This is not an adaptation of the play for television or cinema ; this is a broadcast of a theatrical performance. And a very good performance too - in fact, one of the best "Richard III" 's I've seen in ages. Shakespeare's masterpiece has been translated in German prose and it works very well, the text keeps most of its beauty, versatility and meaning.
The acting is outstanding. Lars Eidinger, in particular, gives a powerhouse performance as Richard III. Playing a badly deformed man with a badly deformed soul, he moves around in a fashion reminiscent of a maimed but still dangerous spider. Eidinger is capable of comedy - his character is often genuinely witty and funny - but also of projecting extreme danger or instability : this Richard can cause someone's teeth to fall out just by glancing at them casually from across a room.
The play contains many a successful mix of tragedy and comedy or even tragedy and farce, such as the murder of the unlucky Clarence. One of the funniest moments, for me, came along in the famous episode where Richard plays the reluctant virgin and acts all shy and coy when people come to offer him the crown. He appears, clutching a prayer book, between two monks. One of his accomplices calls out his name ("Richard !") and he looks up heavenward, as if wondering whether an angel is trying to contact him. (You'll notice that politicians and strongmen all over the world still like to clutch sacred books, in the time-honoured fashion. It's difficult, here, not to think of president Trump discovering a sudden longing for church and posing for a photo-op, while clutching a Bible with all the hilarious unease of a long-time spinster holding bawling twin babies.)
The set design is resolutely modern, as is the music. The costumes too clearly belong in the 21st century. This gives this "Richard III" a considerable immediacy, strengthening the implied warning : the viewer isn't watching the rise of a specific medieval tyrant charming, scheming and killing his way to the top, he's watching the rise of pretty much every tyrant all through the ages and all over the world.
Do watch this.
The acting is outstanding. Lars Eidinger, in particular, gives a powerhouse performance as Richard III. Playing a badly deformed man with a badly deformed soul, he moves around in a fashion reminiscent of a maimed but still dangerous spider. Eidinger is capable of comedy - his character is often genuinely witty and funny - but also of projecting extreme danger or instability : this Richard can cause someone's teeth to fall out just by glancing at them casually from across a room.
The play contains many a successful mix of tragedy and comedy or even tragedy and farce, such as the murder of the unlucky Clarence. One of the funniest moments, for me, came along in the famous episode where Richard plays the reluctant virgin and acts all shy and coy when people come to offer him the crown. He appears, clutching a prayer book, between two monks. One of his accomplices calls out his name ("Richard !") and he looks up heavenward, as if wondering whether an angel is trying to contact him. (You'll notice that politicians and strongmen all over the world still like to clutch sacred books, in the time-honoured fashion. It's difficult, here, not to think of president Trump discovering a sudden longing for church and posing for a photo-op, while clutching a Bible with all the hilarious unease of a long-time spinster holding bawling twin babies.)
The set design is resolutely modern, as is the music. The costumes too clearly belong in the 21st century. This gives this "Richard III" a considerable immediacy, strengthening the implied warning : the viewer isn't watching the rise of a specific medieval tyrant charming, scheming and killing his way to the top, he's watching the rise of pretty much every tyrant all through the ages and all over the world.
Do watch this.
