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56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lear under a microscope, 3 Mar 2007
At first, I was disppointed. The abdication scene seems lacklustre - Lear seems hardly bothered when Cordelia refuses the love test. He doesn't rage, and doesn't appear to be in pain. It is only as time goes on that you realise he has wielded absolute power for so long that he doesn't need to rage - he commands and it is done. His rage and madness come when he no longer has any power. The film is set in some bleak, northern tundra which is highly appropriate and evocative - it seems to be a permanent twilight. The best aspect of the film is the microscopic attention to the text - unlike many Shakespeare adaptations, there are no incomprehensible passages. Every word strikes home, especially in the second half when Paul Scofield's performance gives Lear tremendous humanity and dignity. His meeting on the beach with Gloucester is worth watching again and again. The fool is the highlight of the first half - again, every word is delivered with precision, like when he says "Does though know why a snail has a shell? Why, to put his head in, not to give it away to his daughters and leave his horns without a case." The fool looks away as if he has said nothing of consequence and Lear stares at him with an expression caught between laughter and cursing. No Shakespeare adaptation is definitive - if the text is important to you, rather than clever re-interpretation and production, then you'll be rewarded by this film. But check out the Olivier and Richard Eyre (Ian Holm as Lear) versions as well.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite film ever, 16 Jun 2001
Peter Brook, one of the greatest theatrical directors of all time, directs King Lear, arguably the greatest play of all time, by surely the greatest playwright of all time. But those credentials alone are not always enough to guarantee that a film made with them in combination will succeed. In this case, however, the results are brilliant. Spare, harsh, quivering with life, this film is Beckettian in its imagery, and innovative in its photography, unified in its tone, and demonically vital in its acting. I venture to say that the other reviewer who thought that the camera moved about too quickly is probably jostled by bumpy train rides. This film is true to the essence of Lear as I perceive it. See for yourself, and go see some theater sometime soon, as well.Another note, I've been searching for a copy of this film in America for eight years. Thanks Amazon UK!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bleak and brutal interpretation of a great tragedy., 29 May 2000
Peter Brooke's King Lear, though totally engaging in its own right, is made sublime by Paul Schofield's performance. A stark siberian desert is the backdrop to Shakespeare's epic tale of jealousy, murder and self discovery. This film renders Olivier's version diminuitive and limp in comparison-it is one of the best shakespeare film versions around.
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