New York State Writers Institute - Classic Film Series

King Lear

May 8, 1998 (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.

Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue
(Free and Open to the Public)

(Denmark, 1971, 135 minutes, color, 35 mm)
Directed by Peter Brook
Starring Paul Scofield, Irene Worth, Susan Engel

The stark terrain of Denmark stands in for England in Peter Brook's version of Shakespear's King Lear. The film features brilliant performances by Paul Scofield as Lear and Jack MacGowran as the Fool and an elegant discovery of the language of Shakespear. King Lear is one of Shakespear's most graphically violent works, and director Brooks takes the opportunity to present the carnage in Bergman-like fashion, reminiscent of THE VIRGIN SPRING.

Sponsored as part of the University at Albany's Shakespeare Semester