King Lear (1971 British film)

King Lear
King Lear
	Michael Birkett; Mogens Skot-Hansen
Starring	Paul Scofield
Cinematography	Henning Kristiansen
Edited by	Kasper Schyberg
Production; companies	Filmways; Royal Shakespeare Company
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	4 February 1971;
Running time	137 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

King Lear is a 1971 British film adaptation of the

absurdist theatre of playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and upon release was noted for its bleak tone and wintry atmosphere.^[2]

Cast

Peter Brook’s version of King Lear was prompted by an essay by Polish critic

Jutland Peninsula of Denmark.^[2]

Brook's film starkly divided the critics:

absurdist theatre: in particular, the film has parallels with Beckett's Endgame.^[5]

Critics who dislike the film particularly draw attention to its bleak nature from its opening: complaining that the world of the play does not deteriorate with Lear's suffering, but commences dark, colourless and wintry, leaving (in Douglas Brode's words) "Lear, the land, and us with nowhere to go".[6] Cruelty pervades the film, which does not distinguish between the violence of ostensibly good and evil characters, presenting both as savagery.^[7] Paul Scofield, as Lear, eschews sentimentality: this demanding old man with a coterie of unruly knights provokes audience sympathy for the daughters in the early scenes, and his presentation explicitly rejects the tradition (as Daniel Rosenthal describes it) of playing Lear as "poor old white-haired patriarch".^[8]

^ Brantley, Ben (2007). "New York Times: King Lear". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
^ ^a ^b Canby, Vincent (23 November 1971). "Screen: Peter Brook's 'King Lear'". New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
^ Pauline Kael's New Yorker review cited by Brode pp.206&209.
^ Both cited by Brode p.206.
^ Brode pp.206–207.
^ Brode pp.206–210, quotation p.207.
^ Rosenthal p.82.
^ Rosenthal p.83.