Synopsis

Al Pacino's exploration of Shakespeare's Richard III combines documentary interviews, rehearsal footage, scholarly discussion, and staged scenes from the play. As the filmmakers work toward a performance, actors and commentators consider the language, politics, and enduring appeal of Shakespeare's tragedy. The film also follows the practical and artistic challenges of making the play accessible to a modern audience.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film uses a hybrid structure, moving between staged scenes from Richard III, rehearsal-room debates, interviews with Shakespearean scholars and performers, and conversations with people encountered on the street.

• Production took place over roughly four years, from 1993 to 1995, around Al Pacino's other film work. The changing length of his hair and beard is visible across the footage.

• More than 80 hours of material were reportedly assembled during production. Six editors helped reduce it to the feature's theatrical length.

• Some of the performers' visible frustration and uncertainty were genuine. The production was experimenting with its form, and the participants were not always sure how the finished film would take shape.

• The film was presented at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1996 and later screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.

• The production filmed in locations connected with Shakespeare, including Stratford-upon-Avon and London's Globe Theatre, as well as in New York City, Los Angeles, and Montreal.