The Tragedy of King Lear

I've watched every Lear I could get my hands on, and despite some glaring flaws, I come back to this one again and again. I'll start with the bad- - very cheesy synth music, hideous blocking on the fight scenes, and uneven acting (Rhoda's boyfriend in a Serious role? Ughh. ) It doesn't help that, in comparison, in the same year the RSC released an excellent version of Lear with the whole text and a masterful performance by Michael Hordern as Lear (and John Shrapnel as Kent) that is still my favorite overall.

What makes this version worth watching, despite some very obvious flaws and uneven acting, is Mike Kellin's performance as Lear. Kellin made his career as a character actor playing rough edged people on the edge of sanity, and I'd have to say he's my favorite all-around actor for Lear. (He only had about a year to live when he made this). Kellin was brilliant at bringing out the strong, harsh edge of Lear in the early acts, (the scene where he panics when he is driven to tears is fantastic), and his reading of the final scene (repeating the word "Nothing" five times in a row) is definitive. No other Lear I've seen and that combination of harshness and vulnerability as Kellin did in his performance. He keeps the balance pitch-perfect throughout.

So, if you watch this, brace yourself for some rough edges, wince at the lamely conceived fight scenes, cringe at the music, but don't you dare fast forward when Kellin is on the screen.

Apparently, the goal of the production was to convey the tone and style of a VINTAGE, authentic performance of Lear, and in that regard, I feel that it is very valuable and, in its own way, fascinating.

It is a simple production, shot with 2 or 3 cameras in fairly straightforward fashion. Nevertheless, it moves well and the various camera angles and the director's use of the limited space makes for a very interesting and involving experience--although one that it is admittedly rather low-key, even, dare I say, SUBTLE.

This is the all the more surprising, considering the actor who portrays LEAR---and this was my sole reason for purchasing the DVD. I have never seen a performance on film by Mike Kellin that was not in some way RIVETING. He was a most distinctive actor, usually cast as heavies in Westerns, military officers, criminal thugs, etc.

His onscreen persona was really something--a glowering, brutish intensity coupled with an almost tortured and pitiful vulnerability. Who could forget his performance as Brad Davis' angst-ridden father in "Midnight Express"?

Mr. Kellin's (and his name is constantly mispelled on the DVD as "KellEn"), portrayals often walked the edge of nervous, almost neurotic intensity and pathos. Yes, he could chew the scenery with the best of them, but was also capable of a remarkable, touching subtlety.

And it's the subtlety and sensitivity of his LEAR that makes this performance so commanding. It was taped in December of 1982, so Kellin had only 8 months to live, before succumbing to lung cancer at age 61. What a summation of a life's work as an actor! And don't you feel, from my description of Kellin's persona, that he would indeed make a fascinating and compelling Lear?

And, whereas the other reviewer blasts the cast, I must point out that the actor who portrays the doomed Duke of Gloucester, Charles Aidman, was one of early TV's finest stage-trained performers. He was (and in the present case IS) first-rate! Again, intense, subtle and commanding as an actor, and masterful in his performance in this production.

My advice would be to check out this restrained and very unadorned production, which relies, as Shakespeare should, upon the eloquence and conviction of the actors. True, the cast IS variable (with some pretty funky accents at times), there are numerous small nips and tucks in the text, plus there's a really cheesy, early 80's synthesizer score (minimal, though)--- but it's still very well done, especially since it gives us a last look at the unique Mr. Mike Kellin in all of his distinctive glory. LR