Customer Reviews

King Lear (Thames Shakespeare Collection)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

3 stars to me means "If you like this sort of thing, you'll like this one".

It fails to get 5 stars for the following reasons:

- As Patrick Mower (Edmund) notes in the included interview, Patrick Magee's (Lear) performance is "strange" (but not really bad)

- No subtitles (These help me to follow Shakespearian language)

- The important and interesting role of Fool is underrepresented and not played well

The positives:

- Mower is pretty good as Edmund

- Ronald Radd is really good as Gloucester

- The interview with Mower is interesting for insights into the process of creating this production and the actors involved

- As Mower notes in that interview, this is a "clear reading"; It is pretty easy to understand what the characters are saying even if you don't speak Shakespearian English every day

- I was truly moved by Lear, Gloucester, and Edmund at some points

Nicely-preserved broadcast tapes were used for this disc of KING LEAR. Picture is crystal clear and sharp with vivid colors.

A separate bonus feature of Patrick Mower's reminiscences is delightful. He offers insights on several of the actors, does wickedly spot-on imitations of Patrick Magee and discusses the complexities of filming certain scenes within the limitations of Thames Television's studio facilities. Best is his impression of the other Patrick's "Howl! Howl! Howl!"

Magee's stylized Lear is the only unorthodox element of an otherwise straightforward TV series condensation of the Bard's great tragedy. Although often criticized for being heavily edited, as presented here the gist of "Lear" is preserved. Those seeing the play for the first time won't be disappointed in this version.

It's based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king. In Shakespeare's work, King Lear goes insane after the influence of flattery causes him to wrongly distribute his estate. As is typical of such Elizabethan dramas, bluebloods die (one has his eyes gouged into jelly) and the king himself falls in the end. Long live the king!

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(6.2) King Lear (TV-UK-1976) - Patrick Magee/Ann Lynn/Patrick Mower/Wendy Allnutt/Ronald Radd/Beth Harris/Robert Coleby/Ray Smith/Peter Jeffrey

The only first rate thing about this production is the diction. It's really possible to understand most of the words most of the time. That is achieved, unfortunately, by fairly deep cuts in the text which needs to be spoken.

The worst thing about it is the wretched portrayal of the Fool, whose lines are the most severely cut. Without his empathy for the Fool, the King seems merely a pathetic, vainglorious old fool himself.

I have loved this play ever since I read it in junior high school, and I've never seen a production that satisfied me. I suppose I'm a tough audience. This film had one good result; it sent me back to the text to see what the director and actors had missed.

The production of the play was terrible. The acting was even worse. I was going to show it to my students, but I can't show them that performance. It was pathetic. Also, there is no closed captioning. If you were thinking about getting this version, I highly recommend that you think again.

This production is so bad that no words could do justice in describing it. You would have to be godlike and have a masochistic streak a mile long to get through the entire production.