Richard III

I understand the supposed appeal: Shakespeare's language, Olivier's performance, technicolour sets and royal intrigue. To me it's a tedious drawn out film where none of the intrigue is actually interesting, the visuals are garish and Olivier's performance is way over-the-top and uninteresting. The dialogue has some appeal, but even it doesn't charm me.

This adaptation made me realize that Richard III is my favourite play of Shakespeare's. Of course Olivier would do that

There is a point where costume and makeup designs are just so poorly thought out as to be distracting. I didn't think, "What a great actor!" while watching Olivier. I thought, "Jesus that friggin' nose and that friggin' hair and that friggin' fur hat..."

This is very cinematic. This isn't a filmed play. It's a play turned into a film. It's a great play to turn into a film. Shakespeare's most villainous main character talks to the audience and tells us everything that's going to happen, and it's fairly intimate and conspiratorial. Olivier plays Richard as a charming monster, and there's something very conspiratorial about it. We feel somewhat complicit in his monstrous deeds.

acting styles must have changed a lot since Olivier's time. I comment not as much on Olivier (who seems the most contemporary and "good" in this film) as I do on the terrible performances from Gielgud and Richardson. They were the two actor's on Olivier's level at this time in terms of classical British acting and they are like wood - no emotional connection. Also the cuts suck - he keeps in some boring stuff and cuts the richard / elizabeth scene and clarence's death.

Completely incompetent "film-"making and appallingly ugly photography.

# 792

Despite being a well done job in the technical sense and its grandiose style which combines low shots and long speeches with great spatial depth, I find it extremely dull and too theatrical. It seemed that all the characters besides Richard were one-dimensional and they had no peculiarity at all. Apart from that it is a moralist tale which tries to reveal the evil and insecurity in totalitarian regimes, so we should all hail liberal democracy and Queen of England :)

Blockbuster

Sorry, but this is so stiff and artificial, even though we've all been told and told and told that that's the high tone. Like, ZZZZZZZ, dude

78.000

Take cover, take aim, take over.

The production values here certainly lean toward the gaudy and artificial. Big colorful costumes, gigantic and blocky sets, Olivier's wacky makeup (that nose!). But oh how I love that Vistavision, that Technicolor. And Olivier is so clearly having a great time with the material, perfectly content with chewing scenery rather than exploring Richard's subtle depths. A long but engaging cartoon epic.

Ricardo III estreava há 65 anos em Londres. Não sei se meu vilão shakespereano favorito é o Iago ou o Ricardo III, enquanto o primeiro pode ser apenas um neurótico mesquinho, Richard é a encarnação da psicopatia e aqui temos uma ótima transposição de sua vileza. Se esta adaptação não atinge o status de obra-prima que é o Hamlet do Olivier, tampouco deixa de ser um trabalho memorável que de cara já nos deixa de joelhos com aquele monólogo em plano-sequência que abre o filme. P

77.500

I forgot why I dislike Olivier, but this reminded me. He doesn't seem to know what a movie is, there's nothing here that wouldn't be done just as well, or better, in a stage production. The tone is so serious as to feel emotionally hollow and feels like Olivier only cares about how the words sound. The costuming and make-up looks largely terrible on camera. Love this play but I struggled hard to make it through this film.

Hard to watch. Both the 1995 movie and the 2016 TV series are better.

Overly confusing adaptation, in which most of the entertainment value comes from unintentionally humorous moments of melodrama.

in this day and age, shakespeare needs to be read and discussed before you go out and see it. trying to follow this movie cold, without knowing the story beforehand, caused me actual physical pain. maybe i'll give it another try after I read the play.