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Looking for Richard

 Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you... were all spirits and are melted into air...
into thin air. And, like the baseless fabric of this visión... the cloud-capp 'd towers... the gorgeous
palaces... the solemn temples... the great globe itself... ye all which it inherit... shall dissolve... and, like
this insubstantial pageant faded... leave not a wisp behind. We are such stuff as dreams are made on...
and our little life is rounded with a sleep. Who's gonna say, "Action"? Should I say it, or should you?
You wanna say it? You can say it.

 I don't want to. Say it.

 You say it.

 And action!

 How do I look? I can't see anything. Are they out there? This is my entrance. Fuck. I'm actually reading
Richard III... and I can't get on with it. I've been reading it for six months. You want to do it with your
American accent? We're getting $40 a day and all the doughnuts we can eat. Shakespeare? What the
fuck do you know about Shakespeare? Arise, fair sun... and kill the envious moon. Like eager droppings
into milk, it doth posset and curd. Some are born great, some achieve greatness... and some have
greatness thrust upon them. Intelligence is hooked with language. When we speak with no feeling, we
get nothing out of our society. We should speak like Shakespeare. We should introduce Shakespeare
into the academics. You know why? Because then the kids would have feelings.

 That's right.

 We have no feelings. That's why it's easy for us to shoot each other. We don't feel for each other, but if
we were taught to feel... we wouldn't be so violent. Shakespeare helps us? He did more than help us.
He instructed us. Hi. You gonna see the play tonight? You're gonna see it, huh? Hello. How much it
cost? It's for free.

 Okay, I'm going.

 Okay.

 Thanks a lot.

 Your first Shakespeare play?

 Yeah.

 It'll be interesting. Give it a try.

 I saw Hamlet recently.

 How did you feel about it?

 Did you see it live? It what?

 It sucked.
 It what?

 It sucked. I saw it live.

 It sucked?

 Yeah. Anything in Shakespeare that made you think it's not close to you...

 or connected to you in any way?

 Yeah, it's boring. A bank in England uses Shakespeare as... Cover my account number. See, it's a
hologram. They use it as ID to prove it's a real card. What do you think of Shakespeare? He's a great
export. Who's moving in on Shakespeare? The Japanese. Because they're kicking the Americans' ass.
And they're all interested in Shakespeare. You know Shakespeare? William Shakespeare? We're
peddling him on the streets. I remember our English teacher sent us to see... a local college production
of King Lear. I went with my girlfriend... and after about 10 minutes of these people: They were doing
this kind of Shakespearean acting. I just tuned right out. We made out in the back row and left at
intermissión. I was brought up in a school... where Shakespeare was taught very kind of...
straightforwardly and dully, to be honest. We read it aloud and it made no sense, because there was no
connection made. My own experience... was in the fields in Michigan, where I was raised on a farm...
and an uncle, who was a Northern guy, black Northern guy... came out of the field one day and started
narrating... Antony's speech, the funeral oration.

 From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar?

 Yeah. We'd heard stuff from the Bible... but my first time as a kid, I was hearing... great words having
great meaning. What brings us to Montreal? To Paris? To London? What takes us into dungeons, to
parapets...

 To Japan next.

 To Japan, maybe, is a quest. It has always been a dream of mine... to communicate how I feel about
Shakespeare to other people. So I asked my friend Frederic Kimball, who is an actor and a writer... and
also our colleagues Michael Hadge... and James Bulleit, to join me. And by taking this one play, Richard
III... analyzing it, approaching it from different angles... putting on costumes, playing out scenes... we
could communicate both our passión for it... our understanding that we've come to... and in doing
that... communicate a Shakespeare that is about how we feel... and how we think today. That's the
effort we're gonna give it here. We've done Richard three times. Twice. You did it at the Studio, we've
done it in Boston and on Broadway. At least, the head start is that I've done it. You've done it. But the
problem, Frederic... The audience hasn't done it.

 They haven't done it.

 It's a difficult play. If someone were to ask you about Richard III... what would you remember about it?
To be honest, I really don't remember that much, if anything at all. Did you know that Richard III had a
deformed arm and a deformed back?

 No, I didn't.

 You didn't know that? The play, Richard III, about the guy with the humpback?
 No.

 You got me there. Mm-mm. He was a humpback? "A horse. A horse. My kingdom for a horse"?

 That comes from Richard III.

 It does, yes. I mean, nobody knows who Richard III is.

 Nobody.

 It's a tough play to get. The relationships between those characters.

 Who can keep it straight?

 Well, I think the question is... what is the understanding? I mean, the understanding is... It's a simply...
Can you follow the story line and the plot? We've provided this kind of docudrama-type thing... to
inform some of the scenes so you know where you are. For instance, there's an early scene with the
queen... and her brother and her two sons... which is outside in an anteroom... waiting for the king to
call them in because he is inside, sick. The queen is worried. She's afraid the king will die, who is her
husband. And when he dies, the only... The only people left to inherit the throne are her two young
sons... by the king himself. She has two sons by a previous marriage, which are in the scene. And she's
afraid that the character I play, Richard III of Gloucester... is going to take hold of the situation... and
somehow manipulate them into thinking... that they're, you know... That the kids are... I'm confused
just saying it. I can imagine how you must feel... hearing me talk. It's confusing. I don't know why we
even bother doing this at all. But we'll give it a little try. Let's see what we can come up with. First of all,
let's get a smaller... Let's work out of a smaller book than this. This is hard to carry.

 Excuse me, but look at this. "Hello?"

 I think... "Yes. It's my entrance? Oh, I see." It's good sometimes that you open it, and it is Richard, it's
not Hamlet. Sometimes in Shakespeare, there's a tendency... to confuse the plays. The first act is about
a sick king, and everybody maneuvering... Sure. Around. I wish that this play... could begin... on the
body... On the sleeping king... Edward IV, your brother, in bed. Yeah. And it pans up and you are
standing over him, looking at him. Yeah.

 Yes, but he's alive, the king is alive.

 Yes. I would prefer having him off in the distance. I'd like...

 Good. You can watch him.

 I'd like to walk...

 Frederic? Can you get the other end?

 Yeah. I'd like... Hi, how are you? Frederic and I decided to go to The Cloisters... a museum that has a
medieval setting... which is good for us because the play takes place in this period. We thought we'd
rehearse in this atmosphere. We're shooting him. We're shooting him. I'll be with you in a minute, if
you can just wait for me out there.

 So you're here.
 Okay. Okay.

 And here we are.

 Okay. Now, you're Richard's brother, the sick king, and I'm Richard. Okay. Yes. I move this way, and you
follow me.

 Now...

