King Lear
1970 · Movie · 137 min. · United Kingdom
The Shakespeare tragedy that gave us the expression "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." King Lear has not one but two ungrateful children, and it's especially galling because he turned over his entire kingdom to them. Paul Scofeld is an ancient, imposing shell of a Lear tormented by his too-long life as well as by daughters he calls "untatural hags." At one point, the king looks his eldest daughter, Goneril, straight in the eye and declares, "Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, of embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood." These are the troubles not even the best-trained family counselor could ever hope to resolve.
Direction Peter Brook
Cast Paul Scofield · Irene Worth · Susan Engel · Tom Fleming · Anne-Lise Gabold · Cyril Cusack · Jack MacGowran · Ian Hogg · Patrick Magee · Søren Elung Jensen · Robert Langdon Lloyd · Barry Stanton · Alan Webb
Screenplay Peter Brook · William Shakespeare
Cinematography Henning Kristiansen
Original title King Lear
7.0
67 votes (FilmAffinity)
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