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Film Description
Al Pacino's directorial debut is a film of the staging of Shakespeare's Richard III. The camera follows cast and crew throughout rehearsals, eavesdropping on the behind-the-scenes process that goes into creating characters and scenes. A witty and intelligent look at the trials and tribulations of mounting a Shakespeare production.
Al Pacino¹s debut as writer/director is an original and totally involving approach to Shakespeare in general and Richard III in particular. The movie combines Pacino'... more >
Al Pacino¹s debut as writer/director is an original and totally involving approach to Shakespeare in general and Richard III in particular. The movie combines Pacino's efforts to mount a production of the play with his exploration of the problems the play sets for American actors and film-makers, and what Shakespeare means to people in contemporary life. ³It has always been a dream of mine to communicate to others how I feel about Shakespeare² Pacino says at one point early on, and its a measure of his achievement that by the end of the film we have been both enlightened as to the meaning of the text, iambic pentameters and all, and thoroughly entertained by the engrossing combination of thrillingly performed scenes from the play, documentary footage of the cast rehearsing, and Pacino and his likeably irascible producer searching for the essence of Shakespeare¹s play. Their quest takes them from New York¹s Central Park, to London¹s Globe Theatre to Shakespeare¹s birth place in Stratford upon Avon. What emerges is an intelligent, witty and riveting analysis of one of Shakespeare¹s most popular and often performed plays. Pacino¹s sheer enthusiasm for the project and his likeable, relaxed approach to the people he meets win us over completely. The use of many different locations and the engaging improvisatory nature of many scenes is reminiscent of Orson Welles¹ approach to Shakespeare in Othello. There¹s also a lucid chronological examination of the play¹s structure, emphasised by the use of intertitles introducing the key scenes. Enjoy also spotting appearances from a succession of great actors and actresses, from British thespians Gielgud, Branagh, Jacobi and Vanessa Redgrave, to Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Estelle Parsons and Viveca Lindfors, to mention just a few. < less