 How exciting to start with "now." You'd wake your audience up, wouldn't you? "Now!" Now... is the
winter of our discontent... made... glorious summer... by this sun of York. It's a pun. The sun of York is
the sun in the sky... over the English countryside of York. York is also your family name, and you are
one of three sons of York. Let me say it again, then. Now... is the winter of our discontent... made
glorious summer. I said the opening speech from Richard to a group of students... "Our discontent
made glorious summer." Anybody know what that means? Who were interested, because I meant
something, didn't know what I meant. "Now is the winter of our discontent." What am I saying? He is
referring to their part... To the Wars of the Roses. Before the play Richard III starts... we gotta know a
little bit about what happened before. What happened is, we've just been through a civil war... called
the War of the Roses... in which the Lancasters and the Yorks clashed. Two rival families, and the Yorks
won. They beat the Lancasters, and they're now in power. Richard is a York. My brother Edward is the
king now. And my brother Clarence... is not the king, and me, I'm not the king. I wanna be the king. It's
that simple. Key word, clearly, is... Right from the start, is "discontent." So Richard, in the very opening
scene of the play, tells us... just how badly he feels about the peacetime worid... he finds himself in and
what he intends to do about it. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer... by this
sun of York. And all the clouds that lour'd on our house... in the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Part
of the trouble is that the Wars of the Roses... the wars for the crown, are now over... because the
crown has been won by the Yorks... which means that they can stop fighting. Now are our brows...
bound with victorious wreaths. Our bruised arms hung up for monuments. Our stern alarum changed
to merry meetings. What do they do when the fighting stops? Grim-visaged war... hath smooth'd his
wrinkled front. And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds... to fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
he capers... nimbly in a lady's chamber... to the lascivious pleasings of a lute. And you see lovemaking...
and relations with the other gender... as what you translate your male aggressions into. But Richard III
has a little problem here. But I... that am not shaped for sportive tricks... nor made to court... an
amorous looking-glass. I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion... cheated of feature by dissembling
nature, deformed.

 Deformed.

 He was a hunchback. Deformed. Deformed. Unfinish'd... sent before my time into this breathing
worid... scarce half made up... and that so lamely and unfashionable... that dogs bark at me as I halt by
them. Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace... have no delight to pass away the time... unless to see
my shadow in the sun... and descant upon mine own deformity. Shakespeare has exaggerated his
deformity... in order to body forth dramatically... visually, metaphorically... the corruption of his mind.
Therefore... since I cannot prove a lover... to entertain these fair well-spoken days... I am determined
to prove a villain... and to hate the idle pleasures of these days. Richard's always saying: "Here's the
situation and what I'll do. Watch this." Then he does it. Then they leave, he says: "Wasn't that good, or
what? Did you see? This is fun." Plots have I laid... inductions dangerous... to set my brother Clarence
and the king... in deadly hate the one against the other. And if King Edward be as true... and just as I am
subtle, false and treacherous... this day should Clarence be mew'd up... about a prophecy... that says
that G of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be. It's, "This day should Clarence be mew'd up..." about a
prophecy which says that G of Edward's heirs."
 Right.

 By "G," what does that mean?

 Yes?

 Clarence... George, Duke of Clarence.

 His first name is really George.

 Whose first name? Clarence's. That's why he's called "G." Yeah. I suggest you change it to "C." "This day
should Clarence be mew'd up about a prophecy which says that... C of Edward's heirs the murderer
shall be." C of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be. Dive, thoughts, down to my soul. Here Clarence
comes. Cut. What we gotta do, what we should do, is get actors in here... not audition them, just get
them in... and let them just sit around, just see and read. We'll have different people read different
roles. Hopefully somehow... the role and the actor will merge. The actor will find the role. An actor will
read one part... another actor reads another. Hopefully, the casting will get done. Who 's got Dorset?
Who's got Dorset? How about Lord Grey? Richard will read Dorset.

 He's gonna do Buckingham.

 I thought Jim would do it.

 He's doing Catesby.

 What do I read? Dorset and Grey are the same people. Dorset and Grey are the same...? Yes. You two
guys better sit on each other. We used two actors in the same part. It'll take us four weeks of rehearsal
to figure out what parts we're playing. In more modern plays, we feel that we understand it. It's there
for us. But in Shakespeare, you have an entire company on the stage... good actors not knowing where
they're going. Where they are! As Americans, what is that...? That thing... that gets between us and
Shakespeare? That makes some of our best actors just stop when it comes to Shakespeare? The
problem with being an American in Shakespeare... is you approach it reverentially. We have a feeling, I
think... of inferiority to the way it has been done by the British. I think Americans have been made to
feel inhibited... because they've been told so long by their critics... by their scholars and
commentators... that they cannot do Shakespeare. Therefore they think they can't, and you become
totally self-conscious. American actors are not self-conscious. But they are when it comes to
Shakespeare. Because they've been told they can't do it, and they foolishly believed that. Perhaps they
don't go to picture galleries and read books as much as we do. I think it's the effect of how everyone
looked and behaved... that one got a sort of Elizabethan feeling of period. Experienced classical
actors... have a few things that they can use at a moment's notice. The understanding of iambic
pentameter, for one thing. Everybody says, "lambic pentameter." What is that supposed to mean?
Some say there are no rules. I say there are rules... like the iambic pentameter, that must be learned...
and can be rejected once learned. "Pentameter" means "meter," and "pen," meaning "five." So there's
five beats. Which, at its worst, sounds only like: "Why, so. Now have I done a good day's work." De-da
de-da de-da de-da de-da. And iambic is where the accent goes. That's de-tum de-tum de-tum de-tum.
And five of them: Da-da da-da da-da da-da da-da. Make a pentameter line, five iambs. An iamb is like
an anteater. Very high in the back and very short, little front legs. Da-da! Shakespeare's poetry and his
iambics... floated and descended through the pentameter of the soul. And it's the soul, the spirit of
real, concrete people going through hell... and sometimes moments of great... achievement and joy.
That is the pentameter you must focus on... and should you find that reality... all the iambics will fall
into place. Dive, thoughts, down to my soul. Here Clarence comes. Brother, good day. What means this
armed guard that waits upon your grace? His majesty tendering my safety, hath appointed this
conduct... to convey me to the Tower.

 Upon what cause?

 Because my name is George. Clarence... what is the matter? May I know? Yea, Richard, as I know. But I
protest as yet I do not. But, as I can learn... he hearkens after prophecies and dreams. And from the
cross-row plucks the letter G. And says a wizard told him that by G... his children disinherited should
be. And, for my name of George begins with G, it follows in his thought that I am he. These, as I learn,
and such like toys as these... have moved his highness to commit me now. Why, so it is, when men are
ruled by women. 'Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower, Clarence. 'Tis my Lady Grey his wife, 'tis
she that tempts him to this extremity. We are not safe, Clarence. We are not safe. Now, if Richard's
brother Edward was king, right? And then he dies... Clarence, his other brother, is next in line. No, the
kids were next in line. After the king's kids came Clarence. So Richard figures, "I get rid of Clarence,
then work out getting rid of the kids." Meantime, this deep disgrace in brotherhood... touches me...
deeper than you can imagine.

 I know it pleaseth neither of us well.

 Your imprisonment shall not be long. I will deliver you, else lie for you. Meantime, have patience.

 It's time, my lord.

 I must perforce.

 Must.

