King Lear Reviews

It should come as no surprise that in this film version of Shakespeare's play, director Jean-Luc Godard shows very little concern for plot, or that--as with every addition to the Godard canon--KING LEAR further considers his previous ideas, preoccupations, and experiments. Though many will cry foul at this adaptation of Shakespeare, KING LEAR, in an odd sense, does more with the original than any number of faithful, literary adaptations by allowing the material to transcend its medium and find new power in a modern time. As usual, Godard is also interested in self-consciously exploring his own position as a filmmaker. The film opens with Godard and producer Menahem Golem discussing the making of the film, and throughout we see shots of famous deceased directors. The rest is full of audacious experiments in sound, and bizarre casting with lots of established, movie star types (the weirdest of all being Molly Ringwald). Godard casts himself, in Rastafarian dreadlocks as the Fool in this often heady convergence of high camp, solemn philosophy, Fellini's 8 1/2, and someone's drug trip. A challenge, as with all Godard, but not quite his most rewarding one.