King Lear
King Lear
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King Lear
Directed by Peter Brook.
With Cyril Cusack, Susan Engel, Tom Fleming.
UK/Denmark, 1971, 35mm, color, 137 min.
Print source: HFA
Based on Peter Brook's famous stage production of the tragedy, this film is considered one of the best cinematic renditions of any Shakespeare play. The interior sequences exemplify the great director's sense of dramatic space while the exterior scenes (shot in freezing Jutland) enhance the dramatic conflict through the authentic atmosphere. Numerous masters of the British stage perform their parts with unusual emotional power and expressive means suitable for the camera.
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King Lear (Korol Lir)
Directed by Grigori Kozintsev.
With Jüri Järvet, Elza Radzina, Valentina Shendrikova.
USSR, 1969, 35mm, black & white, 139 min.
Russian with English subtitles.
Print source: HFA
Grigori Kozintsev, who earlier adapted William Shakespeare's Hamlet, constructs a stark, expressionistic version of the Bard's great family tragedy, King Lear. Jüri Järvet gives one of the more energetic performances in the title role, as the aging monarch who betrays his most loyal daughter, Cordelia (Shendrikova). The film was based on Dr. Zhivago author Boris Pasternak's Russian translation of Shakespeare's play, and features a score by Shostakovich.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Ballad of a Soldier / The Forty-First
Nightfall / Great Day in the Morning
Verboten! / Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street
I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name / The Jokers
Hearts of the World / True Heart Susie
Anna Christie / The Long Voyage Home
Suddenly Last Summer / The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
Quiet Days in Clichy / Henry and June
The Freshman / The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
The Sheep Has Five Legs / The Law is the Law
Hobson's Choice / Sidewalks of London
I Know Where I'm Going / Outcast of the Islands
An Inspector Calls / The Belles of St. Trinian's
Mother Joan of the Angels / Thérèse
Dawn of the Dead / Strange Behavior
