Review of King Lear (2018)
Seen in 2019.
One of those Shakespeare adaptations that use the original English but make heavy cuts and transport the plot to a contemporary setting. Half-hearted and not a good introduction to the work. It is a distractingly strange choice to depict modern Britain as a military dictatorship in bare-walled castles while the rulers of Burgundy and France have dark skin and African-style clothing. There is a brief attempt at superficial realism when the mad king appears as a homeless person on a bench by a lifeless British market, but this merely clashes with the lazy worldbuilding elsewhere. The actors seem indifferent, the editing is lax, desaturated colours are used in place of interesting sets and Shakespeare’s warmth and humour are greatly reduced (not even the Fool is allowed to be funny). Unmoving.