Find the Beauty

Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing is interesting because it is set in contemporary time, with all the modern technological advancements that we use every day, but the speech is taken directly from the script that Shakespeare wrote. What does this do for the film? What does this do for the viewers of the film?

Take a look at this video. For my purposes, you need only watch about 15-20 seconds starting at about 5:51. This segment is Alexis Denisof, who played Benedick, speaking directly about the language of the film, and why they chose not to "update" it to the contemporary vernacular. He says that they "let the audience find the beauty of the language rather than have it presented to them."
I think that this is important, because to be honest, the language did seem a bit strange to me in a contemporary setting. However, I think that if I watched it again, I would may have a different outlook, especially with Denisof's words in mind.

*Swedish expression used when tickling someone, roughly "tickle, tickle, tickle"

Of course, since we are not contemporaries with the Bard, there is the possibility that we may confuse something in the language of his plays like these parents do in this comic. (Speaking of which, I think it's pretty funny.) However, it seems that Joss and his crew decided to take that chance.  

Or you could look at it the other way; that they were maybe afraid of taking something wrong, so they chose not to interpret and translate into our vernacular. Instead, they left it up to the audience to do so. 

However, I don't think that this is a very compelling interpretation. For one thing, what Denisof said in the video seems to indicate a different interpretation. Second, and what I think is most important, there needs to be interpretation in order to produce an adaptation of any of Shakepeare's plays, including this one. There is not much in the way of stage direction; the plays are almost completely dialogue. That means that what is seen on screen, in this case, as an adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is interpretation.

Overall, I really liked this adaptation. The only thing that bothered me at all was the language, and although I think it could still be a barrier, I like was Denisof had to say. Whedon left it up to the audience, left it up to me to find the beauty in the language.