The Well-Tempered Civil War

[steepholm]

I enjoyed the BBC Richard II a lot, and had been looking forward greatly to 1 Henry IV, and especially Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff - a role one might think him born and made for.

I've just watched it on iPlayer; and while there was much to like about it (the shots of the frost-bitten battleground of Shrewsbury, for example), in the end I didn't feel satisfied by the production. Partly it was that Tom Hiddlestone as Prince Hal kept reminding me involuntarily of Andrew Motion, perhaps the least martial of living poets; but mostly it was SRB's Falstaff, or rather what his Falstaff did to the balance of the play as a whole.

It's not that you can't make a case for playing Falstaff as embittered, cynical, joyless, bored and so on, and certainly SRB played him well enough in that vein. But a) that is a modulation probably best reserved for the more wintery atmosphere of 2 Henry IV (where can SRB go with this performance next week?); and b) 1 Henry IV is Shakespeare's ultimate ensemble piece: here more than elsewhere, what you do with one character affects our understanding of the others, and of the whole.

For a long time, in fact, this was my favourite Shakespeare: it was the one play in which I liked something at least about everyone! Different as Falstaff, Hotspur, the King and Hal were (along with their respective mise en scènes), their differences were balanced out in a way that made the sum seem life-affirming.

Thinking about it this evening in terms of this balance, "the key to 1 Henry IV" fell unbidden into my lap. It's about the four humours, of course! There's melancholic Henry IV; choleric Hotspur and Glendower; phlegmatic, self-controlled Hal; and not least, sanguine Falstaff. None of these men is satisfactory in himself, but combine them in the just proportion, and the play achieves a harmony beyond the reach of any of its characters. Now that I've put it that way to myself, the problem with playing Falstaff as SRB played him is apparent: it throws the humoural balance out of whack.

Circa 1970, this kind of insight would have made a nice paper for PMLA. Now, it's just a blog post.

Comments

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

By (Saint) George, I think you're onto something. SRB was actually funnier as Stalin (in Collaborators)--he had a kind of ranting roaring exhilarating comic energy, even as a psychopathic monster. There's got to be some reason for Hal's fascination with Falstaff.

I didn't have your negative associations with Hiddlestone, so I liked him fine. Though I do sympathize (Ingmar Bergman's Tamino looked just like my yuppie then-landlord).

On the other hand, I loved this Hotspur. Mad for certain, disjunct, distractible, obsessive, and so very very Northern.

Nine

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, I liked Hotspur too - fresh from a ruck at St James's Park! I'm surprised he didn't go into battle shirtless.

[nightspore.livejournal.com]

And I wouldn't have read it in PMLA, but here I admire.

Empson's Falstaff, it sounds like SRB was playing.

His Leontes (I think I may have mentioned) was one of the most stunning performances I've ever seen. "It shall not, neither." I'll be haunted by his reading of that line till I die.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

SRB is a great actor - otherwise I suppose I wouldn't have felt moved to puzzle at my disappointment.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

I haven't had a chance to watch 1H4 yet, and I'm really curious about SRB's Falstaff, because I am a pro-dark-Falstaff person in general; on the other hand, nobody seems to have liked him very much. But on the third hand (some honest Christian trust me with a gage!) most of the Shakespeare people I know aren't very into Falstaff to begin with.

(and I cannot wait for SRB's Timon on NT Live. That is going to rock SO HARD.)

All that said, I am kind of worried that Roger Allam has spoiled me for all other Falstaffs. He was utterly amazing.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I am a pro-dark-Falstaff person in general

Whereas I distinctly remember murmuring, "If Falstaff isn't funny, what's the fucking point of him?"

Even if he isn't "jolly" we should be startled into laughter by the contrast between his age and girth, and his improbable, preternatural energy. Whereas this one looked and behaved like of all of his inclining-to-three-score, sack-sodden years.

I don't know if I count as a Shakespeare person, but I really do like Falstaff, and I like SRB too - hence my disappointment!

[sheenaghpugh]

I'm not sure about this - it may be my innate prejudice against drunks, but I find Falstaff about as funny as Sir Toby Belch, ie not remotely. I feel too much disgust at them for humour to creep in.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I identify too much with Malvolio to like Toby Belch much, but Falstaff - well, he's not cuddly, that's for sure: he's got to be played on a knife edge, I think, to work, poised between carnival and riot. "If every day were playing holiday, to sport would be as tedious as to work"; but on the other hand (to borrow a Belchism), "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"

It's all about the balance, said the epicure.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Falstaff has to be more appealing to Hal than being in court, or else why is Hal there? Falstaff is a rogue and a knave and a liar and a drunk and he has to have the charm and lovability that lets him get away with all that, that makes him attractive. It has to be fun. And besides that, it has to be where Hal learns to be Henry V and go around the camp with a word for everyone. The whole thing is a whole thing, and a story about Hal. I didn't realise that seeing Henry V alone is to miss half the play until I saw _An Age of Kings_ and watched Hal evolve.

I really like your humours idea. The way I see it is that Falstaff and Bolingbroke have to balance, they are the two fathers, and Hal's choices have to be choices to wind the mainspring of the play.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Hal has two fathers, and Henry has two sons (or three, if you count little Johnny Lancaster) - it's all very neat!

But yes, without charm Falstaff may be an interesting character study, but he makes nonsense of the play.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Henry IV historically had a whole pile of sons, but Shakespeare wisely left them out -- which does mean they come as a bit of a shock in _Henry VI_.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

In this film, when Henry IV tears a strip off Hal, he does it in front of a row of scared brothers. It's an excellent touch (and a terrific scene).

There are some beautiful small things in this production. I liked the look on Doll's face when Hal hands her the wad of Falstaff's reckonings to read: she can't read and can't even begin to grapple with telling Hal what he doesn't understand, so she shrugs.

When Owen Glendower calls for musicians, he appears to conjure them, with a take that, Hotspur look on his face. Maybe the camera sees through his eyes for that instant.

Nine

[nwhyte]

I don't know the play as well as you do, though I had the pleasure of seeing SRB in The Winter's Tale a couple of years ago.

The BBC play was significantly cut to emphasise him, and to a lesser extent the Falstaff/Hal relationship; and a lot of Hotspur got cut out. To me it felt very unbalanced as a result.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, I noticed that quite a few of my favourite lines had gone west: Hal's speech about Hotspur being his factor, for example.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I liked his performance but thought his make-up made him look like Gimli, which was distracting to say the least.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

It hadn't occurred to me, but now you mention it...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I thought the direction in general owed a great deal to Peter Jackson, the shot with Hal kneeling over Hotspur's body near the foot of a tree not least.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, and also the shot of the two armies running together with a big WHOOMPH as they collide.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Yes! And the general aesthetic of grubby people with implausibly good teeth.

[sheenaghpugh]

TH reminded me of J J Feild, and hence Henry Tilney! I liked that Hotspur and his dad were played by father and son.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I didn't realise that (about the father and son)!

[perdix.livejournal.com]

My friend Jeffrey Barg wrote the music and lyrics for a foot-stompin' 1 Henry IV musical - yep, you read that right! - called Wars and Whores, which premiered at the Philly Fringe Festival last year. They did really well, so they made a studio recording of the soundtrack (you can listen to clips here) and are working on taking it up to NYC. (Off-)Broadway, here we come, baby - this thing's got legs!! But seriously, it's a fun take on the play.

P.S. My fave track is "Talkin' Richard Two Two-Timin' Blues."

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

That sounds awesome!