Much Ado About Nothing

This play is one of the greatest romantic comedies ever written. Like many of Shakespeare' s comedies, it is very earthy and lusty. People seem to fall in love through a fury of summer madness. My intention was to make explicit in the film what is only implicit in the play. I wanted this to be a fairy tale -beautifully dressed and lovingly photographed -that can also be very frightening at times, Like all good fairy tales, there's a strong, dark undercurrent to the story. It's also very, very funny. (K. Branagh)