Kirpianuscus
Maybe the most significant film of Al Pacino. because it reflects the passion for Shakespeare universe and Richard III as original prototype of his roles. it is a special documentary. because, in essence, it is a deep, honest and moving confession. about an actor more than about a character. about a fight against yourself. and, maybe, about a victory. a film who I saw time by time. for its great way to translate the need to discover the basic purpose of man , its art and its answers.
frnc2
I was so delighted that I watched this movie many times. How do you introduce many to a masterpiece of a genius? Pacino searches for him in England's history, at the streets, at the stages and rehearsals, with British actors and scholars, in a beggar that taught us about feelings, feelings in words, not only in gestures, actions, while showing the noble drama in its political subtleties. It shows the beauty not only of a language and story, but a great actor's view of a great play. Surely one of the best movies I have ever seen about a play of Shakespeare. A film that anybody who likes Shakespeare and poetry will watch many times in order to fully understand its beauty
brice-18
Having lately seen Kevin Spacey's marvellous 'King Richard III' at London's Old Vic (on Broadway in a month or two) I had to see again this splendid exploration of Shakespeare, Richard and the wariness by the American public of WS and the phobic approach to his work of some actors. Yet years ago Brando joined John Gielgud and James Mason to play a thrilling Mark Antony in Mankiewicz's 'Julius Caesar', and here an American cast show themselves fine Shakespearean actors. Spacey (young and handsome!) is most enjoyable as Richard's conniving spin=doctor, Buckingham, and in his inevitably fragmented portrayal Pacino shows what a dark, deadly and witty Crookback he would be - on film or stage.
rajah524-3
I'm not sure I have ever given a -10- to anything I've ever reviewed here (including the fifty or sixty I have removed) - BUT - if you are an actor, director, scenarist, dialog writer, director or pretty much anything else in stage or cinema... and -haven't- seen this...You have -really- missed something remarkable.We have seen Pacino be artful (in the Godfathers, in "Glengarry Glen Ross," in "Sea of Love," in "Serpico"). We have seen him strike us dumb (in "Scarface," in "The Devil's Advocate," in "And Justice for All"). We have seen him slip us a mickey (in "Scent of a Woman," in "Dog Day Afternoon," in "Dick Tracy"). Here, however, we get to see him do -all- of this, -and- provide access to the man's boggling mind and force of charm.We can surely see here why and how -- Al has gotten his way for decades (even though Richard himself only got his- for two years).And see him do it in the context of the play that really "made" Bill Shakespeare when it hit the big time in 1633 -40 years- after it was written... along with a cast of stage monsters who make this 450-year-old revelation... Come... To... Life.Bear in mind, as well, how all this revelation must have been viewed a mere 125 years after all this blood-soaked chicanery in a court so similar to the one viewing it.For the king and queen who saw that first performance, this might have been rather like watching "Gone With the Wind" had it been screened for the first time in about 1880 when the world was as little changed from 1865 as 1633 was from 1485.Talk about "The Godfather," this is the -original-. The intrigues are like torpedoes coming from everywhere. NO one can be trusted. NO one is safe. And we get to see it here in a way no film version (of pretty much anything by Old Bill) has ever made so evident... and relevant.This is worth a trip to Blockbuster in a hail storm.
AD
