Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9808 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-01-03
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Synopsis
Behind the scenes of an all-star cast rehearsing the play Richard III.

Customer Reviews

This is just a great watch
Al goes and does an in depth analysis of Richard 3rd (III), for example the opening sequence (about 15 minutes), is about the first line in the play, and by god I've never been so interested.

The whole film is an in depth view not only of the play but the way this (amazing) actor approaches the subject matter, to get inside the characters head by not just looking at the historical context of the play, but how a human being would react.

And as Pacino says this play has murder, incest, war, love, betrayal, witches everything, so it has allot to offer the actors and viewers.

I must admit, if you buy this film, it may take you ages to get around to watching it (it's not specifically action love or comedy so you'll never know when to watch it). But one day you'll sit down put this on, and remember it for the rest of your life.

What other sign is there for a great film.

Bad treatment for a really good documentary!
In short, great documentary, really interesting - poor picture quality, particularly during the winona ryder and pacino rehearsal, and for the first 30 minutes, there are very bad lip synching problems i.e. the sound is not in time with the image!! This is very offputting as it looks like the footage has been dubbed over.

Fascinating
First off lets be clear, this is a documentary about Al Pacino making a version of Richard III. As someone who has very minimal knowledge of Shakespeare I found this to be very interesting and it made me want to watch a complete film or see it performed at a theatre.

Contrary to some previous reviewers I'd say that Pacino showed great respect to the material and to the more famous British actors who have been involved in versions of this story down the years. He interviews Sir John Guilgud and Kenneth Brannagh to try and understand what the lines he is saying really mean. I have no doubt that if Sir Lawrence Olivier had still been alive Pacino would have wanted to interview him about his famous performance.

Pacino proves himself to be an engaging and intelligent presenter, and his Richard III, whilst undoubtably heavily influenced by Oliver is a striking performance. If like me you have never studied Shakespeare, and have little understanding of what is now frankly almost a foreign language then this film gives you the opportunity to be educated and entertained at the same time.