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Rating:  - A beautifully restored film about the hideous human nature
No one could rival Laurence Olivier (Hamlet, Henry V, Richard III) as the scheming, ruthless youngest son of the 3rd Duke of York, who stopped at nothing to be King Richard III. His first appearance was deceptive. I noticed only a big nose and recognized him only after he spoke. Burdened with a crooked back, limp and shrunk hand, his ambition for kingship only burnt more feverishly. With disguised humbleness, he made peace with other royalties. His words were sugar-coated and gay. He killed Warwick, the 'KingMaker' who helped enthrone his elder brother as King Edward IV, and wooed Warwick's daughter Anne(the beautiful Claire Bloom) to marry him shortly after killing her husband. His planned murders of his elder brother Duke of Clarence, Lord Hastings, his young nephews (heirs-to-be), his wife Anne made even today's politics pale and unexciting.
Yet the movie about such a dark character was beautiful in VistaColour, set and costumes, cinematography. Scenes of executions, naïve Lord Hastings (Alec Clunes) walking into his death trap, innocent heirs-to-be greeting uncle Richard and Richard's final battle are memorable. All the other characters exuded integraity, royality and humanity. They were handsome in appearance and noble in heart, so different from Richard III. Even the once accomplice Duke of Buckingham (Ralph Richardson), without whose help there would be no Richard III, showed a moment of caution in doing any more evil. Perhaps it's this great contrast between Richard and everyone else that made the movie luring and tragic. In his last battle of Bosworth Field, Laurence Olivier showed a more reflective and human side of Richard III. When nearly everything on his side was lost, he marched, with a handful of supporters including his royal page (Stewart Allen), and fought valiantly.
The movie also succeeded in its clarity and fluidity. The powerplay of an excellent cast of experienced actors with great screen presence made 155 minutes fly without notice. With no prior knowledge of the Wars of Roses (House of York vs House of Lancaster), I am not at all lost in the many characters and relationship. And the crowning of Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond, as Henry VII marked the beginning of the most filmed Tudor dynasty - a perfect prologue of films about the lives of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth.
Rating: - Shakespeare 101
Here is Olivier at his rollicking best. This movie must be seen to be believed, and once seen will likely be regularly revisited throughout your life. It is beyond superlatives.
The reviews on this site amply speak of this great film's riches. While not one of the so-called "major tragedies" of Shakespeare, Olivier uses the play to to hammer home the most essential 101 level lessons about Shakespearean drama and performance -- its broad and physical appeal, its bald directness and outrageous humor, plain human pathos. If your kids need to start somewhere with the Stratford Bard, this is the place. It is highly likely that this single film will make a lifetime believer out of them -- and you too.
Olivier uses the adaptation of the play by the great British actor David Garrick from a couple centuries back, using the last part of Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 3, for necessary background, and then going off full-tilt into the best melodrama in the English speaking world. There is no reason to set forth the plot -- Richard himself delivers it to you inch by inch as he schemes his awful trail to power. Yet too, you laugh with him -- evil is not a black and white, Sunday school, cardboard cut-out proposition. The drama faces you with its terrifying seductiveness. This is a lesson once thought vital for developing adults in the English-speaking world, before the current monkey see/monkey do miasma of political correctness -- saying "good things" just to get ahead. Indeed, Richard is nothing if not the epitome of political correctness.
Of course, the story of Richard's character, as Shakespeare presented it, is Tudor era propaganda writ large -- still subject to reasoned debate. The drama, however, rightly retains its place as absolutely central to the ethos of the English speaking world, and its cultural claims. And Olivier nails it at all corners. Simply, this movie is as essential as a good dictionary, a properly translated bible, and a fundamental background in literature and the language.
Rating: - "Talkers are no good doers."
Laurence Olivier as the hunchback King, and where others melodramatize Richard's deformities, thus providing him with an excuse for his actions, Sir Laurence portrays him as just pure evil, which is much more frightening and villainous. A filming accident gave Olivier a real limp during the shooting of the movie, by the way. His portrayal of Richard is riveting and, in the opinion of many, definitive.
