King Lear
by Richard Eyre
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amanda Redman, Barbara Flynn, David Lyon, Ian Holm, Paul RhysDirector: Richard Eyre
Brand: Wgbh Wholesale
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 150 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-28
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: PBS
Movie Reviews of King Lear
Movie Review: Superb!
Summary: 5 Stars
Lear is a play, one of several by Shakespeare, always completely owned and dominated by its lead. Ian Holm is one of those extraordinary actors who can bring tremendous depth and texture to even the shallowest things: witness his work in "The Day After Tomorrow" and, from an acting standpoint, the tremendously underrated science fiction film "The Fifth Element." I can safely say that Holm's presence in any film is enough to get me to see it and I can't say that about any other contemporary actor. He is always a total joy and after many years it's wonderful to see him finally achieving the stature over here that he deserves.
Needless to say, the mere idea of Holm doing Lear is brilliant. Good news is this production scores high marks across the board and lacks the at-times labored self-consciousness of the highly regarded Lear production featuring Olivier (The play can only bear the weight of one old King). Holm's portrayal of Lear's possible senility is not as overt and inevitable, he is more shown as a man who, at the peak of his power, uses that power to deny his responsibility for anything. He wants to be treated like a king without being burdened as a king. Making him out to simply be a senile old fool makes too much of a victim of him, especially to modern audiences. This king is old enough to have reached the end of his ambitions but not the end of his responsibilities--I believe that may be the core point of the play. Shakespeare needed Lear to be an old man because the idea of a younger man surrendering power probably would have seemed improbable, almost laughable, to his audiences without the introduction of a complexifying plot device, an external reason for the king to give up the throne. He'd also be handing power over to inappropriately younger heirs. It would then be an entirely different play.
The Bard may also be saying that senility is sometimes the result of abrogation or denial (to us--broadly--even from an external source) of responsibilities: old age shouldn't imply second childhood but if responsibility is taken away that's all that is left to any adult. In many ways, given our careless and insensitive treatment of age and experience in this culture--a culture sadly lacking in respect for our own wise old men and women--many of Lear's true messages may, in fact, be more than a bit alien for us if the play is presented wrongly. It could be why we tend to--incorrectly perhaps--overplay the senility card.
It's a subtle balancing act for any actor and Holm does a near perfect job of it. What some portray as senility, Holm shows rightly as the confusion of an individual accustomed to having his own way who no longer gets his own way and cannot for the life of him grasp why. Taken this way, the play has spectacular relevance for contemporary audiences, and may actually be about the most currently relevant of Shakespeare's plays. Think of the juvenile antics of the Tyco executives, of Donald Trump, of most of Hollywood, of the last several Presidential administrations. Will there someday be a Lear in the Oval Office wondering why the world has marginalized his or her nation and economy; why simply waving a flag and being the USA in name only ultimately means absolutely nothing?
Summary of King Lear
Royal national theatre production of the classic tale. Studio: Wgbh Wholesale Release Date: 09/28/2004 Starring: Ian Holm Run time: 150 minutesSimilar DVD Movies
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