Looking For Richard (DVD)

Looking for Richard is a documentary, directed by and staring Al Pacino. Using extracts from and analysis of the play, Richard III, Pacino sets out to discover a way of creating one of Shakespeare's most villainous characters. He also uses the play to find out how Shakespeare and his works are perceived today. There are three strands to the film: Pacino travels from New York to London and Stratford in search of Shakespeare, an enigmatic figure to say the least; talking-head interviews with historians and some of the foremost Shakespearean actors, including John Geilgud, Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Brannagh; acting out key scenes from the play, with Hollywood ...

Richard III is a great play, even judged purely within Shakespeare?s canon. One of his greatest tragedies, and almost indisputably the finest of his historical pieces, with all sorts of quotable bits. It mutilates the actual events of Richard of Gloucester?s accession and reign, but who cares? Be honest. Al Pacino certainly doesn?t care. And in the carefree mid-90s, he set out to show the world how his favourite play should be performed. Looking for Richard is essentially a documentary based around Pacino?s attempts to stage the ultimate production of Richard III. Apparently Pacino?s directorial debut, critics cooed over the heavyweight cast and ponderings on ...

Murder, betrayal and treachery, and that’s just skimming the surface. Yet Shakespeare’s work is described by one passer-by in this film as boring, and another even goes as far as saying "it sucks". How to bring Richard III, perhaps the Bard’s most complex play, to the masses, is the question Al Pacino posed himself before making this film. Why is it that despite its almost universal acclaim from scholars, Shakespeare’s work is not appreciated more by the general public? And is there a deep-rooted problem that prevents American actors from successfully performing his plays? Part documentary, part re-enactment, ...