Looking for Richard plays like a dramatic documentary about making Shakespeare more appealing to modern audiences today. It starts out showing some interviews with random people on the street to establish a general understanding of how people view Shakespeare in our society. And the one doing the interviewing? Mr. Al Pacino himself. He takes on the challenge of explaining and portraying one of Shakespeare's most difficult and most preformed plays - Richard III. Some of the actors that appear in this film are Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey and Winona Ryder. They help Al as he tries to act out some of the scenes from the play.
This film is wonderful. It takes the art of acting to a whole different level of talent. It brings you "backstage" so you can understand the film process, the theatrical process, and the acting process. It gives you an inside look at certain methods of acting by allowing you to watch extremely talented actors. It uses humour so that those who have trouble with Shakespeare are more comfortable, because they realize they aren't the only ones confused. But most importantly, I find that they hit a special mark with this film. The best way to put it is by quoting one of the random people they interviewed on the street. A poor man.
Conversation between a poor man on the street and Al Pacino:
Man: "Intelligence is hooked with language. When we speak with no feeling we get nothing out of our society. We should speak like Shakespeare. We should introduce Shakespeare into the academics. You know why? Because then the kids would have feeling."
Al: "That's right, we have no feelings."
Man: "That's why it's easy for us to shoot each other. We don't feel for each other... but if we were taught to feel... we wouldn't be so violent. Shakespeare helped us. He did more than help us. He instructed us."
Here's a look at the film (the beginning)- I'm not sure if it includes the conversation above
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I find this inspiring and humbling all at the same time. For a poor man to be so clear and true, saying something millions of us could never understand, and having the disadvantages in life that he has - its incredible.
But let's switch focus for a moment. Al Pacino's acting was exciting to watch. He uses his facial features, his voice, his lips as a way to create a character and bring it to life. I had once spoken about Colin Firth's acting as something he created with his entire body. Al Pacino creates it with his face. He's very operatic and strong when need be, but the next second he can be sinister, alluring and intriguing by just using his voice. He uses these strengths to his advantage the entire film. It's also his confidence that removes any doubt from our minds about Al's certainty. That's why it's hilarious when he is proven wrong. You suddenly realize, Al Pacino doesn't know everything to know about Shakespeare, let alone about the play Richard III. This makes Pacino relatable to the audience.
I absolutely have to give a large thumbs up to Penelope Allen who played Queen Elizabeth. She was amazing to watch.
And now some negative remarks. This film's week spots were simple. There were too many scenes from the play and not enough of society's view. There needed to be more in-depth interviews with strangers or at least trying to grasp a further understanding of why people are withdrawn from Shakespeare. I think there were so many things that Al wanted to touch upon and make a comment on, that the film became too much and eventually became too scattered. The unity of the film deteriorated from this, and that was its downfall. I also think if he wanted to make Shakespeare more easy to understand, he probably should have picked a less complicated play to work with. I understand the reason he picked Richard III was because of its confusion, but I felt that maybe it was too big a task to accomplish.
So, definitely watch this film. Don't think, don't analyze (like I do), just watch it. Because it may not be whole, but small and seemingly insignificant parts are worth the entire thing. I promise, the experience of watching this film will stick with you. I give this film 8.5/10.
*Here's the aftermath of the documentary. After everything was filmed, the dialogue was written down and recorded. Here it is. The Looking for Richard script.
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