King Richard III

5 Pages 1260 Words

Ian McKellen adapted William Shakespeare’s play Richard III to a film so that it would appeal to a mass film audience at the decade of screening. Shakespeare is considered to any modern day audience like a foreign language. From its deep and complicated plot development, to the strange and old-fashioned medieval settings, themes and costumes, a mass film audience would not find these aspects very engaging if they were to be maintained. The film directed by Ian McKellen is a version of Richard III in which the text is entirely Shakespeare’s, although edited, but the context is modern and recognisable. In order to adapt the play into a film appropriate to a mass film audience, certain amendments were made by Ian McKellen to the settings, major themes portrayed, language used, characters and dramatic techniques applied.

The most evident alteration made by McKellen to be addressed is that of the setting and major themes portrayed. The film is driven away from medieval England and transformed into the setting of a fascist Great Britain during the period of 1930’s. This is fitting, as there are parallels linking the story told in Shakespeare’s work and the European political scene at the time. The Swing music and the art deco style of the settings belong to this period and help to represent this and thus relating to a modern audience. Richard III is also placed in the context of Nazi Germany. The way in which Richard rises to the throne and to become king and hold power is parallel to Hitler’s rise in Nazi Germany. McKellen also included a scene that was suggestive of Hitler’s speech at Nuremberg, complete with red flags with a black insignias and a crowd of people chanting, giving Nazi-like salutes. The uniforms of the time were black with red arm bands and the visual images of armed soldiers are in reference to a period and land based around militarism and dictatorship. By eliminating the historical “authenticity” of co...