King Lear

I got lost through the first half of Olivier's Richard III. But his Lear some twenty years later sucked me in by absolute force. It may have been a bit difficult for me to ever have seen his King Lear storming across the battlefield, his sentimental age was disarming and effective. Particularly in the first scene with his dividing of the kingdom. He and Cordelia shared some intensely effective moments. His final moments are also moving and quite worthwhile. He gets a bit lost in the melodramatics of the middle, and more whines and rants "Reason not the need" than may have been necessary, but on the whole his performance shows the craft of his decades as a respected Shakespearean performer. The supporting cast is also very strong with all the daughters with the possible exception of Cordelia coming off very well. Hurt seems a bit jumbled as the fool, but that may have been the idea, and the parting shot of him tries to answer the old question of what happens to the fool after he fades out of the text. Edmund and Edgar could really be brothers, and work well in opposing roles. Both actors seem to love to show off their teeth through bushy beards, but despite moments of scenery chewing, they get the job done well. Leo McKern shines out of the supporting cast as Glouster. He is by turns jovial, tormented, lost, pained and thoughtful. An excellent interpretation of that role makes the work engaging for the stretch of time when Lear is taking his "forth act break". The sets and music may be a little crude, but the idea was that the acting be the focus, and fortunately it is. Very very nice and effective theatrical work.

The whole production was beclouded with grayness, as suits the theme of seeing/sight, yet the acting was elegiac. Diana Rigg and Dorothy Tutin were as seeming kindly as they were brutal. Robert Lindsay's Edmund was as poisonous as he was seemingly loving and loyal. But what I take away most specially was Olivier, as Lear, lifting a lock of his dead Cordelia's hair in his bowed hands to his face, taking a breath, a last scent. I cried. It was a most elegant summary of a parent's loss.

I had seen King Lear on the stage with Louis Calhern when I was too young to fully appreciate it. The Olivier version was deeper with fine nuances in his performance evidencing his full insight of the meaning of this tragedy. A must for every parent. It teaches one more than all the popular books on parenting.

I've never been that impressed with Olivier's acting. His Hamlet seemed quite boring. That changed after I saw this and his "Merchant of Venice." As Olivier got older, he got better. No more grandstanding, no more showy heroes. Having seen other Lears waste the role with constant shouting or with boringly stone-faced acting, I was impressed with the range of emotion Olivier revealed here. This Lear was the only one I could pity. He seems more hurt than angry by Cordelia's "Nothing." He shifts instantly between self-pity, blind rage, and knowledge, just as Lear does in the text.

The music was awful. Terribly melodramatic. Almost ruined the film.

Diana Rigg is absolutely chilling as Reagan and the Fool is touchingly dependent on Lear. Far less caustic than I imagined him.

This isn't the "definitive" Lear. There isn't one. But this comes close.

An all-star cast takes on Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Laurence Olivier is Lear -- once a mighty king, now a weak, jealous old man. Tired and in need of rest, he divides his kingdom among his three daughters. Cordelia, the youngest, is good and kind, while Regan and Goneril are wicked schemers who soon turn against the king and try to murder him! Lear has loyal friends, like Kent the noble, and his jester, the Fool. Colin Blakely makes Kent into the perfect, rugged sidekick, as brave and reliable as Sam in LORD OF THE RINGS. And John Hurt makes the haunting, half-crazed fool as helpless and pitiable as Gollum, without all the creepy sliminess.

But the real stars of the play are actually the villains. Diana Rigg is delicious as Regan, the younger of the two "wicked sisters." Even when she is shiveringly evil, (joking about Gloucester's pain as she pokes out his eyes!) she remains a stunningly desirable woman. And the twisted affair between Regan and the studly but wicked Edmund is much more erotic and involving than in most productions. Robert Lindsay captures the gigolo side of Edmund perfectly, always teasing and tempting and making poor love-struck Regan literally pucker up to kiss the empty air. Diana Rigg really plays all sides of the character -- watching her pout and sulk in her tent would be sweetly endearing if she weren't so truly and completely cruel. As a result the viewer is spellbound, unable to resist the evil but horrified by the inevitable tragedy.

With an all-star cast, original scenery and a haunting musical score, this bold production is Shakespeare at the summit!