Richard III Film Analysis

Improved Essays
Richard III the film is a historical movie which depicts the rivalry between the houses of York and Lancaster .The film begins with a dramatic opening scene which connects the past with the present. In the film Richard is at the center of all the action as the film depicts his ascend to the throne through the use of manipulation of other characters praying on their weaknesses, murderous tactics and seducing women who may be presented as weak. Among the victims of his murders are his brother Clarence, his nephews, his wife Anne, Rivers and Buckingham. The film captures all the major scenes of the original play. Through the use of Camera techniques, the portrayal of Richard in accordance with the play, the use of sound and lighting to captivate the viewer it can be said that Richard III the movie was a success.
Richard Loncraine the director of the movie ,use of the camera techniques helps make the movie a success. One such technique used by Loncraine is deep focus. The camera technique of deep focusing is seen especially when Richard delivers his soliloquy .One instance of this is when Richard was delivering his well know soliloquy which starts with the line “Now is the winter of our discontent” the camera zoomed in and focused on him, this creates an intimate effect as if he were speaking directly to viewer, thus making the viewer feel a

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Over a few centuries, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) has been known by plenty of names: at first, it stood as “irritable heart” during the American Civil War; later during the First World War, the symptoms were called “shell shock” or “hysteria”. When the Second World War and the War in Korea occurred, the symptoms were labeled as “war neurosis”, “battle fatigue”, and “exhaustion.” Lastly, during the War in Vietnam, “Post Vietnam Syndrome” remained as the last occurrence of names given before PTSD was officially branded and categorized as a war mental illness. (Coleman 19) Although Hollywood has created numerous of films regarding WWII, Spielberg’s film, Saving Private Ryan, a war film praised for the realism of violence and battles—most…

    • 1685 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Values In King Richard III