 Farewell. It looks like Richard's plan is really starting to work. He got the king to put Clarence in the
Tower... by poisoning the king's mind against him. So now he's got one brother locked up, the other
brother, who 's king, is sick. So he's in good shape. He can move around. He can maneuver. He's got
room. Go... tread the path thou shalt ne'er return. Simple, plain Clarence! I do love thee so... that I shall
shortly send thy soul to heaven. Prisoner approaching. Prisoner Hastings exeunt. Who is this? The new-
deliver'd Hastings?

 Good time of day unto my gracious lord!

 As much unto my good lord Hastings. Well are you welcome to this open air. How hath your lordship
brook'd imprisonment? With patience, noble lord, as prisoners must. You can do something from
Shakespeare... think that you're feeling it or whatever. Mm-hm. You love it. You think you're
communicating it. And the person you said it to has not understood a word you said. You can't believe
they didn't. "Thoust" and, you know... just the way it's worded, that confuses the people of, you
know... this time period. Shakespeare used a lot of fancy words. You know? And it's hard to
understand, to grasp them. They're not fancy words. That's where we get confused. But they're poetry.
It's hard to grab hold of some rap slang too. It's hard to get hold of it until your ear gets tuned. You
have to tune up. In a contemporary play, someone says: "Hey, you. Go over there, get that thing and
bring it to me." That would be the line. Shakespeare says it: "Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels...
and fly like thought from them to me again." The King is weak and sickly...

 and his physicians fear him mightily.

 By Saint John, that news is bad indeed. O, he hath kept an evil diet long. You shouldn't have to
understand every single word. Why? Do you understand every...? I mean, it's not important. It doesn 't
matter. As long as you get the gist of it. Just trust it. You'll get it. And if he were dead... what would
betide on me? No other harm but loss of such a lord. The loss of such a lord includes all harm. They're
trying to soothe her because she is an hysteric.

 She is way out of control.

 But does that weaken... the reality of what's happening? It strengthens the incompetence of others...
But why should they be incompetent?

 Why make them weaker?

 Because they went to Ludlow... with little train and got their heads cut off. But then it's no great deed
on his part if you make them weak. They're not weak. They're not weak... nor do I think that they're
stupid. I think... By diminishing their importance, you diminish his actions.

 It's bound to happen.

 It's a very human, familial thing to say: "Calm down. It will be all right." But underneath it... they know
what the scoop is, and I keep throwing back at them: "Stop! You know damn well what's going on."
And that's why I'm hysterical. You know it. If he dies, that's it.

 Let's start the scene.

 Have patience, madam. There's no doubt his majesty will soon recover his accustom'd health. In that
you brook it ill, it makes him worse. Therefore, for God's sake, entertain good comfort. And cheer his
grace with quick and merry... And that's the way you want me to behave, is that it? If he were dead,
what would betide on me? No other harm, Mother, but loss of such a lord. The loss of such a lord...
includes all harm. The heavens have bless'd you with a goodly son...

 to be your comforter when he's gone.

 Ah, he is young. His minority is put into the trust of Richard Gloucester. A man that loves not me... nor
none of you. We gotta come up with ideas, direction.

 We need a plan.

 We've got to start writing prefaces... or, like, a list that says, "Today we'll do these scenes. I want you to
talk about Lady Anne and what happens to her." How are you? How you doing? How do you feel about
Shakespeare? This feels good. That's good.

 William Shakespeare?

 William Shakespeare, right.

 Do you like him?

 Of course. Did you ever see Shakespeare?

 I never studied.
 You've never seen? Never seen the show, but you still like him? Sometimes I see something good on
TV.

 Oh, TV.

 I like it. But Shakespeare, you don't see? No.

 That's too bad.

 There's no Shakespeare on TV. No. Perfectly fine. Sometimes it comes on. "To be or not to be. That is
the question," right?

 Right.

 That is the question. They do me wrong, and I will not endure it. I fear our happiness is at its height.
Who is it that complains unto the king... that I, forsooth, am stern, and love them not? Because I
cannot flatter... look fair, smile in men's faces... deceive, cog, duck with French nods and apish
courtesy... I must be held a rancorous enemy. The worid they live in... the worid they exist in is privy to
these kinds of...

 Is internecine family quarrel.

 That's right. They are clawing at each other for the throne. Brother Gloucester, we know your meaning.
You envy my advancement and my friends'. God grant we may never have need of you! Meantime,
God grants that I have need of you. Our brother is imprison'd by your means... myself disgraced... the
nobility of the house held in contempt... while great promotions are daily given to ennoble those... that
scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble. By Him that raised me to this careful height... from
that contented hap which I enjoy'd... I never did incense his majesty against the Duke of Clarence.
You're gonna say you are not the mean of my Lord Hastings' late imprisonment? You see? Richard's
stirring the pot. The king is dying, so he's fearful and paranoid... and sending people to jail. This is a
situation Richard loves. He can use the fear... the turmoil to his advantage. He knows they hate each
other. He'll use their hatred to manipulate them. You know, to divide, then conquer. My Lord of
Gloucester, I have too long borne... these blunt upbraidings and these bitter scoffs. By heaven, I will
acquaint his majesty of these gross taunts.

 I'd rather be a country servant...

 What! Threat you me with telling of the king? Tell him, and spare not. Let me put it in your minds, if
you forget... what you are ere this, and what you are. Withal, what I have been, and what I am. A
murderous villain, and so still thou art. Well, it is a complicated play too. All those relationships and the
wives, the Queen Margaret stuff is difficult. Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that fall out... in sharing
that which you have pill'd from me! Margaret was the queen before the war. She was a Lancaster, and
she was dethroned by the Yorks. She's a ghost of the past, haunting the Yorks with her curses. A
husband and a son... Don't you think she rants and raves around the castle like this a lot? No! No? I
don't think so. I think she just comes in this day... because it's a crisis time. She feels it. Give way, dull
clouds, to my quick curses! It's primordial. She brings that kind of music into this experience. Poor
painted queen. The day will come that thou shalt wish for me to help thee... curse this poisonous
bunchback'd toad. Reading this play, as I take word by word... everything she says happens. Beware of
yonder dog! Look. Have not to do with him, beware of him. Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on
him... and all their messengers await on him. Thou hateful wither'd hag, have done thy charm. And
leave out thee? Stay, dog, for thou shalt hear me. The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul. Thou
elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog. Live each of you the subjects to his hate... and he to yours, and all
of you to God's! We don't say a word. We let her go. The music... Literally, I mean the music... and the
thoughts and the concepts... and the feelings have not been divorced from the words. In England,
you've had centuries in which word has been totally divorced... from truth, and that's a problem for us
actors. If we think words are things and have no feelings in words... then we say things to each other
that mean nothing. But if we felt what we said, we'd say less and mean more. Spare some change? It'd
be interesting to see where he...

 Is that possibly...?

 Where Shakespeare was born. I think that's Shakespeare up there in the window. Knock first. Knock,
Frederic. Hello. Frederic, you've... Okay.

 Where was William Shakespeare born?

