been some months since I last watched the Sonnet Project, and it was recently I caught up on 4 or 5 of them. The first few, being honest, were either just okay or not great, and it was disappointing since I really do enjoy this series for making the text more accessible, and playing with ways to deliver them, and often presenting meaning I did not see when I just read the words myself. So this film of sonnet 99 was quite a pleasure for me because it is much more of the quality that I look for in the series.
The sonnet sort of compares the beloved to flowers, but not in the usual way where the person is compared to the beauty of a flower, but rather the flowers are viewed as clearly having copied or stolen their beauty from the person (and been lesser copies at that!). In this film we see this played out as a young man walks to his lover's house with a bunch of flowers. As he goes, and as the sonnet is delivered, he discards the flowers that he sees as thieves of his love's beauty. It is a nice way to deliver the text and it makes clear what the mind of the character is in regard to these words – making them more understandable and accessible (which really is the goal of these films).
The specifics of the delivery are also good. The film has quite an upbeat and comedic tone, and this matches the engaging and enjoyable performance from Straus; he is funny, understands what he is doing in terms of the text, and most importantly, his delivery adds to the words for the viewer. Technically the film is strong too. The text is delivered in a mix of narration and spoken on-screen, and the way in which this does this works in the context of the film – with some lines being thoughts, other lines being direct in the moment. Importantly there is no big quality gap between these two sources. Visually the film looks good, with good grading in post to bring out the color and support this otherworldly feel the film has (and the sharp images were probably important since the location used was the home of photographer Alice Austen).
In the end, the film stands out as being smart, entertaining, meaningful, and adding value and accessibility to the text. A strong entry in the series, and more appreciated as it came after a short run of not so great ones.
The sonnet sort of compares the beloved to flowers, but not in the usual way where the person is compared to the beauty of a flower, but rather the flowers are viewed as clearly having copied or stolen their beauty from the person (and been lesser copies at that!). In this film we see this played out as a young man walks to his lover's house with a bunch of flowers. As he goes, and as the sonnet is delivered, he discards the flowers that he sees as thieves of his love's beauty. It is a nice way to deliver the text and it makes clear what the mind of the character is in regard to these words – making them more understandable and accessible (which really is the goal of these films).
The specifics of the delivery are also good. The film has quite an upbeat and comedic tone, and this matches the engaging and enjoyable performance from Straus; he is funny, understands what he is doing in terms of the text, and most importantly, his delivery adds to the words for the viewer. Technically the film is strong too. The text is delivered in a mix of narration and spoken on-screen, and the way in which this does this works in the context of the film – with some lines being thoughts, other lines being direct in the moment. Importantly there is no big quality gap between these two sources. Visually the film looks good, with good grading in post to bring out the color and support this otherworldly feel the film has (and the sharp images were probably important since the location used was the home of photographer Alice Austen).
In the end, the film stands out as being smart, entertaining, meaningful, and adding value and accessibility to the text. A strong entry in the series, and more appreciated as it came after a short run of not so great ones.