King Lear (1987)
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Peter Sellars, (more)
- Director(s):
- Jean-Luc Godard
Synopsis of King Lear
Two highly talented and innovative directors -- filmdom's Jean-Luc Godard and the theatre world's Peter Sellars -- join forces in this unusual (to say the least) slant on Shakespeare's King Lear. This offbeat adaptation gives the viewer a postmodern taste of Shakespeare through the eyes of a deliberately obscure auteur. The film is set some time after Chernobyl has wiped everything out, and the world is trying to set itself right again. William Shakespeare Jr. the Fifth (Peter Sellars) is faced with the task of restoring his famed ancestor's lost works. He visits a resort in Switzerland and becomes fascinated with a visiting gangster, Don Learo (Burgess Meredith) and his lovely daughter, Cordelia (Molly Ringwald), who converse in actual Shakespearean lines. That's as close to the bard as this King Lear gets. It also includes appearances by Woody Allen, Norman Mailer, and director Godard himself as "The Professor," a deranged individual who seems fascinated with Xeroxing his own hand. ~ John Voorhees, Rovi
Complete Cast of King Lear
- Burgess Meredith - Don Learo
- Molly Ringwald - Cordelia
- Woody Allen - Mr. Alien
- Kate Mailer - Herself
- Ray Smith
- Suzanne Lanza
- Peter Sellars - Williams Shakespeare, Jr. the Fifth
- Jean-Luc Godard - Professor
- Norman Mailer - Himself
- Julie Delpy
- Leos Carax - Edgar
- Director(s):
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Writer(s):
- Jean-Luc Godard, Norman Mailer
- Producer(s):
- Tom Luddy, Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan
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