 There's the bed of birth.

 You gotta be kidding.

 I wouldn't kid about a thing like that. It's too late. It's a very, very small bed. I was expecting to have an
epiphany... an outpouring of the soul upon seeing...

 Go out and come in again.

 Where he was born. If you're really an actor, you can come back and have an epiphany. I did.

 Only...

 Did you have one?

 I did not see it.

 I'm not showing it. It's an inner one. We're not alone.

 Every once in a while...

 There's a fire truck out there.

 I think we tripped an alarm.

 We should pause and think... You talked too loud and it set off an alarm. Fire alarm. I got the fire
officer. We set it off.

 There's a fireman. Oh, yes.

 Hello. Unfortunately, the sensor head is here. There. That's going to be the problem. Yeah? What is it?
Is it...? That's a real bummer. We come 6000 miles to see where he was born... It's the greatest period
in British arts. This extraordinary development and maturing and death of drama. In 20 years,
Shakespeare's over. You have our greatest drama. And Shakespeare learns incredibly fast. Already, in
this very early play, he's thinking about people as actors... and about the stage. And the imagination as
a bit of life. Hey, Jimmy? How's the sandwich? We're gonna bite the bullet and do Act 2 of the play.
What we said was, we're gonna shoot Richard's death...
 and murder of Clarence, and that's it.

 No, the king makes peace. What are you saying? We got an end of a movie to shoot. "My horse..." "A
horse. A horse. My kingdom for a horse." Fellas, the cops are here. Police say we need a permit. You
said you'd take care of things. What, I need...? Why do I need a permit? We have to give up a meal like
this? You have to go, guys. You have to go. Hope you like turkey. So, we are gonna get... a young Lady
Anne. I want somebody very young. Very young. How young? As young as you can get... and be able to
do Shakespeare and understand the scenes. Someone young enough to believe... in Richard's rap. The
problem is, we need someone who can speak the part... which is why you always have an older
actress...

 because it takes maturity.

 You know, we don't need... The problem of projecting the role... because it's a film, so we won't have
the need for the actor to project.

 We need a film actress.

 Great, great. Someone like... We'll think of someone. Well... I will marry the beautiful Lady Anne. What
though I kill'd her husband and his father? The readiest way to make the wench amends... is to become
her husband and her father. This language is the language of thoughts. To do this in the theater, you
must speak loud. There are very few actors who can speak loud and still be truthful. That's the actor's
problem. Every actor knows the quieter he is, the closer he can be to himself. When you play
Shakespeare... in close-up, in a film... and have a mike and can really speak the verse... as quietly as
this, you are not going against the nature of verse. You're going in the right direction because you're
allowing the verse... to be a man speaking his inner worid. Set down... set down your honourable
load... if honour may be shrouded in a hearse. Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever
woman in this humour won? I'll have her. I'll have her. But I will not keep her long. He says he'll have
her... but he will not keep her long. You're asking why he wants her? Well, I think it's clear, he's out to
get this girl. To take her... in her heart's extremest hate. He's killed her husband in the civil war. Tears
in her eyes! And murdered her father-in-law. The bleeding witness of my hatred by. He's out to get her.
To win her! Ha. I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes. Her mourning is genuine because she loved...
She goes out on the street, and is it an accident that she meets Richard... the man who killed this man
and her husband? Is it not possible that if...? Did she have any idea... that if she went out with a
corpse... making stops...? You don't like that? Does anybody have a better thing than Frederic on this?
You just said that we didn't answer the question... that what was... Did that upset you? No. Then what
did you say? You said you were gonna find a scholar... who'd speak directly into the camera and
explain... what really happened with Richard and Anne. And I am telling you that that is absolutely
ridiculous. You know more about Richard III... than any fucking scholar at Columbia or Harvard.

 Fred.

 This is ridiculous! You are making this documentary to show that actors... truly are the possessors of a
tradition... the proud inheritors of the understanding of Shakespeare. Then you turn around and say,
"I'm gonna get a scholar to explain it."

 This is ridiculous!

 I hereby knight you, Frederic.

 Ph.D.
 Ph.D. Of the realm.

 Oh, God. Ridiculous.

 No, but the point is this, Frederic. A person has an opinion. It's only an opinion.

 It's never a question of right or wrong.

 There's no right or wrong. It's an opinion. And a scholar has a right to an opinion as any of us. But why
does he get to speak directly to the camera? I don't really know why he needed to marry her,
historically. I simply don't know. Um, it's... Stay, you that bear the corse. Set it down. Villains, set down
the corse. Or, by Saint Paul, I'll make a corse of him that disobeys. My lord, stand back, and let the
coffin pass. Unmanner'd dog! Stand thou, when I command. Advance thy halbert... higher than my
breast, or, by Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot. Spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness. Richard
needs Anne... because he wants to be king. So he needs a queen. Anne is perfect for the job. Also, she
needs protection. Because she was on the losing side of the War of the Roses. She's young, she has no
husband. Basically, she has no future. For Richard, she's someone who 'd represent... the other side,
the Lancasters coming to his side. It says to the public that Anne has forgiven him for killing her
husband... therefore exonerating him from his crime. And thou unfit for any place but hell. Yes, one
place else... if you'll hear me name it. Some dungeon. Your bed-chamber. I'll have her. Gentle Lady
Anne... to leave this keen encounter of our wits... and to fall something into a slower method... was not
the causer of the timeless deaths of these two men... Henry and Edward, as blameful as the
executioner? Thou was the cause, and the accursed effect. Thy beauty was the cause of that effect. Thy
beauty. That did haunt me in my sleep... to undertake the death of all the worid... that I might live one
hour in your sweet bosom. Teach not thy lip such scorn. It was made for kissing, lady... not for such
contempt. If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive... Io, here. Here... I lend thee this sharp-pointed
dagger. If thou wish to hide in this true breast. And let forth the soul that adoreth thee... I lay it naked
to the deadly stroke... and I humbly beg the death upon my knee. Nay, do not pause. For I did kill King
Henry... but 'twas thy beauty that provoked me. Nay, now dispatch. 'Twas I stabbed Edward... but 'twas
thy heavenly face that set me on. Take up the sword again, or take up me. Though I wish thy death, I
will not be thy executioner. Bid me kill myself. I will do it.

 I have already.

 That was in thy rage. Speak it again... and, even with the word, this hand... which, for thy love, did kill
thy love... will, for thy love, kill a far truer love.

 I would I knew thy heart.

 My heart is figured in my tongue. Well, put up your sword. Say, then, my peace is made. That shalt
thou know hereafter. Shall I live in hope? All men, I hope, live so. Vouchsafe to wear this ring. To take is
not to give. Look, how my ring encompasseth thy finger. Even so... thy breast encloseth my poor heart.
Wear both of them... for both of them are thine. Leave these sad designs... to him that hath most cause
to be a mourner. With all of my heart... and much it joys me too, to see you have become so penitent.
Ha!

 Tressel and Berkeley.

