King Lear (1987 film)
Encyclopedia
King Lear is a 1987 filmic adaptation of the Shakespeare play of the same title
, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
. The script is primarily by Peter Sellars
and Tom Luddy. The film's plot, centred around a late descendant of Shakespeare attempting to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl
catastrophe obliterates most of human civilisation, is centred around a resort in Nyon
, Vaud
, Switzerland
.
The film also features uncredited cameos by Woody Allen
as a film editor named Mr. Alien, Kate
and Norman Mailer
as themselves, Michèle Pétin and Suzanne Lanza. At the beginning of his acting career, director Quentin Tarantino
falsely claimed to have played a part in the film in his resume, assuming that casting agents in Hollywood were unfamiliar with the film.
The New York Times
review by Vincent Canby compares it unfavourably to the rest of Godard's oeuvre as "tired, familiar and out of date", remarking that the few lines of Shakespeare delivered in the play overpower his dialogue, making it "seem much punier than need be". Nonetheless, Canby praises the acting as "remarkably good under terrible circumstances".
Desson Howe of the Washington Post similarly criticises Godard for inappropriately imposing his unique style on Shakespeare's work - "Where the playwright values clarity and poetry, Godard seems to go for obfuscation and banality. Shakespeare aims for universality, while Godard seeks to devalue everything." - whilst reserving praise for the editing and cinematography.
Also commenting in The Washington Post, Hal Hinson classifies the film as a "labored, not terribly funny practical joke", "infuriating, baffling, challenging and fascinating" in which Godard "trashes his own talent".
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times
, however, called it, "a work of certified genius", and Richard Brody, writing in the New Yorker
, described it and Godard's In Praise of Love as "great films that are even more aesthetically radical than his earlier ones".
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
. The script is primarily by Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
and Tom Luddy. The film's plot, centred around a late descendant of Shakespeare attempting to restore his plays in a world rebuilding itself after the Chernobyl
Chernobyl
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
catastrophe obliterates most of human civilisation, is centred around a resort in Nyon
Nyon
Nyon is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the Geneva metropolitan area. It lies on the shores of Lake Geneva, and is the seat of the district of...
, Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Cast
- Peter SellarsPeter SellarsPeter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
as William Shakespeare Jr. the Fifth, a descendant of the renowned bardWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
charged with restoring his ancestor's work. - Burgess MeredithBurgess MeredithOliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
as Don Learo, a prominent gangster visiting the Swiss resort patronised by Shakespeare Jr. the Fifth with his daughter. - Molly RingwaldMolly RingwaldMolly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
as Cordelia, the daughter of gangster Don Learo, with whom she converses in lines from Shakespeare. - Jean-Luc GodardJean-Luc GodardJean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
as Professor Pluggy, an eccentric professor obsessed with XeroxXeroxXerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
ing his own hand. - Freddy BuacheFreddy BuacheFreddy Buache is a Swiss journalist and cinema critic. He was the director of Cinémathèque Suisse from 1951-1996. He is a privatdozent at the University of Lausanne.-Biography:He was born in Villars-Mendraz, Switzerland, where his parents ran the Café de la Poste...
as Professor Quentin - Leos CaraxLeos CaraxLeos Carax is a French-born film director, critic, and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was Boy Meets Girl , and his notable works include Lovers on the Bridge and the controversial Pola X...
as Edgar - Julie DelpyJulie DelpyJulie Delpy is a French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa , The Voyager , Three Colors: White , Before Sunrise...
as Virginia
The film also features uncredited cameos by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
as a film editor named Mr. Alien, Kate
Kate Mailer
Kate Mailer is an American stage and film actress who is the daughter of American author-playwright Norman Mailer and third wife journalist, Lady Jeanne Campbell, eldest daughter of the 11th Duke of Argyll...
and Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
as themselves, Michèle Pétin and Suzanne Lanza. At the beginning of his acting career, director Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
falsely claimed to have played a part in the film in his resume, assuming that casting agents in Hollywood were unfamiliar with the film.
Reception
The film has an approval rating of 57% on the ratings aggregator RottenTomatoes.com. All three of the reviews featured by the site are negative or mixed, bordering on negative.The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review by Vincent Canby compares it unfavourably to the rest of Godard's oeuvre as "tired, familiar and out of date", remarking that the few lines of Shakespeare delivered in the play overpower his dialogue, making it "seem much punier than need be". Nonetheless, Canby praises the acting as "remarkably good under terrible circumstances".
Desson Howe of the Washington Post similarly criticises Godard for inappropriately imposing his unique style on Shakespeare's work - "Where the playwright values clarity and poetry, Godard seems to go for obfuscation and banality. Shakespeare aims for universality, while Godard seeks to devalue everything." - whilst reserving praise for the editing and cinematography.
Also commenting in The Washington Post, Hal Hinson classifies the film as a "labored, not terribly funny practical joke", "infuriating, baffling, challenging and fascinating" in which Godard "trashes his own talent".
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, however, called it, "a work of certified genius", and Richard Brody, writing in the New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, described it and Godard's In Praise of Love as "great films that are even more aesthetically radical than his earlier ones".