King Lear
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Movie Reviews of King Lear
Movie Review: No Nuance
Summary: 2 Stars
This is a production totally without nuance and its owes that to the bellowing of Ian Holm. Holm as Lear bellows at the beginning. he bellows in the middle. And he belows at the end. Lear bellows when he is dividing teh kingdom. he bellows then he rejects Cordelia. he bellows when he realises that he has been betrayed by Goneriel and Regan. The character presented as Lear is entirely one dimensional. Any change of circumstance or emotion is presented as more bellowing. There is no tragedy in this production because there is no change in Lear from beginning to end.
This DVD is not worth buying.
Movie Review: Highlighters
Summary: 4 Stars
This version of King Lear highlights the action of Lear and his daughters. The setting, costumes, and minor characters are downplayed so that the viewer can really focus in on Lear and his daughters.The change in setting from a bland inside to the stormy, or foggy outside makes the scenes more memorable and helps to highlight the events that happen in these outdoor settings. For instance, when Lear is outside in the storm, the storm seems to be used as a mirror to show Lear's madness.
The film was good. The staging at the end was especially useful to the viewer in tying up loose ends. After reading the play, the movie highlighted many things that may not have been understood from simply reading the play.
Movie Review: King Lear Meets Star Wars
Summary: 2 Stars
The casting director should have spared us the bow to diversity and political correctness when a hispanic was cast as France and a negro as Burgundy. Set design and costume sacrificed tradition and historical representation to economy and off-beat originality. The costumes resemble those of Star Wars. The Fool, instead of being youthful, agile and entertaining, is fat, old and dumpy. The most entertaining thing about the fool is Lear referring to the grizzled 70 year-old as "boy". Holms as Lear can't hold a candle to Lawrence Oliver. Holms plays every scene with the same, monotonous, high level of intensity, like a manic Lear. He is unable to play Lear as a likeable, sympathetic character, in any scene. During the scene in which Lear's heart is supposed to break when Cordelia fails to declare her love with sufficient eloquence, Holms' Lear only comes accross as manic, obsessed and neurotic. Even with its poor film quality, Sir Lawrence Oliver's production is the best.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?
Movie Review: A Fool and His Kingdom are Parted
Summary: 5 Stars
Though I love the plays of William Shakespeare, I have never been a fan of King Lear. Watching has always been too depressing for me. Even when it is well acted, it leaves me feeling progressively worse. This production has made me revise my opinion.
The story of King Lear is the story of an aging king. He decides to go into a sort of retirement and divide his kingdom between his three daughers. The catch is that first, he wants each of the girls to explain how much she loves him. The two older daughters are fullsome in their praise even if their motives are purely mercenary. The youngest daughter, however is different. SHe refuses to play the game. She is genuine in her love but refuses to engage in the one upmanship. As a result, her infuriated father disinherits her completely. All that follows results from this first act. The king becomes a figure of contempt and the older daughters squabble for a bigger and bigger prize. The result is a civil war and tragedy for all.
As in of of the Bard's plays, there are numerous substories. Most of them here invo;ve backstabbing and the alienation of friends and family. King Lear acts in anything but a regal fashion and his actions get progressively worse. You want to storm out onto the stage and beat some sense into him.
The title character is played here in a very refreshing and energetic fashion. This only serves to accentuate the slide into senility and childish behavior. The other roles are well done too.
This is a Masterpiece Theater adaptation for television. It does not have all of the lavish production values of a Kenneth Branagh film but that in no way detracts from a first class performance.
This Lear is a must for Shakespeare fans and is quite good enough for a general audience as well.