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The attitudes towards values are revealed when comparatively investigating texts separated by centuries, reflective of the beliefs in one’s society. When a social belief system is challenged, individuals being to question the absence of values such as moderation and integrity in their contribution to the downfall of an individual regardless of contexts. A challenge towards the belief of providentialism in Shakespearean society is explored in King Richard III, portraying the impacts of an aspiration of power towards one’s humanity, rejecting God’s will for an improved social position. This notion is reimagined by Pacino in Looking for Richard to mirror the social ideal of the Great American Dream enabling individuals to pursue their goals but similarly criticises the lack of restraint and integrity when one utilises immoral…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    William Shakespeare is widely recognized as the greatest influence in English literature. He was an English poet, actor and playwright. Shakespeare's extant work consists of many plays, sonnets and narrative poems. His plays are one of literature's greatest legacies, which are divided into many genres such as histories, tragedies and comedies. From famous tragedies like Macbeth and Richard III, there are many similarities as well as differences.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Shakespeare's Richard III presents the ideas of conscience and morality in an aristocratic society that thirsts for power. By presenting conscience as a central theme, Shakespeare portrays conscience through the eyes of different characters. In doing so, his audience is given differing interpretations of the importance of conscience. In his essay "Conscience and Complicity in Richard III," Harry Berger Jr. interprets conscience as a vital part of self-preservation. Berger notes the ineffectiveness of conscience, which leads to the characters' ignorance of the misdeeds around them (Berger 410).…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Pacino’s ambition to “communicate a Shakespeare that is how we think and how we feel today” leads him to orchestrate his interpretation of Richard’s identity and, in process, manipulate his own identity to present this adaptation to his audience. Pacino revaluates Richard’s exaggerated deformity as not a consequence of opposing the divine order but rather a ‘metaphorical representation of the inner corruption of his mind’. Through the cinema verite of Richard in black attire, shadows and limping, the dramatic characterisation reveals the pernicious state of his mind. Pacino uses enigmatic tone of repetitive voice, “an amorous looking glass cheated of feature by deformed…deformed…deformed” to reveal Richard’ internally fragmented self accompanied with eclectic editing style. As the Elizabethan tyrant is made more relevant to the modern audience, it reveals the audience’s freedom to conclude the guilty conscience, rather than presuming punishments lead to a devaluation of Richard’s authentic power.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The film updates the story with twentieth-century protagonists challenging neo-colonialism. By casting an American Black actor as Idi Amin, the last King raises unsettling issues about Black identity, Afro-Diasporic sentiment, and racial ventriloquism that harks back to Hollywood’s days of Blackface minstrelsy. Racism in Western popular culture has not been uncontested, and in recent years well organized and successful protests have risen up in various forms against corporations, athletic organizations, and other purveyors of racialized popular media, however, for as many successful protests, decades long battles continue today to end the dehumanizing portrayals of marginalized groups in the United States. People begin by focusing on some recent…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Richard 's death reveals a final truth that divine retribution is a more powerful reality than the interwoven lies that Richard has spread. Shakespeare has highlighted the significance of appearance and reality in relation to the human condition and condemns Richard 's use of it as he subverts the Tudor…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history, Richard III has been described as the most cruel of kings. Shakespeare’s famous play about said king has largely contributed to this image; the murderer of a big part of his family, kids even, people who cared about him. That might be the most bizarre thing: how Richard found it in his heart to do such horrifying things. For some reason, that family bond meant less to him than becoming king, the most powerful of all. But we should ask ourselves, was Richard his own maker or was he shaped by his situation?…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The corruption of power prevails across time periods, as initiated by Shakespeare and confirmed by Pacino in Looking for Richard. Undoubtedly, the battle for authority overrules the natural order of a human being, hence the consequent result of destruction and loss. In Richard III, Shakespeare thoroughly examines the nature of power and authority, utilising Richard’s brutal actions to demonstrate that the ends do not justify the means. In the Elizabethan theocracy, power was conferred through hereditary, not merit, hence Richard as a clearly unworthy and unwanted heir to the throne. In granting Richard the opportunity to cement his ‘power’, Shakespeare depicts the protagonist exerting the Machiavellian influence, as seen seducing the young Princes in Act 3, Scene 3, “God keep you from such false friends”, and “Your grace attended to thy sugared words.”…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey was a mystery novel in which the main character, Alan Grant, used rather unorthodox research methods in order to prove Richard III’s innocence and prove that Richard III wasn’t the villain that everyday Britain assumed he was. Grant’s main debate showed that there was essentially no reasoning for Richard III to murder his nephews. In order to find out and prove that Richard was a man who should have been on the bench instead of in the dock. Grant scoured history textbooks, books about Richard III specifically, and also obtained the help of an ‘assistant’ of sorts, Brent Carradine. The first item Alan Grant reads over is from a children’s history book, and shows Richard III as nothing more than a murderer, which causes Grant to delve into other, more legitimate, secondary sources in order to discover the truth.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    But rather he is challenging the British literary world, and their belief that they hold all the knowledge to Shakespeare’s plays. He does this constantly throughout the entire film, showing scenes of British scholars where he has put them on the spot making them seem as if they don’t know anything. A great example of this is when he is interviewing Emrys Jones, a well-known Shakespeare academic and he is asked a question to which he responds, “I don’t really know the answer.” Straight away the scene is cut and immediately followed by a different scene of Pacino explaining exactly what the British scholar couldn’t.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Power is like a knife. A knife in proper hands can create pieces of culinary art, however, a knife in cruel hands only creates destruction. Power is misused in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and William Shakespeare’s Richard III and both literary works demonstrate the same consequences. Power destroys morality within the abuser and society. This exploitation of power will also lead to discontentment among the people.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The King’s speech is a historical drama film featuring King George the Sixth who copes with a stammer. The movie depicts historical events during the 1930s in London. Among the main characters are, King George VI who is also addressed by ‘Bertie’ by his close family members, Elizabeth, Lionel Logue as well as the archbishop, Cosmo Gordon Lang. To solve Bertie’s problem, his wife Elizabeth encourages him to seek help from Lionel Logue, a speech defect therapist. When his brother refused the throne, the once Duke of York was forced to succeed him and become the new king reluctantly.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The rise of Fascism and the Second World War made a profound impact upon historical films on Tudor England. This essay will show this through an analysis of the appropriate films and scholarly literature that exists. It will begin by discussing how film studios in Britain and ‘Hollywood’ begun using historical films on Tudor England to portray an anti-Nazi sentiment to a wide audience. It will become evident that some film studios during this period did not wish to cause offence, and therefore utilised historical films on Tudor England to put forward their own political agenda. This essay will then examine how these historical films on Tudor England became central to the propaganda mission.…

    • 1654 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Revenant Film Analysis

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Revenant is about facing the struggles of a new world and being able to endure the harsh cold winter while surviving unbelievable hardships. The movie is based on a true story and portrays how truly tough it was to survive in the vast uninhabited areas of North America in 1823. The directors and actors had a tough job of following the storyline while dealing with the elements and ensuring the action packed scenes where realistic. The Revenant is a superb and intense action seeking thriller because of the brilliant storyline, talented actors, and realistic costumes and props.…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays