King Lear (1987)

Everything returns to normal after Chernobyl. That is, everything but art. Most of the great works are lost, and it is up to people like William Shakespear Junior the Fifth to restore the ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Woody Allen, Freddy Buache, Leos Carax

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Woody Allen	...	Mr. Alien (uncredited)
Freddy Buache	...	Professor Quentin (uncredited)
Leos Carax	...	Edgar (uncredited)
Julie Delpy	...	Virginia (uncredited)
Jean-Luc Godard	...	Professor Pluggy (uncredited)
Suzanne Lanza	...	(uncredited)
Kate Mailer	...	Herself (uncredited)
Norman Mailer	...	The Great Writer (uncredited)
Burgess Meredith	...	Don Learo (uncredited)
Michèle Pétin	...	Journalist (uncredited)
Molly Ringwald	...	Cordelia (uncredited)
Peter Sellars	...	William Shaksper Junior the Fifth (uncredited)

Storyline

Everything returns to normal after Chernobyl. That is, everything but art. Most of the great works are lost, and it is up to people like William Shakespear Junior the Fifth to restore the lost artwork of the human race. He finds strange goings-on at a resort enough to remind him of all the lines of the play, dealing with mob boss Don Learo and his daughter Cordelia, a strange professor named Jean Luc-Godard (sic), who repeatedly xeroxes his hand for no particular reason. He is followed by four humanoid goblins that keep tormenting Cordelia. There is also the gentleman whose girlfriend, Valerie, isn't always visible. Then the film is sent off to New York for Mr. Alien to edit.

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Plot Keywords:

goblin | art | flower | crooked gambling | nothing | 

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Taglines:

A Picture Shot in the Back.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

French English Russian Japanese

Release Date:

3 April 2002 (France)

Also Known As:

Jean-Luc Godard's King Lear

Filming Locations:

Nyon, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group, The, Golan-Globus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Burgess Meredith replaced Rod Steiger.

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Quotes

The Great Writer: For words are one thing, and reality, sweet reality, is another thing, and between them is no thing.

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Connections

Version of King Lear (1948)

User Reviews

Aggressively, offensively, violently boring.

No Plot. Four characters who don't interact. Nothing happens. Peter Sellars walks around and thinks. His recurring voice-over monologue obsessively examines a thought that is not very interesting to begin with. Not content merely to bore us, Goddard assaults us with shot after shot of crudely filmed, irrelevant imagery, accompanied by unintelligible overlapping speech. Perhaps there's something resembling an idea buried underneath all the nonsense. But I doubt it. And what does any of this have to do with 'King Lear'? To be bored by a film is bad enough, but this film is aggressively, offensively, violently boring.