King Lear (1971)
"Korol Lir" (original title)

King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly ... See full summary »

Directors:

Grigori Kozintsev, Iosif Shapiro

Writers:

Grigori Kozintsev, Boris Pasternak (Russian translation, 1949),

Stars:

Jüri Järvet, Elza Radzina, Galina Volchek

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jüri Järvet	...	King Lear (as Yuri Yarvet)
Elza Radzina	...	Goneril (as E. Radzina)
Galina Volchek	...	Regan (as G. Volchek)
Valentina Shendrikova	...	Cordelia (as V. Shendrikova)
Oleg Dal	...	Fool (as O. Dal)
Karlis Sebris	...	Gloster (as K. Sebris)
Leonhard Merzin	...	Edgar (as L. Merzin)
Regimantas Adomaitis	...	Edmund (as R. Adomaytis)
Vladimir Yemelyanov	...	Kent (as V. Yemelyanov)
Aleksandr Vokach	...	Cornwall (as A. Vokach)
Donatas Banionis	...	Albany (as D. Banionis)
Aleksey Petrenko	...	Oswald (as A. Petrenko)
Juozas Budraitis	...	King of France (as I. Budraytis)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roman Gromadsky	...	(as R. Gromadsky)
Nikolai Kuzmin	...	(as N. Kuzmin)

Storyline

King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.

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Plot Keywords:

tragedy | foreign language adaptation | shakespeare's king lear | based on play | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

6 August 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

King Lear

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lenfilm Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

139 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of King Lear (1948)

User Reviews

A brilliant, harrowing adaptation.

Back in high school, I had to watch this as we were studying King Lear in class.

Having watched both the Brooks and Olivier versions, I went in somewhat cautiously- I wasn't too fond of either, finding the Olivier version to be too colourful, and the Brooks version sombre.

This proved a sobering reminder of how truly spectacular cinematography can be if done correctly. This film gripped me like no other, and I watched riveted throughout.

The added Soviet focus on the peril of the peasant's, and the splendor of the palace helped to further heighten Lear's downfall. Chock-a-block full of brilliant performances, this has swiftly become one of my most treasured VHS tapes.

The only fault I could find was the somewhat tinny quality of the sound- but for a movie of the time, the quality was excellent.

A remarkable, truly moving film I recommend to everyone.