 Yes, madam. Go along with me. Bid me farewell. Since you teach me how to flatter you... imagine that I
will say farewell again. Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?
I'll have her. But I will not keep her long!
 We'll never finish this movie.

 It's got to be what it is. How much more will we shoot? It's a movie about a play. We're making a
documentary about making Shakespeare accessible to people. Those people, the people in the street.
They're not gonna get Richard III. I can't even get it, it's too complicated. Then why is it Shakespeare's
most popular play?

 Wait, what did you say?

 Who says it's popular? It is! It's performed more than Hamlet. So what? I run before my horse to
market. Clarence still lives and breathes. Edward still reigns. When they are gone... then must I count
my gains. But, soft! Here come my executioners. Are you going to dispatch this thing? We are, my lord.
Come to have the warrant... that we may be admitted to where he is. Well thought upon. I have it here
about me. But, sirs, be sudden in your execution. Do not hear him plead. For Clarence is well-spoken...
and may move your hearts to pity if you mark him. Be assured we go to use our hands... not our
tongues. I like you, lads. About your business straight. We will, my noble lord. Go, go, dispatch. Here's a
place for the Clarence scene. Just get Clarence very tight... in here, and you have all of the dead pigeon
feathers... and the guano and the texture... of the wall. Just imagine you're close in. It doesn't work. It's
not just the pigeon stuff. It doesn't work. It has no sense of...

 What are you...? When...?

 No enclosure. Frederic, it's pointless. For God's sakes, it's a prison. We need a place... where Clarence is
being held prisoner. It's gotta be a... It's a prison. Aha. See the tower? It's going to be in the chamber...
where the bell ringing unit is. It's a really beautiful space. It's got this shaft of white light coming down
from the top. That's where we'd place that. This is nice. Nice light. Shall we stab him as he sleeps? No.
He'll say it was done cowardly, when he wakes. He shall never wake until the great judgment-day.
Faith, certain dregs of conscience are here within me. Remember our reward, when the deed is done.

 Come, he dies.

 Where's thy conscience now? In the Duke of Gloucester's purse. When he opens his purse to give us
thy reward...

 thy conscience flies out.

 'Tis no matter.

 Few or none entertain it.

 What if it come to thee again? I'll not meddle with it. It makes a man a coward. A man cannot steal, but
it accuseth him. A man cannot lie, but it cheques him. A man cannot lie with his neighbor's wife... but it
detects him. And any man that means to live well... endeavors to trust to himself and live without it.
Come... shall we fall to work? While this is going on with Clarence, his brother is in the castle... trying to
make peace. They've been summoned for the atonement meeting. That's why everybody is in the
castle. The making peace. The king's family are in incredible conflict. He dares not die until he knows
they won't pull the whole thing apart... as soon as he's dead. I every day expect an embassage from my
Redeemer to redeem me hence. The king wants this peace to happen because he wants to make sure...
that after he's gone his children will continue the reign. He and his wife must hope... that they will. We
know that you have another agenda. Strike! No, we'll reason with him first. Where art thou, keeper?
Give me a cup of wine. You shall have wine enough, my lord... anon. In God's name, what art thou? A
man... as you are.

 But not, as I am, royal.

 Nor you, as we are, loyal. Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you come? To... To...

 To murder me?

 Ay. Ay. Wherein, my friends, have I offended you? Offended us you have not... but the king. I shall be
reconciled to him again. Never, my lord. Therefore... prepare to die. Hastings. Rivers, take each other's
hand. Dissemble not your hatred... swear your love. So prosper I... as I swear perfect love! And so
swear I. Madam, yourself is not exempt from this. Wife, love Lord Hastings... let him kiss your hand.
There, Hastings. I never more shall remember our former hatred... so thrive I and mine. Do they really
believe all this? Do they really believe it when you say, "Take their hand"? It's a vow. A solemn vow. In
this time, that's a solemn thing. Only people who want to go to hell would make vows and not keep
them. If you are hired for meed... go back again, and I will send you to my brother Richard... who shall
reward you better for my life... than Edward will for tidings of my death. Come, you deceive yourself.
'Tis he that sends us to destroy you here. It cannot be... for he bewept my fortune... and swore, with
sobs, that he would labor my delivery. Touches me deeper than you can imagine. So he doth... when he
delivers you from this earth's thraldom to the joys of heaven. Make peace with God... for you must die,
my lord. Have you that holy feeling in your soul... to counsel me to make my peace with God? And are
you yet to your own souls... so blind, that you wilt war with God by murdering me? O sirs... consider,
those that set you on to do this deed... will hate you for the deed. What shall we do? Relent... and save
your souls. Relent! No. 'Tis cowardly and womanish. Not to relent is brutish... savage... devilish. My
friend... I spy some pity in thy looks. O, if thine eye be not a flatterer, come thou on my side, and
entreat for me... as you would beg, were you in my distress. A begging prince what beggar pities not?
Look behind you, my lord. Is Clarence dead? The order was reversed. But he, poor man, by your first
order died. Have I a tongue to doom my brother's death? My brother killed no man. His fault was
thought... and yet his punishment was bitter death. Who sued to me for him? Who kneel'd at my feet,
and in my wrath, bid me be advised? Who spoke of brotherhood? Who spoke of love? The proudest of
you all... have been beholding to him in his life. Yet not one of you would once beg for his life. O God, I
fear thy justice will take hold on me, and you... and mine, and yours for this! Come, Hastings, help me
to my closet. What is it in theater? Why do we want to do it? We want to do theater because of that
personal presence. West Germany gave a billion dollars a year to the arts. I gave up a TV movie in
France to do Richard III in Milwaukee. I was talking to my teacher, and she said, "You will benefit."
Kevin Costner did that TV show.

 You lost out. Look at his career.

 He's afraid to do Shakespeare. No, he's in the other room practicing. The Anointed Shakespeare.
"Annotated." It's got beautiful pictures. It's got beautiful pictures. That's what I like about Shakespeare,
the pictures. He's dead. Okay. Okay. Well, what are we gonna do?

 Okay.

 I like it. What next? What do you mean, you like it? What time is it? 3:30. What are they doing, do you
know? Freddie said something about burying the king. Is that in the play? Here it goes. This is it. This is
the crunch. Now we can say Richard is the most powerful man at this point... alive. All of us have cause
to wail the dimming of our shining star. The crisis is... are they going to live by the words that they
spoke to the king... or are they not? Is the peace going to hold? I hope the king made peace with all of
us... and that compact is firm and true in me.
 And so in me.

 And so say I. Then go we to determine... who they shall be that shall post to Ludlow. Who is going to go
to Ludlow to get the young prince... and bring him back to be king? Who 's gonna do it? And
Buckingham says, "Whoever does do it... we go along too." Whoever journeys to the Prince, let not us
two stay at home. Buckingham decides politically to align himself with Richard. He does everything for
him in order to... help him, obviously wanting to help himself. When I am king... claim thou of me the
earidom of Hereford... and the moveables whereof the king my brother was possess'd. Buckingham is
like the secretary of state. Like the guys who did the Iran-Contra stuff, the dirty work.

