Richard III

"I can smile, and murder while I smile"

1995 1h 44m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 199

DramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous hunchback Richard, Duke of Gloucester, plots to seize power for himself. Masterfully deceiving and plotting against nearly everyone in the royal court, including his eventual wife, Lady Anne, and his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Richard orchestrates a bloody rise to power before finding all his gains jeopardized by those he betrayed.

“I can smile, and murder while I smile”

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Cast

Ian McKellen
Richard III
Annette Bening
Queen Elizabeth
Jim Broadbent
The Duke of Buckingham
Robert Downey Jr.
Earl Rivers
Kristin Scott Thomas
Lady Anne
Adrian Dunbar
James Tyrrell
Maggie Smith
Duchess of York
Tim McInnerny
William Catesby

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Loncraine
Writers: Richard Loncraine, Ian McKellen
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Loncraine, shot by Peter Biziou. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Paul Green shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Ian McKellen and Annette Bening and Jim Broadbent carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "I can smile, and murder while I smile".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0114279 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Loncraine directs. Peter Biziou behind the camera. Trevor Jones scores. Paul Green cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

131 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Richard Loncraine, shot by Peter Biziou. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Paul Green shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Ian McKellen and Annette Bening and Jim Broadbent carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "I can smile, and murder while I smile".
7IMDB entry: tt0114279 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Biziou
Original score: Trevor Jones
Editing: Paul Green
Production design: Tony Burrough
Costume design: Shuna Harwood
Makeup / hair: Sallie Evans
Stunt coordinator: Jim Dowdall
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,748,518
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Richard III (1995)

Awards

European Film Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Richard Loncraine

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb280390232022-08-27
★ 4/10
Co-writers Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine (who also directs) set their Richard III in 1930s Britain, and make the infamous hunchback a fascist warmonger plotting to usurp the throne. Today's English monarchy is, at best, nominal, but even way back in the 1930s there wasn't much to be gained by usurping it. Then again, the film takes place in an alternate reality where the War of the Roses occurs 450 years after the true historical conflict did. I don’t mind so much that royalty has endured those four centuries and a half; what does bother me is that language has not evolved in the interim at the same rate as, say, warfare. Why on Earth would Richard (McKellen), who is neither dumb nor crazy, use the expression “my kingdom for a horse” when he could be asking for a tank instead? This line is only in the movie because it’s in the play – but then, a great many things that are in the play aren’t in the film, and viceversa, so why keep this particular bit? I mean, it couldn’t be because the audience is expecting it, even though it makes zero sense given the circumstances, could it? Did they think diehard Shakespeare fans would riot otherwise? Well, if there were such a thing as hardcore Shake-heads, I assure you they would have rioted long before this point. Similarly outdated is a scene in which several characters who have been at each other’s throats are compelled to swear mutual oaths of loyalty. As Al Pacino’s superb documentary Looking for Richard rightly points out, at the time that the original play is set this would be serious business, because only people who want to go to hell would swear an oath and not keep it. Ditto the scene where Richard blames his deformity on Queen Elizabeth's witchcraft; this is an accusation that would have been given credence in the 1470s, but not so much in the 1930s. All things considered, it’s somewhat ironic that McKellen had a hand in the script, because his performance is worthy of much better material. His body language, in particular, is priceless – this Richard looks like a super-intelligent ape masquerading as a British Army field marshal. And when he breaks the fourth wall – another device that works better on a theater stage –, it feels as if Richard is letting the viewers in on that the entire movie is a sick joke he's playing on the other characters. If only.

Production companies