The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.The classic Shakespearean play about the murderously scheming 15th-century king is reimagined in an alternative setting of 1930s England as clouds of fascism gather.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 12 nominations total
Denis Lill
- Lord Mayor of London
- (as Dennis Lill)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSir Ian McKellen enjoyed acting with Robert Downey Jr. in Restoration (1995), and asked him to play the part of Lord Rivers, expecting him to turn the role down as too small. To McKellen's surprise, Downey immediately cleared his diary, and took the part.
- GoofsThis is not a historical drama, nor a biopic. It is an allegory which mixes and unsolved murders from the 1480s with costumes and customs from the 1930s, to make an artistic statement about the similarities between these two eras. While the movie portrays several historical figures, they are not intended to perfectly resemble their real-life counterparts, and their words and actions are never claimed to be what the real people said and did.
- Alternate versionsThe UK (video) release has the cast credits in order of appearance.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 53rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1996)
- SoundtracksCome Live With Me
Paraphrased from "The Passionate Shepherd to his Love,(1599)" by Christopher Marlowe
Performed by Stacey Kent and Vile Bodies
Music composed by Trevor Jones
Arranged by Colin Good
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
Featured review
This is one of the movies you remember for a long time - and for all the good reasons. Transplanting Shakespeare in a different time and giving his historical plots a modern political sense is not such a new idea. What is really strong and works well here is the perfect fit between the characters as Shakespeare intended them and the background which is so different from the original historical one. Each one of the characters is both shakespearian as intended, a perfect citizen of the fictional time created by the director - a fascist England in the 30s - and more than everything else a human being: sensual, hating and loving as only humans do.
Perfectly acted, almost flawlessly directed, with very little overweight, this film is a feast for the intelligent spectator, a brutal, well-paced and expressive piece of art - and exactly as Shakespeare would have loved it, a mirror of his time, of our time, and of any time. 9/10 on my personal scale.
Perfectly acted, almost flawlessly directed, with very little overweight, this film is a feast for the intelligent spectator, a brutal, well-paced and expressive piece of art - and exactly as Shakespeare would have loved it, a mirror of his time, of our time, and of any time. 9/10 on my personal scale.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ricardo III
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £6,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,684,904
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $91,915
- Jan 1, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $2,748,518
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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