Taglines: I can smile, and murder while I smile.
Richard 3 movie storyline. In 1930s England, a bloody civil war ends with the Lancastrian King Henry VI and his son Prince Edward murdered by Richard, Duke of Gloucester of the rival House of York. Richard’s elder brother Edward, Duke of York becomes King Edward IV, while the Lancastrian heir, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, is exiled in France.
Hungry for power, Richard is determined to make himself King, and pits King Edward against his brother, the Duke of Clarence, who is imprisoned in the Tower of London. Meanwhile, Richard deceives and marries Prince Edward’s widow Lady Anne Neville.
Queen Elizabeth intercedes on Clarence’s behalf and Edward IV spares his life. However, after sowing doubt and casting suspicion on the Queen and her brother Lord Rivers, Richard commissions James Tyrrell to execute Clarence, allegedly in compliance with the King’s death warrant, under the pretext that the king’s stay of execution was delivered too late.
Richard informs Edward of Clarence’s death at a meeting with Prime Minister Lord Hastings, and the King dies from a stroke. As Edward’s sons are underage, Richard becomes Regent, taking the title of Lord Protector with the support of the ambitious and corrupt Duke of Buckingham.
In order to undermine his rivals for the throne, Richard has Rivers assassinated and uses his sordid death to damage the Queen’s reputation while simultaneously casting doubt on the legitimacy of her sons. Reluctant to support Richard’s claim to the crown, Hastings’ opposition so enrages Richard that he accuses Hastings of treason, inciting his loyalists to summarily execute him by hanging. Having made an example of his only vocal opponent, Richard persuades the Lord Mayor of London and members of the House of Lords to acknowledge his claim and crown him King.
Following his coronation Richard, now King Richard III, seeks to make his throne secure. He employs Tyrrell to murder the princes, after failing to convince Buckingham to do so. Aware that his rival claimant the Earl of Richmond intends to marry his niece Elizabeth, he instructs Sir William Catesby to spread rumours that Lady Anne is ill, intending to marry Elizabeth himself. Lady Anne is found dead sometime later from a drug overdose.
Impatient for the promised reward for his loyalty, Buckingham demands the lands of the murdered Lord Rivers. Richard dismisses this in a high-handed manner, with the line “I am not in a giving vein”. Buckingham, also disturbed by the murders of the princes and Hastings, flees to meet Richmond, but is later captured and executed by Tyrrell under Richard’s orders.
Richard III is a 1995 British drama film adapted from William Shakespeare’s play of the same name, starring Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood, and Dominic West. The film sets the play in a fictional fascist version of 1930s Britain.
Richard 3 (1995)
Directed by: Richard Loncraine
Starring: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood, Kate Steavenson-Payne
Screenplay by: Ian McKellen, Richard Loncraine
Production Design by: Tony Burrough
Cinematography by: Peter Biziou
Film Editing by: Paul Green
Costume Design by: Shuna Harwood
Art Direction by:: Richard Bridgland, Choi Ho Man
Music by: Trevor Jones
MPAA Rating: R for violence and sexuality.
Distributed by: Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release Date: December 29, 1995
Views: 144
