planktonrules Review of Re Lear

Re Lear (II) (1910)

Poor by today's standards, but for the time period it's pretty good

[7/10 · 18 October 2006]

I have seen quite a few very early Shakespeare films--probably because I am some sort of masochist!! Just think about it--there were many silent versions of Shakepeare's plays made around the turn of the 19th century that lasted from three to twenty minutes long--not nearly enough time to do any of his plays any justice at all. It's like trying to condense the Encyclopedia Brittanica into a bumper sticker!! And given the low production values of the average picture of the time and generally poor acting, the films aren't especially watchable today like those of early film geniuses like Georges Méliès. However, for a bad early version of Shakepeare, this is among the best because at least a novice will have a general idea of what the play was about when the movie concludes and it's nice to see a hand painted color film--I have got to admire all the hard work that went into making it.