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IMDbPro

King Lear

  • TV Movie
  • 20182018
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Emily Watson, and Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and Emily Watson star in Shakespeare’s King Lear. Adapted and directed by Richard Eyre.
Play trailer1:51
1 Video
21 Photos
Drama
An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
3.9K
YOUR RATING
    • Richard Eyre
    • Richard Eyre(adapted by)
    • William Shakespeare(based on a play by)
  • Stars
    • Jim Broadbent
    • Jim Carter
    • Tobias Menzies
    • Richard Eyre
    • Richard Eyre(adapted by)
    • William Shakespeare(based on a play by)
  • Stars
    • Jim Broadbent
    • Jim Carter
    • Tobias Menzies
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 41User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:51
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos21

    Anthony Hopkins and Karl Johnson in King Lear (2018)
    Anthony Hopkins and Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
    Harry Melling at an event for King Lear (2018)
    John Macmillan and Geoff Rolph in King Lear (2018)
    Geoff Rolph in King Lear (2018)
    Karma Sood in King Lear (2018)
    Shawn Dixon in King Lear (2018)
    Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
    Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
    Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
    Raphael Desprez and Florence Pugh in King Lear (2018)
    Anthony Hopkins, Jim Broadbent, and Raphael Desprez in King Lear (2018)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jim Broadbent
    Jim Broadbent
    • Earl of Gloucester
    Jim Carter
    Jim Carter
    • Earl of Kent
    Tobias Menzies
    Tobias Menzies
    • Duke of Cornwall
    Emily Watson
    Emily Watson
    • Regan
    John Macmillan
    John Macmillan
    • Edmund
    Florence Pugh
    Florence Pugh
    • Cordelia
    Emma Thompson
    Emma Thompson
    • Goneril
    Anthony Calf
    Anthony Calf
    • Duke of Albany
    Anthony Hopkins
    Anthony Hopkins
    • Lear
    Simon Manyonda
    Simon Manyonda
    • Duke of Burgundy
    Chukwudi Iwuji
    Chukwudi Iwuji
    • King of France
    Karl Johnson
    Karl Johnson
    • Fool
    Samuel Valentine
    Samuel Valentine
    • Lear's Gentleman
    Andrew Scott
    Andrew Scott
    • Edgar
    Christopher Eccleston
    Christopher Eccleston
    • Oswald
    Arinzé Kene
    Arinzé Kene
    • Lieutenant
    John Standing
    John Standing
    • Butler
    Sharon Wattis
    • 1st Maid
      • Richard Eyre
      • Richard Eyre(adapted by)
      • William Shakespeare(based on a play by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      At one point, Sir Anthony Hopkins tried to adapt the play into a movie and intended to star as King Lear. Naomi Watts was cast as Goneril, Gwyneth Paltrow as Regan, and Keira Knightley as Cordelia, but the project never got off the ground and was eventually cancelled.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards (2019)

    User reviews41

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    6/10
    Not every inch a king
    Really did want to like this version of 'King Lear' more. The play itself is wonderful, very haunting and moving even if the titular character frustrates you at first (but one does grow to sympathise with him). Richard Eyre has done a fair share of interesting and well done theatre, film and television productions and is no stranger to Shakespeare, being director of the brilliant 'The Hollow Crown' adaptations of both 'Henry IV' parts. And of course the cast is a dream one.

    'King Lear' (2018) has a lot of great things about it, but in my mind it didn't completely come together. It does laudably with a difficult play, but is rather uneven. As the cast are great and all give great performances in their own way, the atmosphere is strong and there are many memorable scenes and interactions. The truncations do hurt the pacing and storytelling sadly and quite badly and this is not one of Eyre's better overall directing efforts.

    Lets start with the good things. The best thing about this 'King Lear' is the acting, which is very good to superb throughout in all the roles. Antony Hopkins mesmerises as Lear, showing poignant tragedy and titanic, near-histrionic fury in equal measure in a way that is intense, noble and affecting. Emma Thompson is a suitably venomous Goneril and Emily Watson was never this blood-thirsty, manipulative or deceptively caring. Jim Broadbent is tremendously powerful as Gloucester. Florence Pugh is very touching without being passive as Cordelia and John MacMillan is effectively creepy as Edmund. Very interesting portrayal of the Fool, not overplayed or annoying thankfully. The character interaction is also strongly handled, especially between Lear and Cordelia.

    Enough of the production values are fine, the austerity of the setting and costumes suits the atmosphere of the story perfectly as it is an austere play without going too over the top in it. Steven Warbeck's score is haunting. Shakespeare's text is still complex emotionally and sheer poetry, it is a shame though that it is so heavily abridged. The story is compelling enough and has some great moments, the big scene between Lear and Cordelia brought tears to my eyes and the film has one of the most unsettling renditions of the gouging of the eyes scene.

    However, there are quite a number of glaring flaws. The text is heavily abridged and with so much cut out the pacing and story suffer. As does some of the character writing. The pacing feels very rushed frequently and the story feels choppy and regularly confuses, even for somebody who is familiar with the play so goodness knows how those that are not would feel. A shame as there are scenes that are done very well, especially those aforementioned.

    Furthermore, not all the characters are done justice. Lear, Cordelia and Gloucester are. Less successful in particular are Edmund and Regan, though as indicated they are both played excellently. Edmund is very sketchily written with underdeveloped motivations and Regan is not enough of the seemingly sympathetic and "we can trust her" character one thinks she is at first but comes over as manipulative and all round evil from the start. Eyre's direction has enough flashes of brilliance, but tends to be too heavy-handed. Some of the camerawork veers on gimmicky.

    In conclusion, a lot to like but some big drawbacks too. Frustratingly uneven. 6/10.
    helpful•9
    2
    • TheLittleSongbird
    • Apr 23, 2021

    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 28, 2018 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Samphire Hoe, Dover, Kent, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Playground Entertainment
      • Sonia Friedman Productions
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 55 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

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