King Lear

Really did want to like this version of 'King Lear' more. The play itself is wonderful, very haunting and moving even if the titular character frustrates you at first (but one does grow to sympathise with him). Richard Eyre has done a fair share of interesting and well done theatre, film and television productions and is no stranger to Shakespeare, being director of the brilliant 'The Hollow Crown' adaptations of both 'Henry IV' parts. And of course the cast is a dream one.

'King Lear' (2018) has a lot of great things about it, but in my mind it didn't completely come together. It does laudably with a difficult play, but is rather uneven. As the cast are great and all give great performances in their own way, the atmosphere is strong and there are many memorable scenes and interactions. The truncations do hurt the pacing and storytelling sadly and quite badly and this is not one of Eyre's better overall directing efforts.

Lets start with the good things. The best thing about this 'King Lear' is the acting, which is very good to superb throughout in all the roles. Antony Hopkins mesmerises as Lear, showing poignant tragedy and titanic, near-histrionic fury in equal measure in a way that is intense, noble and affecting. Emma Thompson is a suitably venomous Goneril and Emily Watson was never this blood-thirsty, manipulative or deceptively caring. Jim Broadbent is tremendously powerful as Gloucester. Florence Pugh is very touching without being passive as Cordelia and John MacMillan is effectively creepy as Edmund. Very interesting portrayal of the Fool, not overplayed or annoying thankfully. The character interaction is also strongly handled, especially between Lear and Cordelia.

Enough of the production values are fine, the austerity of the setting and costumes suits the atmosphere of the story perfectly as it is an austere play without going too over the top in it. Steven Warbeck's score is haunting. Shakespeare's text is still complex emotionally and sheer poetry, it is a shame though that it is so heavily abridged. The story is compelling enough and has some great moments, the big scene between Lear and Cordelia brought tears to my eyes and the film has one of the most unsettling renditions of the gouging of the eyes scene.

However, there are quite a number of glaring flaws. The text is heavily abridged and with so much cut out the pacing and story suffer. As does some of the character writing. The pacing feels very rushed frequently and the story feels choppy and regularly confuses, even for somebody who is familiar with the play so goodness knows how those that are not would feel. A shame as there are scenes that are done very well, especially those aforementioned.

Furthermore, not all the characters are done justice. Lear, Cordelia and Gloucester are. Less successful in particular are Edmund and Regan, though as indicated they are both played excellently. Edmund is very sketchily written with underdeveloped motivations and Regan is not enough of the seemingly sympathetic and "we can trust her" character one thinks she is at first but comes over as manipulative and all round evil from the start. Eyre's direction has enough flashes of brilliance, but tends to be too heavy-handed. Some of the camerawork veers on gimmicky.

In conclusion, a lot to like but some big drawbacks too. Frustratingly uneven. 6/10.

First of all, I LOVE Sir Anthony Hopkins. He is unquestionably one of the greatest actors working today. However, I am not entirely sure that a TV adaptation of King Lear suited him. His scenes of quietly controlled fury were utterly devastating and mesmerising. Unfortunately, his portrayal of madness contained too little light and shade and was mainly an unending tirade of poorly enunciated shouting which made the text extremely hard to follow.

I didn't care for the uneven, choppy direction and the gloomy cinematography, nor the wearying desire of Richard Eyre to push his personal, clumsily executed political points about immigrants and war.

On the plus side, Emma Thompson and Emily Watson are on majestic form as Goneril and Regan and show why they are, without question, two of our finest actresses. Thompson even manages to elicit some sympathy as a woman competely at the end of her tether with her increasingly belligerent and uncaring father.

Other notable performances are Tobias Menzies as the Duke of Cornwall who seems to have developed something of a niche for playing sexy, sadistic psychopaths. Christopher Eccleston, not usually associated with comedy, is also eye-catching as a very amusing and camp Oswald.

Finally, THAT scene with the Earl of Gloucester (Jim Broadbent) will have you reaching for a cushion to hid behind. Doctor Who was never this graphic!

Lear, an elderly king, has decided to divide his kingdom between his three daughters but first he asks each how much they love him to decide who should get the largest share. The elder two, Goneril and Regan, profess their love in false, obsequious tones but Cordelia, the youngest and most beloved, says she has no words to say how much she loves him... and is immediately disowned. The Earl of Kent speaks up for her but he too is banished. Tensions soon rise as various parties try to position themselves for power and the king's grip on reality slips further; tragedy is inevitable.

One wouldn't really say this BBC production was enjoyably... 'King Lear' is one of Shakespeare's more tragic plays; it is however a gripping production. Anthony Hopkins does a fine job as Lear, really capturing the anger and confusion of the character as he slips into senility. Emma Thompson, Emily Watson and Florence Pugh impress as Goneril, Regan and Cordelia although we see far more of the former two and they get more to work with. The rest of the cast is solid and includes plenty of familiar faces. There are some disturbing moments... the sight of a character having his eyes gouged out certainly had me wincing. Director Richard Eyre did a fine job capturing the bleakness of the story; the colour draining from the picture as the story progresses to such an extent that the final scenes was almost black and white. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Shakespeare on film.

Anthony Hopkins deserves his King Lear. The film is a good proof. And only problem about the new version of play could be only the expectation of the viewer. Maybe, too high. Because it is a beautiful film and it is not a real surprise . Impecable performances, seductive use of modern ingredients, political correctness. And the feeling to discover a sort of version of Titus Andronicus. Something is missing in the performance of Sir Hopkins. It is a correct Lear but nothing more. Like a well known lesson presented front to the class. A sort of sketch using familiar, for public, skills. After its end, not exactly The King Lear remains in memory but an admirable Regan, a precise Earl of Kent, a fine Goneril, an inspired Cordelia. King Lear is more a reflection of the other characters. So, a beautiful version. But one in the shadow of the others.

This is a gripping rendition of Lear with fantastic performances by all. Nearly all the famous and inspiring lines are here. I say "nearly".

There were several cuts to Shakespeare's text that surprised and disappointed me. A couple examples: 1) When Kent (Jim Carter) berates Oswald (Christopher Eccleston) I couldn't wait for Kent's long insulting harangue of Oswald: "A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats, etc." Alas, it was cut. 2) The most shocking scene in the play, the blinding of Gloucester (Jim Broadbent) by Cornwall (Tobias Menzies), contains the line: "Out, vile jelly! Where is your luster now?" Sadly, the second sentence was cut. I saw a performance where Cornwall not only gouges out Gloucester's eye, but when it pops onto the floor, he stomps on it. That still gives me chills, but it is not in this version.

Many other of the famous lines are kept in: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child", "Every inch a king", And my favorite speech, Edmund's (John MacMillan) "This is the excellent foppery of the world..."

The cuts from scene to scene were a little jarring, and if one is unfamiliar with the text it is difficult to understand the conversations. The gist of the story can be discerned, but at the end I felt slightly disappointed despite the bravura performances. Emma Thompson as Goneril was cold blooded malice; Emily Watson as Regan was a convincing conniver. Andrew Scott was fine as Edgar but the film does not explain how no one could recognize him despite having nothing more than a dirty face and a woman's frock on. The same goes for Jim Carter's Kent, although he did at least shave off his hair and moustache, and wore shabby clothes.

Anthony Hopkins was excellent as Lear, with the full range of emotions Shakespeare gives him: loving, raging, angry, mad and grief stricken.