Main Cast: Al Pacino, Harris Yulin, Penelope Allen, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A workshop of William Shakespeare's Richard III inspires actor-director Al Pacino's breezy documentary, which aims to make the playwright accessible to contemporary American audiences. Though a noteworthy cast of stage actors and Hollywood stars (including Kevin Spacey, Winona Ryder, and Alec Baldwin) gathers to work on the play, Looking for Richard does not present a straightforward filmed version of the scheming, deformed king's rise and fall. Instead, Pacino turns the cameras on the rehearsal process and his own exploration of Shakespeare's history and meaning. Scenes in full costume alternate with readings in street clothes, while interviews gather the opinions on the Bard of everyone from renowned scholars and Shakespearean actors to random New Yorkers. A trip to England allows brief visits to Shakespeare's birthplace and the Globe Theater, but Pacino's focus remains on the United States and his desire to prove that American actors can act the plays without mimicking their British counterparts. Clearly a labor of love for Pacino, the film benefits from his passionate persona and direct, no-nonsense attitude; while the performances may vary in quality, the film manifests a refreshingly casual, unpretentious, and enthusiastic approach to Shakespeare. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Al Pacino's intriguing documentary-cum-stage-production-cum-actor's-workshop ultimately works out to be a successful rumination on the enduring presence of Shakespeare and his most produced play, Richard III. The most interesting thing about the movie (other than that the person who seems to understand The Bard best is a blustering homeless man) is the presence and "performance" of Pacino. For a generation that grew up with Pacino's distinctively intense style, this glimpse into the workings of the man and his profession is absorbing. Over an unspecified amount of time, Pacino, along with the impressive cast, discusses and stages certain scenes, struggles to grasp the full meaning of the work, and ultimately tries to put Shakespeare in a modern context. If nothing else, Looking for Richard offers the chance to see how actors relate (or in the case of Winona Ryder, don't relate) to their material. This examination of actors and their roles in a play is reminiscent of 1994's Vanya on 42nd Street, or even the other Louis Malle, Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn production, 1981's My Dinner With Andre. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Kevin Ritter - Art Director, Yvonne Blake - Costume Designer, Aude Bronson-Howard - Costume Designer, Deborah L. Scott - Costume Designer, Al Pacino - Director, Pasquale A. Buba - Editor, William A. Anderson - Editor, Ned Bastille - Editor, Andre Betz - Editor, Howard Shore - Composer (Music Score), Jon Kranhouse - Cinematographer, Robert Leacock - Cinematographer, Steve Confer - Cinematographer, Nina Kedrem - Cinematographer, Al Pacino - Producer, William Teitler - Producer, Al Pacino - Screenwriter, Frederic Kimball - Screenwriter, William Shakespeare - Play Author
Pacino plays both himself and the title character. The movie guides the audience through the play's plot and historical background.[3] Pacino and several fellow actors, including Penelope Allen and Harris Yulin[4], act out scenes from the play.[5] The other actors include, with their roles:
The interviews with pedestrians are used by Pacino to establish some of the issues the film will approach such as how there is a barrier for American actors between them and Shakespearean acting, and the connections that society does or doesn’t have with Shakespeare. There is juxtaposition between the established and acknowledged Shakespearean actors and the toothless man that was interviewed on the street. There is also irony, in that the toothless American found on the street is explaining the same idea that without Shakespeare, society cannot learn to feel for each other, as the learned Shakespearean actors and analysts.
The film tries to explain that the role of the actor is that they have to be able to relate Shakespeare to their audience and how no matter how bad a script may be, the actor is instigator of how successful their performance will be. The scene in which does this is when Pacino describes the reason for him making the film Looking for Richard and is telling the example of John Wayne doing Hamlet and the audience hating it, and John Wayne blaming the play and not his acting by stating “Well what do ya want? I didn’t write this shit”.
The film tries to explain the words are the pathway to greater understanding of the world around us, its societies, its cultures, and its people. Without words, and in particular those of Shakespeare, people have no feelings, and without feelings, people have no care for each other. The words are the most important part of a person’s understanding of one another.
