Review for Looking For Richard

Looking for Richard is a documentary regarding William Shakespeare's Richard III. Directed by Al Pacino, he examines the impact of Shakespeare and this one play in society.

He speaks to a number of people noted for playing Shakespeare such as Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Kline, Derek Jacobi, James Earl Jones and Sir John Gielgud amongst others. They explain how he touched their lives and also how it was difficult to grasp at first. The feelings of the general public is also assessed about what it means for them. It is funny watching some people who have no idea what Pacino is talking about and others who really appreciate the mark that Shakespeare has had.

By focusing on the one play, Richard III, he is able to see what effect this play has had on the people. In a vox pops interview with a number of people they simply have no idea what the play is about. This is not suprising as most people are aware of the big ones such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth, but very few have any idea about this play. Though they claim it is produced more times than Hamlet.

In between all of this analysis, Al Pacino recreates a number of scenes from the play. These feature the likes of Kevin Spacey and Alex Baldwin and considering the amount of work that went into this, I never understood why a full production was not filmed to go alongside this documentary as Pacino's performance as Richard is powerful. The rest of the cast are also wonderful and this is such a shame that we can't see a full version of the play by them.

It is also a shame that this twenty year anniversary edition only has the film and nothing more. I expected there to be a wealth of extra scenes or even just a look back at the film by Pacino and those creating it. Instead we have to consider this on the merits of the film itself and nothing more. Thankfully this is a great film and can hold itself up.

This documentary is fascinating if you are studying or interested in Shakespeare. If you are a fan of the play you will also love how it deconstructs it from the ground up and anyone who has ever been part of a theatrical production will appreciate the work being put into this piece. This is a great documentary that is worth looking for.