Main Cast: Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller
Release Year: 1979
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 157 minutes
Plot
A quarrel erupts between the Duke of Hereford, Henry Bolingbroke (Jon Finch), and the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray (Richard Owens). According to Bolingbroke, Mowbray misappropriated government money and plotted the death of the Duke of Gloucester. Mowbray denies the charges, accusing Bolingbroke of being a slanderous coward. King Richard II (Derek Jacobi) first approves their proposal to settle their differences in a jousting duel, then decides to banish both of them -- Norfolk for life and Bolingbroke for six years. The lighter sentence for Bolingbroke masks Richard's hatred of Henry, who is so popular with the people that he poses a threat to the crown. While Bolingbroke is in exile, his father, the much-loved John of Gaunt (Sir John Gielgud), dies, and Richard appropriates his estate -- Henry's inheritance -- to help pay for a military campaign he personally conducts against rebels in Ireland. Nobles protest seizure of the inheritance, siding with Bolingbroke. Heartened, Bolingbroke returns from exile, organizes his supporters, and executes two of Richard's friends. Richard returns from Ireland to defend his realm. But after 20,000 Welsh troops desert to Bolingbroke, Richard takes refuge in Flint Castle, then surrenders to his foe. After being forced to give up the throne, Henry imprisons Richard in the Tower of London and announces his own coronation. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Review
When the BBC presented this 1979 production, it proved that a lesser-known Shakespeare work could entertain and enthrall with the same mesmeric power of plays such as Macbeth and Hamlet. Of course, it didn't hurt that one of England's finest actors, Derek Jacobi, was portraying Richard II. From the beginning, Jacobi is suitably contemptuous. For example, when leaving with his retinue to see old John of Gaunt, a dying adversary, Jacobi infuses his speech and manner with impish flippancy, saying, "Pray God we may make haste, and come too late!" He is also mercurial, exhibiting euphoria, rage, and despair in the same brief scene. Such sudden changes in demeanor require consummate acting skill, and Jacobi has it. As John of Gaunt, Sir John Gielgud appears in the play only for a short time before his character dies, but his recital of an oft-quoted passage ("This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle...") is one of the highlights of the production. His performance is at once eloquent, passionate, and riveting. Other actors in the play -- including Jon Finch as Henry Bolingbroke, Richard Owens as Thomas Mowbray, Charles Gray as Duke of York, and Wendy Hiller as Duchess of York -- also give strong performances. The verbal joust between Finch and Owens in the first act is as fine a tilt as any on the field of battle, full of huff and bluster and here and there a cut to the quick. Richard II -- in the hands of Jacobi, Gielgud, and company -- is indeed "an aurora borealis," to paraphrase scholar Harold Bloom. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Jonathan Adams - Gardener; Bruno Barnabe - Abbot of Westminster; Timothy Brown - Herald; Jeremy Bulloch - Henry Percy; David Dodimead - Lord Ross; Jon Finch - Henry Bolingbroke; Charles Gray - Duke of York; Jeffrey Holland - Duke of Surrey; Charles Keating - Duke of Aumerle; Mary Morris - Duchess of Gloucester; Luciano Pigozzi - Gardener's Man; Clifford Rose - Bishop of Carlisle; Robin Sachs - Busby; Damien Thomas - Bagot; David Garfield - Welsh Captain; Richard Owens - Thomas Mowbray; David Swift - Duke of Northumberland; John Barcroft - Earl of Salisbury; Ronald Fernee - Servant; Philada Sewell - Queen's Lady; Paddy Ward - Keeper
Credit
Robin Fraser-Paye - Costume Designer, David Giles - Director, William Walton - Composer (Music Score), Cedric Messina - Producer, William Shakespeare - Play Author
