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King Lear video capsule review: 1999, directed by Brian Blessed [Blessed]

Kicking off our video capsule reviews for King Lear…

First up, I’ve got a 1999 film version directed by and starring Brian Blessed. Now Blessed is known primarily as an actor, and a pretty damned good Shakespearean one at that, having appeared in multiple film versions by Kenneth Branagh…but personally I’ve liked the guy since the 70s for work in I, Claudius and Flash Gordon.

He’s got only one directorial credit, however, and this is it:

So, it’s obviously a passion piece. But is it any good?

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Podcast 124: King Lear: intro and plot synopsis

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This week’s podcast kicks off our three month-long discussion of King Lear with a quick intro and a not-so-quick plot synopsis.

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King Lear Act Five plot synopsis: deaths

Previously in King Lear:

While Act One was filled with mistakes made and bad behavior, Act Two was all about the dark clouds rising-–the ratcheting up pressure against those characters that we care about (Edgar, Lear and Kent all facing tribulations). Act Three brought more tribulations to these three, then added another victim into mix, and made it even worse for him: blinding Gloucester. Act Four gave us the reunion of Gloucester and Edgar (though only Edgar was aware of it), and Lear and Cordelia. It ended hopefully.

Alas, it was not the end of the play.

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Suggested viewing: PBS’s Shakespeare Uncovered – King Lear

As we begin to wrap-up basic plot stuff for King Lear, and begin to take the deeper dive, here’s a great hour-long discussion of the play…

PBS has been running a show called Shakespeare Uncovered, taking (usually) a play (but sometimes a genre–like the cross-dressing comedies) and delving into its history, sources, plot and intricacies, all shot through the perspective of a well-known actor or director who has (or is) tackling that particular play:

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King Lear Act Four plot synopsis: reunions (you could end it here…please, end it here)

Previously in King Lear:

While Act One was filled with mistakes made and bad behavior, Act Two was all about the dark clouds rising-–the ratcheting up pressure against those characters that we care about (Edgar, Lear and Kent all facing tribulations). Act Three brought more tribulations to these three (putting them together in the storm), then added another victim into mix, and made it even worse for him: Gloucester, betrayed by his bastard son Edmund, had his eyes put out by Cornwall (though the duke was injured doing so).

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The Guardian – King Lear – Roger Allam

The Guardian has been releasing what they’ve been calling “Shakespeare Solos” — short films of soliloquies and set speeches from the Bard, recited by British actors. The releases run the gamut from the so-famous-it-borders-on-cliche (Adrian Lester doing Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ and David Morrissey with Richard III’s ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’) to the less expected (Camille O’Sullivan’s ‘Thou art not holy’ from King John, and the wonderful ‘Are you meditating on virginity?’ from All’s Well That Ends Well by Sacha Dhawan).

Why do I mention this?

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King Lear Act Three plot synopsis: rain and blood

Previously in King Lear:

While Act One was filled with mistakes made and bad behavior, Act Two was all about the dark clouds rising–the ratcheting up pressure against those characters that we care about:

  • Edmund framing Edgar for conspiring against and Gloucester and attacking the bastard
  • first Goneril disrespecting Lear and denigrating his followers, then Regan taking her side
  • Oswald and Cornwall punishing Kent

By the end of the second act, those clouds have opened up into a terrible storm.

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