Film Review: "King Lear" ****
King Lear ****
Not since Kenneth Branaugh’s Hamlet, I have been this excited about a Shakespeare adaptation. For young Shakespearean actors, the role of Hamlet is a dream role; capturing the confusion and struggles of youth in one of the most poignant stories ever written. For more seasoned Shakespearean actors, you spend your entire life preparing to play Lear. It has been remarkable in the last couple of years that such great actors as Ian McKellan have finally taken on the role. Patrick Stewart also attempted a Western remake of the great tragedy. A few years ago in central park, John Lithgow stared in a famous adaptation. But, it is in Anthony Hopkin’s performance as Lear in the BBC and Amazon’s new feature King Lear that I have seen the Lear I have always dreamed of. I will go out on a limb. This is Hopkins best performance since Titus Andronicus at least, if not since Remains of the Day, or even Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs.
Hopkins relishes this role. Beginning the film with the strength that Lear needs as he foolishly says he is “crawling towards death” (nothing could be further from the truth as the play begins when Lear still has so much power), Hopkins’ transformation into the weak, old, feeble man, which Lear descends to, is frighteningly realistic. His insanity that descends feels more real than it has in the past. Dementia overwhelms and the fool, rather than simply being a traveling companion, is also himself an old man, who Lear is transforming into.
For those who do not know the story, Lear’s famous plot begins with a plan by Lear to divide his Kingdom between his three daughters through a love test. He asks each of his daughters whom loves him most and will reward them with an ample piece of his kingdom. But, even in this “test”, Lear cheats. For some reading the text, it is not obvious that Lear designed this test with one purpose: to give his youngest daughter, Cordelia, the largest piece of his Kingdom, since he loves her most. The film makes this fact very clear. However, to Lear’s shock, Cordelia will not play this game. She does not insult her father, but merely says she loves him as a daughter should. For this, she is banished. Hopkins turns the play’s most important line, not from his actual dismissal of his daughter (“Let truth then be thy dowry), but, rather to “Better thou had not be born.” The way he holds the “n”, the last consonant of the line, makes it burn into the heart of Cordelia. This Lear is vicious.
The director, Richard Eyre, wisely decides to embellish the bullish and horrific behavior of Lear. Demonstrating that he is not only a cruel father, but a cruel man. As a result, Emma Thompson, playing Lear’s eldest daughter Goneril, as well as Emily Watson, playing the middle daughter Reagan, are given a chance to actually come off as sympathetic. I have never seen a Lear where the daughters actually achieve any sympathy from the audience. Of course, they turn to cruel and horrible acts, perhaps none worse than the blinding of Gloucester, staged with utter horror and referencing Blade Runner. In these two roles though, Emma Thompson and Emily Watson, demonstrate their incredible acting talent. There are simply not enough roles for women of their age. But, even in their cruel acts, we understand these characters so well. They are indeed their father’s daughters. His cruelty has been imparted to them as lessons from their home life. Watch their horror as their father forces them to play this love test. They know that they don’t have a chance even from the beginning.
Like most of Shakespeare’s great works, there is an A plot and a B plot. The two plots mirror each other with the A plot being centered around royalty, while the B plot often deals with characters who are not quite as noble. In this case, the A plot is about Lear being blind to his daughter’s betrayal and acts of love, while the B plot, involves Gloucester being blind (eventually literally) to the betrayal of his “bastard” son, Edmund, who convinces him that his first son, Edgar, is plotting against him.
The choice of casting Edmund as a black man is a stroke of genius for playing up the “bastard” role he has, being born from an affair of his fathers. Having Edger be an astronomer is also genius, showing not only the role of fate in the play, but also, the white child being adored and loved as a scientist, while the black child who goes into the military is still not adored.
Lear done in its entirety is over three hours. Richard Eyre’s cut of the play moves at such a swift pace, clocking in at one hour and fifty-two minutes, that there is never a dull moment. Even in the quiet of the hut during the storm, there is an intensity and push forward of a weight that is coming and cannot be put off. The one tragedy of the cut is the role of Edgar who is diminished greatly in this particular version, but to achieve a shorter running time, sacrifices must be made.
This is not only one of the best films of the year, but also, one of the greatest Shakespearean adaptations (the most adapted author in film) in history. It is streaming on Amazon Prime and a must see of this year!
