THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605110086
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
A STUNNING, modernized, and ultra-cinematic version of Shakespeare's ultimate mean-guy-opus, ``Richard III,'' provides a lot to see as well as hear.
Sparked by a stellar performance from Sir Ian McKellen, it is Shakespeare at his most accessible - eventually seducing the audience into a bloodbath of carnage and likable, laughable villainy.
The difference here is that the setting is 1930s England - an age of unbridled elegance in which cigarette holders and snooty revelry abounded. These were people who might have allowed a dictator to be elected via democratic procedure.
One of Shakespeare's earliest plays, the work is, conveniently perhaps, lacking in poetry. What there is is mostly a collection of flashy speeches glued together with more plotting than pondering. It is thoroughly adaptable to its 1930s setting, with the evil, scheming Richard and his allies sporting Nazi uniforms. The pageantry and audacious nature of the Richard Loncraine direction is staged for surrealism rather than realism. The battle scenes are unrealistic, but nonetheless stunning.
One by one, Richard does in the line of succession to the throne. Richard now connives at impressive ballroom parties where, most wittily, a singer warbles, in '30s jazz style, the lyrics of Christopher Marlowe.
Eventually, Richard falls through the fires of impending hell as Al Jolson belts out ``I'm Sitting On Top of the World.''
We are sometimes preoccupied with how some of the play is going to be done. How are they going to do the ``My kingdom for a horse!'' line? Will he say, ``My kingdom for a tank?''
Surely the modern adaptation of Shakespeare, in itself, is nothing to get excited about. It's been done endlessly. The difference here is that the modernization is done by such a superior cast and with such reverence for the original.
There are numerous cuts. At more than four hours, ``Richard III'' is Shakespeare's second-longest play. The cuts are predominantly of individual lines rather than scenes. The flavor of the original is maintained, particularly in the way that the audience is, yet again, seduced into siding with the villain.
Ian McKellan, who is almost a one-man show here, speaks to the camera winningly when he wants to let the audience in on his scheming.
The Americans hold their own, just barely, with Annette Bening giving a sassy and authoritative voice to her denouncement of Richard. Robert Downey Jr., as her brother Rivers, is murdered before he can do much harm.
Particularly brittle, and a joy to behold, is Dame Maggie Smith as Richard's mother, who forthrightly tells her son that she regrets giving birth to him. Nigel Hawthorne is kindly and befuddled as Clarence. Jim Broadbent is Richard's unrewarded henchman, Buckingham, who has to bear the brunt of Richard's decision that ``I am not in the giving vein today.''
For the most part, McKellen delivers a quietly threatening performance. Only in one scene does he throw a tizzy fit - and then only when he knows he has enough power to afford it.
This ``Richard III,'' unlike the recent ``Othello,'' is very much a movie rather than a film of a stage productIon. It is an audacious and a spellbinding entertainment. See it, by all means. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
UNITED ARTISTS
Richard (Ian McKellen) defends his throne on the battlefield.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Richard III''
Cast: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr., Maggie
Smith, Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jim Broadbent, Nigel
Hawthorne, John Wood
Director: Richard Loncraine
MPAA rating: R (the usual Shakespearean violence)
Mal's rating: Four stars
Location: Naro in Norfolk
by CNB