Love's Labour's Lost (2000)

Kenneth Branagh          Berowne
Richard Briers           Nathaniel
Richard Clifford         Boyet
Daniel Hill (II)         Mercade
Nathan Lane              Costard
Matthew Lillard          Longeville
Geraldine McEwan         Holofernia
Emily Mortimer           Katherine
Alessandro Nivola        The King of Navarre
Alicia Silverstone       Princess of France
Timothy Spall            Don Armado
Jimmy Yuill              Dull
Carmen Ejogo             Maria
Adrian Lester            Dumaine

Directed by:             Kenneth Branagh
Produced by:             Guy East, Nigel Sinclair, Alexis Lloyd


A musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, set in the glamorous court of the King of Navarre. 
In 1939, the King and his three best friends swear off women for several years so they can devote 
themselves to philosophical study. However, when the Princess of France arrives on a diplomatic mission 
with her three beautiful attendants in tow, their plan goes awry. The men conceal their passions from 
each other and pursue their respective love interests in secret. Their romantic interludes come to a 
grinding halt when the Princess is suddenly summoned home to bury her father and the men are recruited 
to fight the Nazis. Before they all separate, the men pledge their love and vow to remain faithful, 
no matter what the impending war may bring.

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The King of Navarre and his three companions swear a very public oath to study together and to 
renounce women for three years. Their honour is immediately put to the test by the arrival of the 
Princess of France and her three lovely companions. It's love at first sight for all concerned 
followed by the men's highly entertaining but hopeless efforts to disguise their feelings.

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Actor/director Kenneth Branagh sets his screen version of Shakespeare's play in the 1930s, adding 
such classic songs as "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "The Way You Look Tonight,"} and "Let's 
Face the Music and Dance," and staging it in the manner of a Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical. 
The King of Navarre (Allesandro Nivola) and three of his noblemen (Branagh, Matthew Lillard, and 
Adrien Lester) have decided that they're wasting their time chasing women. They swear a solemn oath 
to spend the next three years avoiding the pitfalls of romance and improving their minds. No sooner 
have they made this agreement than they meet a French princess (Alicia Silverstone) and her three 
handmaidens (Natascha McElhone, Carmen Ejogo, and Emily Mortimer). The pledge is forgotten and the 
chase is on. Love's Labour's Lost also features Nathan Lane, Timothy Spall, and Paul Whitehouse.