King Lear
by Michael Elliott
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Product details
Actor: Anna Calder-Marshall, Colin Blakely, Jeremy Kemp, Laurence Olivier, Robert LangDirector: Michael Elliott
Producer: David Plowright
Writer: William Shakespeare
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Color, NTSC
Running Time: 158 minutes
Release Date: 1995-04-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Kultur Video
Studio: Kultur Video
VHS Movie Reviews of King Lear
Movie Review: Very good, but it could have looked better on the screen
Summary: 4 Stars
Laurence Olivier was excellent as King Lear, and his performance in this production compares well with his other great films that he made in the past. The other actors also complemented his role and helped to make this a fine interpretation of Shakespeare. The "Stonehenge" sets added much to the atmosphere of the play.
However, I think some better technology could have made this program look better on the screen. The DVD looks like it was copied from from an unrestored video made in the 1980's. The program really shows its age. Perhaps it was the only copy available, but one would think that more effort would have been made to preserve it. If the this television special was made Today a larger budget with more technology would have been used so that the play would have looked more attractive on the screen. This is more like viewing a recording of the play, which is pleasing, but it is something seen at a distance instead of the vivid art of Olivier's previous films.
Movie Review: One of the All-Time Great Lears
Summary: 5 Stars
Olivier's delivery of the text is brilliant. I must disagree with the American critic Robert Brustein who was unable to see the forest for the trees. It is a thoroughly enjoyable & stimulating production captured on dvd, even for intelligent people. For those of us who have sat through many dull productions of what we are told is a great play, this is a welcome revelation. Movie Review: a royal pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
I gave this film to a Shakespeare loving friend as a birthday gift. She loved it.Movie Review: What can I say?
Summary: 5 Stars
What can I say? This version of "King Lear" was absolutely perfect.
Minimal scenery to be sure, but that left me to actually SEE and HEAR Shakespeare and the inimitable Mr. Olivier without the any trappings.
Marvelous production! A "must see" for Shakespeare enthusiasts.
Movie Review: Definitive
Summary: 5 Stars
This is by general consensus one of Shakespeare's two greatest works, Hamlet being the other. (Which one you think is best is purely a matter of taste; you can generate passionate arguments either way.) No matter where you come down on that debate, King Lear is indisputably a top masterpiece by the greatest writer in the English language.
This production features a cast that is consummately superb, from the title role on down. Every character is played by an actor who ranks near the top of the profession, including such luminaries as Diana Rigg, Leo McKern, David Trelfall, Jeremy Kemp, and on and on and on. And, of course, there is Olivier, who is at the very peak of his powers here. There isn't a weak, or even ordinary, performance anywhere.
A teacher I once knew used to describe Shakespeare's language as "opera for people who can't sing." This company makes the language crystal clear, but beyond that, they make it sing. If this production doesn't make Shakespeare accessible for you, no production ever will.
Summary of King Lear
King Lear is a violent storm on a grand scale. It is a timeless tale of greed and lust for power. It is the story of a sick old man, his scheming children, and lost loyalties. King Lear is arguably Shakespeare's greatest work, masterfully adapted for the screen by Sir Laurence Olivier, unquestionably one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of the 20th century. 158 minutes.Fathers & Daughters Video
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