Richard II
- Episode aired Sep 20, 2013
- Not Rated
- 2h 21m
The incompetent Richard II is deposed by Henry Bolingbroke and undergoes a crisis of identity once he is no longer king.The incompetent Richard II is deposed by Henry Bolingbroke and undergoes a crisis of identity once he is no longer king.The incompetent Richard II is deposed by Henry Bolingbroke and undergoes a crisis of identity once he is no longer king.
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPembroke Castle, the castle with the large tower in the film, was inherited by Richard II following the death, in a jousting accident, of its owner John Hastings in 1389. Pembroke Castle was the birthplace of King Henry VII in 1457.
- GoofsCharacters repeatedly mispronounce "Hereford" as "Hair-ford". The character is called "HERFORD" in the text. That is how Shakespeare wrote it and intended it to be said - the production is respecting that. Pronouncing it "Hereford" doesn't fit the poetic metre. Spellings and pronunciations were simply far more variable then.
- Quotes
King Richard: Let's talk of graves, of worms and epitaphs. Make dust our paper and with rainy eyes write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. Let's choose executors and talk of wills. And yet not so. For what can we bequeath , save our deposed bodies to the ground? Our lands, our lives and all are Bolingbroke's. And nothing can we call our own but death. And that small model of the barren earth wich serves as paste and cover to our bones. For god's sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings. How some have been deposed; some slain in war; Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed; Some poisoned by their wives; some sleeping killed All murdered. For within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king. Keeps death his court. And there the antic sits, scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp Allowing him a breath, a little scene, to monarchise Be deared and kill with looks Infusing with self and vain conceit, As if this flesh wich walls about out life, Were brass impregnable. And humoured thus, comes at the last And, with a little pin, bores through his castle wall and, Farewell, King!
- ConnectionsFollowed by The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 1 (2012)
Unfairly unloved, perhaps because of the unfamiliar politics in it opening scenes, Richard II is Shakespeare's watershed. It has much in it which would have been familiar to the Elizabethan theatre goer-but also contains mountains of innovation, such as Richard's soliloquy after his confinement, which look forward to Hamlet and beyond. This is the play where iambic pentameter really broke free of its rhyming chains and although not everyone can place it correctly, Richard II contains some of Shakespeare's finest poetry.
And what a fantastic Richard we have in Ben Whishaw, delivering the personal tragedy and the political betrayal with the combination of power and finesse that the role demands but rarely receives. Even Ian McKellen, in his landmark production for the BBC in the 80's, didn't catch the sheer majesty of Richard's defiant surrender at Flint castle.
The entire cast is outstanding and the producers did well to enlist two great female actresses for the parts of Isabella and the Duchess of York, retaining the bulk of parts that are often cut to shreds. More of Isabella's lines would have helped Clemence Poesy make her Queen memorable but no one will forget Lindsay Duncan's rescue of her son.
However, Rory Kinnear takes second honours, providing an utterly mesmerising foil for Whishaw's Richard and the electricity crackles between them as the fantastic deposition scenes hit the summits of dramatic power. You won't see better. There isn't better.
Beautifully shot and engineered, there isn't a scene that doesn't look stunning, a word that cannot be clearly understood or a plot line that cannot be easily followed. The sheer mastery of the play's intensely psychological portrait of kingship and power is made easily accessible to newcomers to Shakespearean drama and language.
Utterly brilliant. Well done everyone involved.
- alfa-16
- Jul 10, 2012
Details
- Runtime2 hours 21 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1