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Plot Summary
This is a fascinating documentary-style film about Academy Award-winning actor Al Pacino's staging of Richard; and his simultaneous exploration of the relevance of Shakespeare to people in every walk of life. Every scene of the play is dissected by actors and scholars prior to us seeing it performed, thus bringing the play brilliantly to life. Pacino's directorial debut takes the audience on a fascinating journey through the actor's process, preparing the audience for classical drama in its highest form. Richard schemes murderously for the throne at the expense of his brother Clarence (Alec Baldwin), his wife Lady Anne (Winona Ryder), his sidekick Buckingham (Kevin Spacey), and just about everyone else who crosses his path. The film also stars Aidan Quinn as Richmond, and includes interviews with F. Murray Abraham, Gil Bellows, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Kline, James Earl Jones, John Gielgud and Vanessa Redgrave, among dozens of others. The film won numerous awards, including the 1997 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Documentary.
Credits
Director
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
81%- Reviews Counted: 47
- Fresh: 38
- Rotten: 9
- Average Rating: 7.1/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: There are actors' rehearsals and performances, and Mr. Pacino interviews experts, conducts man-on-the-street polls and stages collegial arguments with his cronies. Thus emerges the intricate story of Richard's ambition.
Fresh: Pacino makes looking for Richard a great adventure and outrageous fun.
Rotten: It's ironic that the movie is done in by what you'd expect to be the high point: the performance segments that dominate the final third.
Fresh: High-spirited and infectiously energetic.
Customer Reviews
Perfect.
No fairer film has yet been sweetly laid
at feet so undeserving of its mad beauty.
How might we ere thank dear Al of
Pacino, a complex heart, a mind of glistening?
Such thorny truth you do raise and toss to us,
a gift, both weight and candle. I wish more of this.
Interesting Concept.
This is the first movie of its kind I have seen and I really thought it was very interesting. The idea was executed perfectly and the cast was amazing. Overall its a very good movie however it's not Al's best, but this is still a movie you should at least rent. P.S. first review
Searching for Shakespeare
Many modern readers and audiences are somewhat intimidated by Shakespeare, or have filed his work away as something "academic," or, even worse, "boring," from their high school English classes. But, as Looking for Richard shows, this is simply not the case. Comprised of performances, rehearsals, discussions, interviews with actors, historians, and, perhaps most interestingly, regular people on the street, this film is a masterful examination not only of the play, Richard III, itself, but of what it is to perform, and how we interact with it 400 years after its writing. There isn't a person I wouldn't recommend it to, and I think it should be required viewing for teens studying Shakespeare.
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