Richard III (1995) - film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Kaitlyn Culliton (Trinity College Dublin)

Ed. by Ema Vyroubalova, Trinity College Dublin
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Domains

Cinema/ Film/ TV

Dates

Date of occurrence 1995

Places

England (Location)

Genres and Modes

Adaptation

Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Richard III. Directed by Richard Loncraine. Starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Christopher Bowen, and Robert Downey Jr. English with Spanish and French subtitles. Colour 150 minutes.

Based on the Royal National Theatre production directed by Richard Eyre, the film premiered in 1995. Like its theatrical predecessor, the film is placed in a modern setting which evokes Europe in the 1930s. The screenplay was written by Sir Ian McKellen, who also stars as the eponymous Richard.

Costumes, music, props, and cultural references help to situate the film in Europe between the wars. McKellen describes the decision to update the political and cultural context …

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962 words

Citation: Culliton, Kaitlyn. "Richard III (1995) - film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 December 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19501, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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