Richard III (1995 film)
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| Richard III | |
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| Directed by | Richard Loncraine |
| Produced by | Stephen Bayly Lisa Katselas Paré |
| Written by | William Shakespeare (play) Ian McKellen Richard Loncraine |
| Starring | Ian McKellen Annette Bening Jim Broadbent Robert Downey Jr. Nigel Hawthorne Kristin Scott Thomas John Wood Maggie Smith |
| Music by | Trevor Jones |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Editing by | Paul Green |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 29 December 1995 |
| Running time | 104 min |
| Country | UK/USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £6,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Richard III is a 1995 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Richard III, starring Sir Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Dame Maggie Smith, and John Wood.
The film relocates the play's events to a fictional version of England in what appears to be a fascist-inspired 1930s. Albeit including many historical anachronisms, the film's timing is easily recognizable to viewers; if skillful modernization intensifies the brutality and horror of the eventful story, it enhances Shakespeare's irony manifold.
The film's concept was based on a stage production directed by Richard Eyre for the Royal National Theatre, which also starred McKellen. The production was adapted for the screen by McKellen and directed by Richard Loncraine.
The film is notable for its unconventional use of famous London landmarks, often using special effects to move them to new locations. The transformed landmarks used include the following:
- St Pancras railway station is relocated to Westminster and becomes King Edward's seat of government.
- Battersea Power Station is relocated to the coast of Kent and becomes a bombed-out military base.
- Bankside Power Station becomes the prison where Clarence is held.
- Brighton Pavilion is relocated to a coastal clifftop and becomes King Edward's country retreat.
- Senate House of the University of London is Richard's seat of government and is used for interior and exterior scenes.[1] The famous art deco facade and clock of Shell Mex House is also featured in exterior shots.
Perhaps the play's most famous line—"A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"—was recontextualised by the new setting; during the climactic battle, Richard's jeep becomes stuck, and his lament is cast as a plea for a mode of transport with legs rather than wheels.
Fitting the unconventional interpretation is also the 30-40s-style music by Trevor Jones yet with the main piece set to a poem by Kit Marlowe. In a surprising ending, where Richard refuses to be captured and leaps down to his death with the "wrong" closing line "Let us to't pell-mell; if not to heaven, then hand-in-hand to hell", him falling into the inferno is followed by the eerily upbeat tune I'm Sitting On The Top Of The World (Ray Henderson, Joe Young and Sam Lewis).
The cast also includes Jim Carter, Adrian Dunbar, Edward Hardwicke, Tim McInnerny, Bill Paterson and Dominic West.
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[edit] See also
- Richard III for a list of other film adaptations of the play
[edit] Trivia
- The film The Actors, starring Michael Caine and Dylan Moran featured Caine as Richard III in McKellen's setting of a 30's facist England.
- The film features among its 1930's era vehicles, the only use in cinema of last remaining airworthy Bristol Blenheim, currently based at Duxford. The Blenheim makes a flypast at the beginning of the battle scene.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- McKellen's website about the film including an annotated copy of the screenplay.
- Richard III at the Internet Movie Database
