Richard III (1995) - April 14, 2015

[Akijama]

Courtesy of Twilight Time

Pre-order date: Wednesday, March 25th at 4 pm EST.

Special Features: Isolated Score Track / Original Theatrical Trailer

Richard III - Ian McKellen - Original Trailer - YouTube

[jscoggins]

This is a very imaginative and exciting interpretation. Thanks, OP!

[javi92]

Never seen this version, but I'll probably pick it up. Can't say I'm crazy about that poster though.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by javi92

Never seen this version, but I'll probably pick it up. Can't say I'm crazy about that poster though.

The poster actually fits the tone very well, the play is completely re-imagined as an action thriller set in an alterna-fascist 1930s Nazi England. Entertainment Weekly described it at the time as "Die Hard in Berlin". This definitely is NOT a conventional Shakespeare film. However it's one of my favorites, because it so embraces the fact that it's a movie, yet still has some really great performances. McKellen's casting is very much like the films Branagh was doing at the time, choosing British stage actors with legitimate training and skill, and then a few American stars to get the thing financed. And even then, don't forget that Bening is stage-trained.

It also has a gorgeous score by Trevor Jones, just three years after his iconic Last of the Mohicans score. Very excited for the isolated score feature here, as the CD infuriatingly has dialogue all over it, since it came out just months after Pulp Fiction and that nonsense was popular for a year or so afterwards (Apollo 13 suffered from it too).

[Akijama]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

This is a very imaginative and exciting interpretation. Thanks, OP!

You're welcome.

Just to add that I had never heard of this movie prior to this announcement, but the high ratings (IMDB 7.5; Rotten Tomatoes 96%) and a great cast piqued my interest.

[Rizor]

I'll buy this.

[Wireduck1]

Great title for Twilight Time to pick up and release.
April 14th, I'll be there.

[jscoggins]

Well, there was an adaptation-driven reason for casting Americans. They wanted to remind viewers of Wallis Simpson.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Well, there was an adaptation-driven reason for casting Americans. They wanted to remind viewers of Wallis Simpson.

Very true, but I think that was a retroactive explanation, I don't think those roles were American in McKellen's original stage production. He makes it clear in the companion book that while they were talented actors, they were cast because the financiers demanded the presence of "name" American actors.

However one benefit of American actors, as McKellen points out in the book, is that while today we find British actors to be "authentic" when doing Shakespeare, the British accent of Shakespeare's time was actually a bit closer to a modern American accent.

He uses the example of the line that one must be careful for spies in the palace, as "pitchers have ears". A modern Brit saying that line will make the word "pitcher" indistinguishable from the word "picture", which would not have been the case in Shakespeare's day. Only an American accent makes the two words distinct.

I've read that the closest accent to Shakespearean-era British is actually that of Tangier Island, in Virginia, because it has existed for so long in almost complete isolation.

http://twentytwowords.com/performing...nglish-accent/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...lly-sound.html

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Very true, but I think that was a retroactive explanation, I don't think those roles were American in McKellen's original stage production. He makes it clear in the companion book that while they were talented actors, they were cast because the financiers demanded the presence of "name" American actors.

However one benefit of American actors, as McKellen points out in the book, is that while today we find British actors to be "authentic" when doing Shakespeare, the British accent of Shakespeare's time was actually a bit closer to a modern American accent.

He uses the example of the line that one must be careful for spies in the palace, as "pitchers have ears". A modern Brit saying that line will make the word "pitcher" indistinguishable from the word "picture", which would not have been the case in Shakespeare's day. Only an American accent makes the two words distinct.

I've read that the closest accent to Shakespearean-era British is actually that of Tangier Island, in Virginia, because it has existed for so long in almost complete isolation.

http://twentytwowords.com/performing...nglish-accent/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...lly-sound.html

This reminds me of our discussion in the Henry V thread about French curse words.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

This reminds me of our discussion in the Henry V thread about French curse words.

BTW, I'm watching the 10 minute video in my first link now. Fascinating. The OP, as they call the "original pronunciation" sounds more Irish than anything to me, but apparently one of the big differences is that modern Brits don't pronounce a lot of "r"s in words, especially after vowels. This is apparently a recent development.

[MTRodaba2468]

I'm looking forward to this one...

[Blu Titan]

Blind buy...I am sure my wife will enjoy it .

[lolwut]

Blind buy for me as well. I love Shakespeare adaptations and Ian McKellan looks fantastic in this.

[jacobmf48]

So does anyone know if there's anywhere that I can preorder this?

[glenn2145]

I saw this at the cinema 20 years ago. I've been waiting for the blu ray for a long time. It's one of the great Shakespeare screen adaptations.

[bigkid43]

I owned this on laser disc, then DVD, and really enjoyed the modern interpretation. A similar modern Shakespeare adaptation is Coriolanus.

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by jacobmf48

So does anyone know if there's anywhere that I can preorder this?

Give it a couple of weeks, then go here: http://screenarchives.com/

Originally Posted by bigkid43

A similar modern Shakespeare adaptation is Coriolanus.

Incidentally, anyone who hasn't sought out Finnes' remarkable Coriolanus should do so immediately. Don't let its paltry score on IMDb scare you off.

[Scottie]

Release Date:
April 14th, 2015

Pre-Order Date:
Wednesday, March 25th at 4 pm EST

Special Features:
Isolated Score Track
Original Theatrical Trailer

[Sporkies]

Has anyone heard word about the age/condition of the transfer that's being used for this?