 Mm-hm.

 Propped up the king. Without Buckingham, there's no Richard as king.

 Right. He couldn't do it alone.

 Mm-hm. But then, they never can. Shakespeare saw Richard Gloucester and Buckingham as gangsters.
They were thugs. High-class, upper-class thugs. There's been no influence here, has there? No
influence. What is thy news? Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret... and with them Sir
Thomas Vaughan... prisoners. Who hath committed them? The mighty dukes Gloucester and
Buckingham. You're a pretty smart guy. I can see it. I see the ruin of my house. Insulting tyranny begins
to jet upon the innocent and aweless throne. I can see it... as in a map, the end of all. Now, Richard and
Buckingham have betrayed everybody. They lied. They went to Ludlow to pick up this prince. They
were supposed to be peaceful. They forced him out from under his uncle's arms... and they've stolen
this kid. They're bringing him back. What they have really got there is the throne of England... in their
arms. The future. They've got it. Now is the winter of our discontent... made glorious summer... by this
sun of York. Welcome... to London. This is the first chance since 1640s... to see the Globe Theatre. This
is where Shakespeare... wrote his plays, where he acted. Shakespeare owned it. So this is the spot? If
you stand in the middle of it, what happens? It's like a sounding board, like a resonating chamber.

 You can hear the wonderful acoustics.

 I hear it already. Now is the winter of our discontent... made glorious summer... by this sun of York.
And all the clouds that lour'd on our house... in the deep bosom of the ocean...

 Hi. Are you working on this?

 I am. I've been recording it since 1980.

 You've been recording this since 1980?

 Yeah. The whole shebang.

 Really?

 And who is this? This is the son of one of the builders. Welcome, sweet prince, to London. My
thoughts' sovereign. The weary way hath made you melancholy.

 I want more uncles here to welcome me.


 Sweet prince... those uncles which you want were dangerous. Your grace attended to their sugar'd
words... but look'd not on the poison of their hearts. God keep you from such false friends! God keep
me from false friends! But they were none. The mayor of London comes to greet you. Okay, now they
got the kids. They got the young prince who 'll be king. - They got his brother.

 Richard has a happy family. Yeah. Somebody's gotta go. Will't please you pass along? Myself and
Buckingham entreat your mother to come... and welcome you at the Tower. What, will you go unto the
Tower, my lord?

 What should you fear at the Tower?

 Nothing. Why has he put them in the Tower? He's going to kill them. The Tower is where they
execute... They chop people's heads off. There are many rooms up there. So it can also go for meetings
and different places. But there is one specific spot up there... where they... They do the... You know, do
the thing. The one person who is in line is a child. What a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get
what we want.

 Of course.

 I'll basically be running the country. One person 's standing in their way: Lord Hastings. Hastings loves
this kid, the prince. He really wants him to be the next king. Though the kid's in the Tower, he believes
he will be. He's tough. Tough Guy Hastings. He was the former king's closest friend. They even shared a
mistress. Mistress Shore. Who is she? She's Shakespeare's device to connect Hastings and the king. -
They share the same woman.

 Good idea. Hastings is a great threat to Richard and Buckingham. He can stop them, so they have to
stop him. What shall we do... if we perceive Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots? Chop off his
head. What are you talking about, Richard? You mean Richard wear the crown? I think it's the only
way.

 Think about it.

 Let me tell you something. I'll have this crown... this crown ripped off... and shoved into a cow's belly...
before I would allow that scum to defile the crown... by putting it on his head. The text is only a means
of expressing what's behind the text. If you get obsessed with the text... This is a barrier to American
actors... who get obsessed with the British way of regarding a text. That isn't what matters. What
matters is that you have to penetrate... into what, at every moment, it's about. So at this point,
Hastings does not take the threat of Richard seriously? Absolutely not. Anything can go on. You think
that this guy...? So now we've got Stanley. Lord Stanley. He's a friend of Hastings and he's trying to
convince him... they should get out of the country because Richard's planning a takeover. Some
treachery, at the council meeting... to pick the prince's coronation date. My noble lords. The cause why
we are met is, to determine of the coronation. In God's name, speak. When is the royal day?

 Is all things ready for the royal time?

 It is, and wants but nomination. To-morrow, then, I judge a happy day. Tomorrow has been prepared
as a great feast day... of coronation and requires only that we at this table say yes. We think we have
been brought together just to rubber-stamp the prince. It's a fait accompli, the prince will be king.
They're just there to pick the date. Who knows Richard's mind in all this? Who is the most inward with
the noble duke? On the duke's behalf I'll give my voice... which, I presume, he'll take in gentle part. In
happy time, here comes the gentle duke. My noble lords and cousins all, good morrow. I have been
long a sleeper. But I trust... my absence doth neglect no design, which might have been concluded. Had
you not come, my lord... William Lord Hastings had pronounced your part... I mean, your voice... for
crowning of the king. Than no man might be bolder. His lordship knows me well, and loves me well. My
lord of Ely! When last I was in Holborn... I saw good strawberries in your garden there... I do beseech
you send for some of them. Marry, and will, my lord. Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you.
Remember we talked the other day about a gathering of dons, in a way. There's a lot of suspición in
this room. I think there's a danger to be in this room. All of us in one spot. And it's like somebody says,
"Just wait here, I'll be back." Or, you know, "Wait in this room..." And it's been like, "What's going on?"
It's simple. They have to cut out Hastings... and only Richard has the power to do it. He's royal, a York,
but he must move fast. It's his last chance to stop Hastings from making the prince king. They'll suck in
Hastings using his mistress, Jane Shore, as bait. Provoke him to say the wrong thing. Then everyone has
to make a choice, either Richard or Hastings. Where is my lord, the Duke of Gloucester? I have sent for
these strawberries. His grace looks cheerfully and smooth this morning. There's some conceit or other
likes him well... with that he bids good morrow with such spirit. There's never a man in Christendom
can lesser hide his love or hate than he. For by his face straight shall you know his heart. What of his
heart perceive you by any livelihood he show'd to-day? Marry, that with no man here he is offended.
For, if he were, you'd seen it in his looks. I pray you all... tell me what they deserve... that do conspire
my death... with devilish plots of damned witchcraft... and that have prevail'd upon my body... with
their hellish charms? The tender love I bear your grace, my lord, makes me most forward... in this
princely presence to doom the offenders, whosoe'er they be. I say, my lord, they have deserved death.
Then be your eyes the witness of their ill. Look... how I am bewitch'd. Behold mine arm... like a blasted
sapling, wither'd up. And this is Edward's wife... that monstrous witch... consorted with the harlot
strumpet Shore... that by their witchcraft... thus have marked me.

 If they have done this deed...

