Product Description: Movie description: Director Peter Brook's adaptation of Shakespeare's towering play. The film stars Paul Scofield ("A Man For All Seasons") as a harrowing, mythic King Lear, a great, gray beast of a man lumbering toward the Void, a king mired in his own folly and in the duplicity of a world he thought he could control. Lear's daughters are stunningly cast: Goneril (Irene Worth), Regan (Susan Engel), and Cordelia (Anne-Lise Gabold). Director Brook chose to shoot his exteriors on Denmark's Jutland Peninsula, a visually staunch and bleak environment, and to costume his cast in primitive garb emphasizing the raw human emotions that drive the play. Through use of an ongoing juxtaposition of close-ups and long-shots Brook emphasizes the tragic inner workings of the embattled Lear, bringing Scofield's magnificent performance to the fore. The exceptional cast also includes Cyril Cusack and Patrick Magee. "A film of real poetry and power." ~ Jack Kroll, Newsweek
As bleak, as great, as cathartic as it gets. When will Criterion bring this as a DVD to us deprived in the US?
Filmed in Jutland in winter with the sand and snow and the swallowing night blowing, roaring across vast edges drear ... this is the most convincing, haunting re-creation of the Dark Ages up North ... The acting, the language, and all the rest, are as perfect as possible.
Visually compelling Schofield is a convincing Lear, investing the role with an intelligent balance of gravitas and confusion - a more rounded and less self conscious portrayal than Olivier's. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent - without doubt one of the strongest on film. Brooke's direction is well paced, intense and a sustained visually bleak metaphor for the text, which it should be noted is incomplete. From Cordelia's first speech, lines are cut throughout, which may facilitate the pace of the action, but which for purists may be less than acceptable. The austere intensity of the direction is well complimented by the black and white photography and occasional Beckettesque extreme close ups which lend to an existing atmosphere of brooding and almost menacing despair. The harrowing final scene is particularly well directed, cleverly avoiding easy sentimentality. This can now be bought on dvd as part of Universal's excellent 5 disc Shakespeare Collection.
A Haunting Performance by Paul Scofield I have never seen a better Lear - on film or in the theatre. This is such a difficult role as the King moves from pride and folly to anger and bitterness, to madness, and then to humility and understanding. Peter Brook films the play in the winter of England which adds to the bleakness of the tragedy. The visuals are stunning in black and white - an outstanding choice to bring out the mythic nature of the play. Outstanding...should be on DVD.
Brooks improves on perfection Shakespeare, Peter Brooks, Paul Schofield and Jack McGowan. My God, this movie is good. Will someone explain to me why it's not been released on DVD? It sliced my soul when I first saw it over 30 years ago. It continues to touch me deep down where the meanings are with it's relentless look at human despair and courage at the mercy of random fate. "We are to the gods like flies to wanton boys. They kill us for their sport".
Dark And Forboding And Excellently Acted You need to see this one more than once. The first take will leave you a little unimpressed. The second will peak your curiosity and the third will hook you. The actors steal the show. Their minimalist approach is extremely effective, but it takes a few viewings to relish the complexity of the characters. Scofield in particular is in his best form, despite what others may say. His portrayal of Lear's madness is the most convincing I have seen. The only criticism I have is that there are parts of the film that are hard to follow during the first and second look, if you are not familiar with Shakespeare.
This film is a classic and is one of the most underrated movies made.
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