5/5 Great adaptation, with limits
  by Ana Mardoll (United States)
Richard III / 0792844041

For various reasons, I didn't realize that this version of Richard III was an adaptation to the 1930's until the DVD menu screen popped up and the iconic 30's music started up. After getting over my initial surprise, I was skeptical - I'm actually extremely fond of Shakespeare adaptations, but this seemed over-the-top. I'm happy to say, however, that I was wrong - this is a wonderful adaptation, with a few minor limitations.

First of all, I'd like to note that this movie does not have any captions, which *really* frustrated me. If you're hard of hearing or just unused to Shakespearean English, that alone might make the movie hard to follow. We had to back up the DVD on several occasions to catch words that were slightly mumbled or garbled, but in general this wasn't a noticeable problem.

Secondly, the acting is truly superb. Ian McKellen is always wonderful, of course, but he does an absolutely terrific job of portraying the villain as Richard is written in the play, while still providing the charisma to lend credence to Lady Anne's agreement to marriage, and the general failure to catch on to Richard's plotting and schemes. The supporting cast, too, is superb, and it's hard to imagine a better acted version of this wonderful play.

As for the adaptation, I thought Shakespearean dialogue over a 1930's setting might be jarring, but for the most part the super-imposition is clean and satisfying. Quite possibly the only time I felt jarred out of the adaptation was during Richard's notable cry for a horse - uttered from atop a stalled jeep sporting a large, mounted gun. Such moments are very few, however, and this adaptation is deeply enjoyable and worth a look.

I should note, though, that this movie does sport some mild violence and frightening scenes, so if you're looking to introduce youths to Shakespeare, this might not be your first choice - but then the original play wasn't particularly muted or cheery either.

~ Ana Mardoll

4/5 no great Shakes
  by Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs)
I friend foisted this on me, declaring that if I didn't love it he would curse me for a Philistine.

It was okay, but I'm not crazy about it. The interpretation itself was serviceable: as Richard gets more and more evil, the set takes on the trappings of an overtly fascist state. Nice visuals, but I'm not sure what more can be made of this: I submit the circumstances that enabled the depredations of this foul toad and those which installed the mustachioed one in 1933 are only superficially similar, so I'm not sure what deeper point can legitimately be made.

Part of the problem with Richard III, I have always felt, lies not in interpretations and actors, but in Shakespeare's text itself. Richard's hijinks are so kooky (e.g., hitting on Ms. Neville as she accompanies the corpse of her husband) that they border on the comical, so it's hard to take the play seriously. It probably should have been a comedy. But after you get about halfway in, the laughs have stopped and it's a just one dreary chronicle of vile deeds without relief or apparent purpose. Not sure what I'm supposed to conclude, other than "evil is evil". And other scenes go on way too long: e.g., the one where his mother curses him. Yow! We got the point pages ago.

Also: hate to say this, but even the brilliant McKellen was too old for this role. Oh come on. The play starts just after the Battle of Tewkesbury, which was in 1871. At that time, Richard was 18! Sir McKellen don't look no 18.

5/5 Heart stopping action
  by Gina C. Moss
I love Shakespeare and I especially love to see Ian McKellen performing it. Though this adaptation moves the story to 1930's Britan, I was in no way disappointed. I found the the use of the script, as it adjusted to the new environments, fascinating. But even if you are unfamiliar with a more traditional Richard III, you will find this story compelling and exciting. Richard is one of the Bards worst "Bad Guys"...a real stinker. Like Iago in Othello, he must show one face to the public, but in private be ruthless and murderous. It takes a very strong actor to carry a role like Richard III and Sir Ian is certainly of that caliber. This film is visually stunning, fast paced and shocking. It does not have to add anything to the story for shock value, it is all there in the original Shakespeare. This could be a "Guy" film...there are sexual situations, Annette Benning, Robert Downey Jr. and many things blow up. True they speak in Shakespearean English, but it is done as naturally as possible. So take a chance and check out Richard the III in more modern garb.

4/5 Richard The III (Reich)
  by Ubiquitous Dave (Ohio)

RE: Richard The III (Reich)


Why do I keep thinking the title role could/should have been played (better) by Peter O'Toole?

(Too Aryan-looking perhaps ?)

Or that, with it's dark and almost mezmerizing (post-morgue) hallway 'frivolity', it could
very well have been scored as a grand musicale; i.e., shades of "Springtime for Richard".

Or that it all-too-very-well could have been directed by Stanley ("Full Metal Richard") Kubrick !


Or that the gangland-style (domestic-family) slayings reminded me more of "The Godfather"
grand finale interspersed instead with slow-motion Royal Family pageantry ?


Shakespeare has always rocked me to the depth of bony soul if my soul had bones,
let alone the almost greater impossibilty of reason anyone could memerize and
deliver such characterizations, let alone write them to begin with !


By the way, has anyone here seen "Scotland, PA" ?

It's a highly homeogenized, yet creative low-buck adaptation of Macbeth c. 1975,
based on the murder of a Manager/Owner of a future fast-food chain kingdom by
Mr. & Mrs. Macbeth.

With Christopher Walken as Detective Macduff, it's spellbinding (no offence to
Weird Sisters ) to say the least, let alone how Lady Macbeth's blood-stained hand
is updated as an intractable GREASE spot from the french frier-splash when they
killed the 'King' !

I only wish they would have used more lines from the play itself, as perhaps
a grander, Richard III budget (or at least half) would have helped . . .



P.S. "Would you like a chicken MacBeth with your order ?"



1/5 check regional code
  by Vilkkumaa Ilpo
You should include a note that dvd may not function in your country. Better still, you could advice what shoul be done to be able to watch the dvd one may have bought.