 If! If... thou protector of this damned strumpet... Talkest thou to me of "ifs"? Off with his head! Now,
by Saint Paul... I swear, I will not dine until I see the same. Lovel and Ratcliffe, look that it be done. The
rest, that love me... rise and follow me. Stan... Stanley! Stan... Woe for England! Not a whit for me. For
I, too fond, might have prevented this. Come, dispatch. 'Tis bootless to exclaim. Bloody Richard!
Hastings was the fly in the ointment. The path is clear for Buckingham and Richard. They got the inner
circle. They've intimidated all the dukes and earis. So now... all that's left is winning the people. Every
time there's an election in this country, whether for mayor... president or city council... the fact is
people are tired of the way it's been and want a change. How now, how now, what say the citizens?
Now, by the holy mother of our Lord, the citizens are mum. I expected them to be boisterous, and that
they would come and rally.

 Did they so?

 No... so God help me, they spake not a word. But, like dumb statues, stared each other on, and look'd
deadly pale. And did they so? No! What, are you deaf? I'm saying, whatever their reaction...

 we had this plan.

 We still had it. So they're being told... that here, right before your eyes, is the man who will make it
better. And, see... a book of prayer in his hand, true ornaments... to know a holy man. Irony is really
only hypocrisy with style. Here again, we love Richard's irony, in a way. We know he's as hard as nails,
that he's only pretending to be religious. They canvass like politicians. Complete with lies and
innuendo... they manage... to malign this young prince, who is the rightful heir to the throne. And they
know it. Infer the bastardy of Edward's children. And they say he was a bastard... that his father was a
bastard. It's an act, and these people buy it. It's a complete lie. We heartily solicit you... to take on the
kingly government of this your land... not as protector, steward, substitute, or lowly factor for
another's gain. But as successively from blood to blood... your right of birth, your empery, your own.
Since you will buckle fortune on my back... to bear her burden, whether I will or no... I must have
patience to endure the load. Long live Richard, England's worthy king! Long live King Richard! In the
midst of these noble concepts, these treaties and diplomatic pacts... he was saying the truth beneath
all this... is absolutely the opposite. The truth is that those in power... have total contempt for
everything they promise... everything they pledge. And that's what Shakespeare's great play is about.
The reason why Shakespeare is really important... is because, in the Talmudic theme... I've taken Lady
Macbeth and put her in a rock 'n' roll context. She's singing the blues. Which is really a yin-yang or
Chinese. Hamlet's like every kid who's freaked out... his mother, his father... The way to truly live is to
hold both points of view at the same time. I have them singing the blues, doing the beat. But an
American audience gets intimidated. They hear "Hamlet." They hear "Shakespeare." You must get me
out of this. Get me out of this documentary. This idea was a bad idea. It's gone too far.

 Take you away from all this?

 I wanna go. I wanna... I want to be the king. I want to be king, Frederic. Make me king. Long live
Richard, England's worthy king! Long live Richard, England's worthy king! As soon as he gets what he
wants, Lady Anne, the crown...

 then the whole thing...

 The emptiness of it.

 Cousin of Buckingham!

 My gracious sovereign? Give me thy hand. Thus high, by thy advice and thy assistance... is King
Richard... seated. But shall we wear these glories for a day? Or shall they last... and we rejoice in them?
Still they live and for ever may they last! Buckingham... now do I play the touch. Young Edward lives.
Think now what I would speak. Say on, my loving lord. Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards... dead. Why
is it necessary now to kill them? You're king. What difference...?

 It's...

 But as long as they live. What sayest thou now? Speak suddenly. Be brief. Your grace may do his
pleasure. Thou art all ice... thy kindness freezeth. Everybody may have a price... but for a lot of people,
there is a fundamental decency. It takes a long time for them to reach that point. The action of the
play, the sense of exciting movement... is Richard's finding out the point beyond which people won't
go. Say, then that I have thy consent... that they shall die? It's an interesting question... about where
Buckingham is... How far he's willing to go, where he's willing to draw the line. It's as if everything
Buckingham does in the play... somehow manages to keep the blood off his hands. Give me some little
breath, some pause, dear my lord... before I speak positively in this. I shall resolve you herein presently.
The king is angry. None are for me... that look into me with considerate eyes. He is bound to be left
alone... because nobody can love the king... beyond the degree of their own egoism or their own
goodness. There will be a point. He has reached Buckingham's point. That deep-revolving... witty
Buckingham... shall no longer be neighbor to my counsels. What? Hath he held out with me so long,
untired... stops he now for breath? Well... so be it. When he went away, did he agree to do it, or was
he gonna say: "I can't, but give me what you promised"? I think he's come back and says: "Okay. We
have to do it, let's bite the bullet. Let's do it." But he's too late. My Lord, I have consider'd in my mind
the late request...

 that you did sound me in.

 Well, let that rest.


 Dorset is fled to Richmond.

 I hear the news, my lord. Stanley. Yes, my sovereign? Richmond is your wife's son... look to it. My lord...
I claim the gift... my due of promise... which your honor and your faith is pawn'd. The earidom of
Hereford and moveables which you promised I shall possess. Stanley... look to your wife. If she convey
letters to Richmond, you shall answer it. What says your highness to my high request? I do remember
me, Henry the Sixth did prophesy... when Richmond was just a little boy that Richmond would be king.
Perhaps.

 Perhaps...

 My lord! The earidom... Richmond! When last I was in Exeter... the mayor in courtesy show'd me the
castle there... and call'd it Rougemont. At which name I started, because a bard of Ireland told me
once... that I should not live long after I saw Richmond.

 My Lord!

 Ay, what's o'clock? I am thus bold to put your grace in mind of what you promised me. Ay, but what's
o'clock? Upon the stroke of ten.

 Let it strike.

 Why let it strike? Because... that, like a Jack... thou keep'st the stroke, tick-tock... betwixt your
begging... and my meditation. Tick-tock. I am not... in the giving vein to-day. May it please your grace...
to resolve me in my suit? Thou troublest me. I am not... in the vein. Thou dost scorn me for my gentle
counsel? And soothe the devil that I warn thee from? O, but remember this another day... when he
shall split thy very heart with sorrow... and say poor Margaret... was a prophetess! And thus be it so?
Repays me my deep service with such contempt... made I him king for this? O, let me think on Hastings,
and be gone... to Brecknock... while my fearful head is on! You stand on brittle ground. Will it last, or
will someone next week say: "Hey, they got a bum rap. Let's push the case of the kids"? The kids have
got to go. Is thy name Tyrell? James Tyrell... and your most obedient subject. Darest thou resolve to kill
a friend of mine? Please you. But I had rather kill two enemies. Thou hast it. Two deep enemies, foes to
my rest and sweet sleep's disturbers... are they that I would have thee deal upon. Tyrell... I mean those
bastards in the Tower. Let me have open means to come to them... and soon I'll rid you from the fear
of them. Say it is done... and I will love thee, and prefer thee for it. I will dispatch it straight. I am so far
in blood... that sin will pluck on sin. Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye. Any production of Richard III,
the last act dribbles out for me.

 I'm gone.

