Richard III (1995)

March 17, 2024 12:17 PM

A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil war, split between the rivaling houses of York and Lancaster. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must first remove the obstacles to his ascension, among them his brother, his nephews and his brother's wife. When the Duke of Buckingham deserts him, Richard's plans are compromised.

Currently Streaming on Max although I got it at the library.

2016 re-release review from The Guardian.
Roger Ebert's thumbs up.
Letterboxd for those who do.

The cast in this one is amazing, although I think some purists didn't care for the modernized setting. Adapted by Ian McKellan and Richard Loncraine, it stars McKellan as the titular Richard III.

Helpful plot summary!

posted by fiercekitten (12 comments total)

I loved the modernized setting, personally. Thought the whole thing was pretty brilliant.
posted by kyrademon at 2:20 PM on March 17

Note extremely young and pretty Robert Downey, Jr., as the younger brother.

Soundtrack was great; there's a jazzy version of "Come Live With Me and Be My Love" that still sticks in my head.
posted by praemunire at 2:26 PM on March 17

This one is a real favourite of mine. Obviously McKellan, but a quality cast, high production values, and effectively relevant setting make it a standout.
posted by jjderooy at 4:42 PM on March 17

Sure, McKellen, yes -- but also Annette Bening, a lovely Kristin Scott Thomas, the aforementioned Robert Downey, Jr. and Maggie Smith. What a lineup!

The sets are amazing. This one really turned me on my head when I first saw it, and made me want to see fifty new Shakespeare productions, set in every time and place imaginable!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:25 PM on March 17

Between the opening tank barrel through the fireplace and the final plunge to hell, I would love to see this film in 3D.
posted by Paragon at 9:13 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]

One of the first movies I bought on DVD back when that was a thing we did. It's so perfect. I love it!
posted by kbanas at 7:43 AM on March 18

This is firmly linked in my mind with Julie Taylor’s Titus, partly because I saw them around the same time and partly because they both weave fascism into Shakespeare. Well, and I liked them both. This might be my favorite Richard III, a play I often find dragging a bit in the middle third (see “The Hollow Crown” version for an example, although that may more be that Benedict Cumberbatch just doesn’t have McKellen’s charisma in the role).
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:03 AM on March 18

God, I love this film. Back in the 90's, I found McKellan's personal website where he was selling autographed copies of the annotated screenplay, which I snatched up and cherish to this day. He provides lovely little details, such as how the set designer put name tags of Shakespeare's contemporaries on all the drawers in the morgue.

And to this day, I can't see Dominic West (whether it's "The Wire" or "The Crown" or anything else) without seeing him flashing that brief smile at the camera in the penultimate shot.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:39 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

My favorite of any Shakespeare adaption and a truly great role for McKellan.
posted by AndrewStephens at 12:38 PM on March 18

Yeah, this one is tons of fun. The opening tank raid with Richard as Darth Vader, Annette Benning as quasi-Mrs. Simpson, the brilliant staging of Richard's opening monologue as half sincere speech celebrating his brother's ascent and half villainous soliloquy to the audience (at the urinal!). And they slimmed down what is a fairly bloated play, keeping it rollicking along at a nice pace. Bravo!
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:09 PM on March 18 [1 favorite]

I had the same thoughts about the opening soliliquy. I kept waiting for it, and realized that the first real line of the play is well into the first act.

If anyone has thoughts on Twelfth Night or As You Like It, let me know in the April Shakespeare Movie Club post. I'm trying to decide which one to pick.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:24 PM on March 18

So, now—ooh, what a wonderful first word, right at the beginning of the play: "now." Not in the past, not a history play, now. And what's gonna happen now.

Sir Ian McKellen explains the opening speech of Richard III
posted by kirkaracha at 11:16 AM on March 23