Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5683 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

Riveting!
I sat riveted to this - such strong actors (with, in my opinion the exception of Kevin Spacey) discussing and acting Richard III with passion.
Wonderful clips (albeit too short) of Brannagh, Guilgud and Vanessa Redgrave explaining iambic pentameter, rhythm etc
I barely knew the play but having watched this am looking forward to going to a production with much greater understanding.

sloppy sibilants
Al is venomous and spits a lot. This is the best introduction to RickIII I can imagine. Wonderful insight into the thesp's world (of which I profess limited knowledge) Intense

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.