Richard III Vs. Looking For Richard

8 Pages 2002 Words

Year 11 English
Comparative Essay: “Richard III” vs. “Looking for Richard”


The differences between McKellen’s “Richard III” and Pacino’s “Looking for Richard” should immediately be predicted when you see the first few minutes of each film. On one hand, Richard III begins with an intense gunfight, while on the other hand, in Looking for Richard; Pacino is simply preparing to perform a play. We realise one is actually supposed to be based entirely on the story (Richard III) and the other is essentially a documentary (Looking for Richard). This is easily seen within the characters also. In Richard III, there is no “Ian McKellen”, only Richard; while in Looking for Richard there is both Pacino and Richard in a sense, as we see Al Pacino playing Richard- if you catch my drift. Al Pacino is basically a character in the movie.

In terms of the presentation of the actual play “Richard III” in both films, the style and setting in which they are presented are completely different also. Both Pacino and McKellen have the same idea in a sense- to portray the play Richard III in such a fashion as to be understood by the audience. In Looking for Richard, Pacino tries to find the thoughts and opinions of regular people on Shakespeare, in order to create a movie explaining (in a simplistic fashion) what “Richard III” is about. Pacino decides to use the play’s original setting in order to do this. However, in Richard III, McKellen places the play in a setting people today understand and can relate to: a dark period identical in its appearance to World War II.

In terms of their success I believe Richard III does a better job of conveying the theme and story to the audience, because unlike Looking for Richard, the movie is fluent, not cutting from a scene to street talk, etc. Also, most people find the traditional setting quite confusing, the WWII setting making far more sense.
Also, in Richard III, we do not...