 For me, the last act... Richard is the most accessible because it's clear... that Richard has attained this
power now. He's king and he's on the decline because as soon as he becomes king... they come at him
from all sides. Richmond is attacking. This guy, Richmond, his family were the losers... in the War of the
Roses. He had fled to France and was there raising an army... to get the throne back for the house of
Lancaster. My gracious sovereign... now in Devonshire, as I by friends am well advertised. In Kent the
Guildfords are in arms. Every hour more competitors flock to the rebels. Their power grows strong. Sir
Thomas Lovel and Lord Marquis Dorset...

 in Yorkshire are in arms.


 Out, ye owls! Nothing but songs of death? Take thou that, till thou brings better news. He suspects
everyone around him. He has no friends. I'm listening, I'm listening. Fellows in arms... and my most
loving friends. Thus far into the bowels of land we march'd without impediment. And here receive we
from our father Stanley... lines of fair comfort and encouragement. Ah... The wretched, bloody, and
usurping boar... that spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful vines... this foul swine is now even in the
centre of this isle. Every man's conscience is a thousand men... to fight against this guilty homicide.
Then, in God's name, march. True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings. Kings it makes gods, and
meaner creatures kings.

 Well.

 Am I dying? That's what I want to know. Am I dying? When are we gonna kill Richard?

 I have a worse question.

 Excuse me? I have a feeling... that your Richard will have earned his death... and we should think about
a way to do it. Close... Close... Close the door. You're 98.6. Put it under the tongue. Then it doesn't
click. If I'm 98.6, then you're a Shakespearean actor. "On the 22nd of August, 1485, a battle was fought
for the crown of England." A short battle, ending in a decisive victory. In that field, a crowned king,
manfully fighting in the middle of his enemies... "was slain and brought to his death." Here, pitch our
tent, here... even here in Bosworth field. What is fascinating when you come to the last act... to the
Battle of Bosworth, the battle itself goes for very little... apart from, "My horse. My horse. Kingdom for
a horse." To me, the battle is really the ghost scene. The ghost scene is the battle. Richard is visited in
his sleep by the ghosts of the people he's murdered. Give me another horse. Bind up my wounds. Give
me another horse! Frederic and I decided to go to the actual theater... where Richard III was performed
some 300 years ago... and this ghost scene was acted on the stage here, in London. We thought we'd
rehearse and see if we could get a sense... of those old spirits. Method acting-type stuff. I've always
had trouble with this speech. It's good when an actor has trouble with a speech... and goes and tries to
do it. I've heard you talking about Richard as a man who cannot find love. A person who finally, in the
last scenes, knows... that he does not have his own humanity, that he's lost it. Tormenting dreams! He
has let the pursuit of power totally corrupt him... and is alienated from his own body... and his own
self. Dream on, of bloody deeds and death. Where are my children?

 Toad!

 Despair. Despairing. Death.

 Give me another horse.

 Where is thy brother, Clarence? Get me a horse! Get me a horse! Yet thou didst kill my children.

 Despair. And die.

 Bind up my wounds. Bloody Richard! Soft! I did but dream. Soft! I did but dream. O coward
conscience... how dost thou afflict me! The lights burn blue. It is now... dead midnight. Cold fearful
drops stand on my trembling flesh. Richard. Richard. What do I fear? Myself? There is none else by. Is
there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am. Then fly! From myself? No. No. I love myself. Alas... I hate
myself... for hateful deeds. Guilty. Guilty. Committed by myself. Guilty. I am a villain. I am a villain. Yet I
lie. I am not. Fool, of thyself speak well. Fool... do not flatter. I shall despair. There is no creature loves
me. When I die... no soul shall pity me. Wherefore should they... since that I myself... find in myself...
no pity to myself?
 My lord!

 Who is there? Ratcliffe, my lord. 'Tis I. Well, get out of here. I'm working.

 You got it.

 Let's try it one more time. Catesby, my lord. 'Tis I.

 Catesby.

 The early village-cock... hath twice done salutation to the morn. Your friends are up...

 and buckle on their armor.

 Catesby. I've had a fearful dream. Catesby, I fear... Nay, nay, good my lord... be not afraid of shadows.
By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night... have struck more terror in the soul of Richard... than can the
substance of 10,000 soldiers armed to proof... and led by shallow Richmond. Come, come with me. The
silent hours steal on, and flaky darkness breaks within the east. Stanley, look to your wife. If she convey
letters to Richmond, you shall answer. Prepare thy battle early in the morning... and put thy fortune to
the test of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war. You have to give a speech in half an hour.

 Maybe we should...

 No, I got the general... gist of it. Got the gist of it. O Thou... whose captain I account myself... look on
my forces with a gracious eye. Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath... that they may crush
down with a heavy fall... the usurping helmets of our adversaries! What shall I say more than I have
inferr'd? Remember whom you are to deal withal. A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways... a scum
of Bretons, and base lackey peasants... whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth... to desperate
adventures and assured destruction. Make us thy ministers of chastisement. You sleeping safe, they
bring to you unrest. You having lands, and blest with beauteous wives... they will restrain the one,
distain the other. And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow? To thee I do commend my watchful
soul... ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes. A milk-sop... one that never in his life felt so much cold as
over shoes in snow? O, defend me still! Let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again. Lash hence
these overweening rags of France... these famish'd beggars, weary of their lives. If we be conquer'd...
let men conquer us... not these bastard Bretons. Shall these enjoy our lands? Lie with our wives? Ravish
our daughters? Hark! I hear their drum. Fight, gentlemen of England! Fight, bold yoemen! Draw,
archers... draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood. Amaze the
welkin with your broken staves! My horse! My horse! And in a bloody battle end thy days! Despair, and
die! They withdraw. See? They're deserting him. A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! Withdraw,
my lord, withdraw... Slave, I set my life upon a cast, I'll stand the hazard of the die. There be six
Richmonds in the field.

 Five have I slain to-day.

 My lord! Although he's frightfully clever... he is, at the same time, like a kind of boar... who has
subsumed into himself all these frightful animal images... and all that the rest have got to do is to hunt
the boar. And that's what they do, and they get him. A horse! A horse! My kingdom... for a horse! He's
a hearty dude, and in the end, he's surrounded and he just goes... He'll give up anything for a horse.
He's rich, a king, and he needs a horse. My kingdom for a horse.

 I didn't mean it.


 I love you, Frederic. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. He didn 't mean it. You kill me, after all I did for
you.

 Richard's dead.

 Richard's... At last we can rest. God and your arms be praised, victorious friends, the day is ours...

 the bloody dog is dead.

 Dead!

 Is this it?

 I hope so. Are we done? This is it? If I told him about the 10 rolls of film, he'd want to use it. I love the
silence. I love the silence. After silence, what else is there? What's the line?

 "The rest is silence."

 Silences. Whatever I'm saying, I know Shakespeare said it. Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
as I foretold you... were all spirits and are melted into air... into thin air. And, like the baseless fabric of
this visión... the cloud-capp 'd towers... the gorgeous palaces... the solemn temples... ye all which it
inherit... shall dissolve... and, like this insubstantial pageant faded... leave not a wisp behind. We are
such stuff as dreams are made on... and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

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