As usual with Olivier's Shakespeare productions, his version is different from the written original, especially in the order of the scenes. But unless you are following along with the play in front of you, you will hardly notice. The battle finale on Bosworth Field is exciting and richly done. This is the second best Shakespeare on screen after Olivier's HAMLET.
Rating: - Gutsy film with a truckload of good meaningful extras
I had never seen a Shakespeare film with Laurence Olivier with him also directing . I already liked Shakespeare and had heard about this play . I took a chance on this expensive DVD and was very happy with it .
Apart from the incredible film , which has helpful subtitles , you have an interview with Olivier on the second disc .
The Shakespearian actor can be a bit haughty and snobby , thinking they are as important as the words they are saying .
Olivier comes across as very thoughtful and is pleasant to watch as he makes his way through his own career .
This DVD is good value , which is not always the case with Criterion titles .
If unsure , rent it first .
I still recommend it however .
Rating: - Meet Shakespeare's Humpbacked Psychopath!!
+++++
This movie is based on William Shakespeare's history play of the same name that was written circa 1592.
The movie begins with introductory printed words:
"The following begins in the latter half of the 15TH century in England, at the end of a long period of strife set about by rival factions of the English crown, known as the Wars of the Roses. The Red Rose being the emblem of The House of Lancaster [while] [t]he White [was] for The House of York.
The White Rose of York was in its final flowering at the beginning of [this] story..."
Then we are shown a brief ending to Henry 6th Part 3 and after this the camera zooms in on a solitary misshapen figure. He is humpbacked, limping, a withered arm dangling from his side and he slowly drags himself toward the camera and utters this astonishing soliloquy (which is the actual beginning of the original play):
"Now is the winter of our discontent,
Made glorious summer by the sun of York,
And all the clouds that loured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now we our brows bound with victorious wreaths,
Our bruised arms hung for monuments,
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Out dreadful marched to delightful measures."
In his opening speech, Richard 3RD (Laurence Olivier, who also produced and directed) tells us his strategy, revealing the man behind the smiling mask. He pledges himself to villainy, treachery, and conspiracy in order to acquire the crown. By confiding in us, he chillingly pays us, as far as he is concerned, the supreme compliment: he makes us his accomplices. He does this through most of the movie.
This viewer was mesmerized by his droll, mocking voice and by the sheer charisma of this man. He has the tone of a highly refined villain:
"Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophesies, libels, and dreams.
To set my brother...and the King
In deadly hate the one against the other..."
Richard's world resembles a chessboard, and he's now plotting his moves: four jumps and the throne is his. All he must do is remove the obstacles: his brother, King Edward the 4TH (who conveniently dies) (Cedric Hardwicke ); his other brother George, the Duke of Clarence (John Gielgud); then his nephews, the young Prince Edward and Prince Richard. And in the course of the play he also manages to dispose of his first wife, as well as several others who stand in his way.
After obtaining the crown through his devious, murderous ways, Richard quickly loses it in a final battle. It is in this battle that he cries out, "A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!"
For newcomers to Shakespeare, this is the place to begin. The language is accessible; the acting could scarcely be better especially that of Olivier as Richard. It's said that all subsequent portrayals of Richard are based on this version and that Olivier was the first to exploit this "smiling villain's" comic potential. All supporting actors do an excellent job.
The vivid colors add to each scene of this movie based on a dark play. As well, there is a rousing musical score. My only minor complaint is that some scenes look staged.
Though not absolutely necessary, I would read a brief outline of the play's plot before I viewed this movie. As well, I would have a list of the play's characters. (I have mentioned many of the major characters above but there are quite a few minor ones as well.)
Finally, the DVD (released by Criterion in 2004) is practically perfect in picture and sound quality. It has a few extras that are worth exploring.
BOTTOM LINE:
This movie is a worthy addition to the Bard's cinematic canon.
(1955; 2 hr, 40 min; widescreen; 2 discs)
+++++
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