Looking For Richard

The problem of Shakespeare. It has wracked the psyches of countless students and actors alike. Al Pacino, legendary actor and luminary, takes it somewhat further. In addition to his agonizing preparation for the titular role of Richard III, Pacino decided to get out of his own head and ask some colleagues what they think of Shakespeare's tragedy-the words, the strings of words creating thoughts. And what words! The speak that causes contemporaries to almost immediately feel removed from what is essentially, like all of the Bard's great tragedies, a tale of the erosion of humanity manifest in crushing betrayal and the final "silence". The beautiful music, the rhythm of the verse; to one, a beautiful melody, to others, a brick wall of boredom and confusion. Indeed, Pacino wonders aloud, "What's this thing that gets between us and Shakespeare?"

 In 1996's LOOKING FOR RICHARD, director Pacino attempts to find out. The colleagues of which I spoke include the actors in the current New York production, folks like Kevin Spacey (Earl of Buckingham) and Alec Baldwin (Duke of Clarence). We see them around the table, doing read-throughs. Then we see them acting out the drama. Splices between these scenes are effective. But then we hear them pontificate on what each scene means, what the whole Shakespeare pardigm is about. Pacino listens, interrupts, adds his own two cents. He takes the camera out of the theater and quizzes the man on the street. We get the expected cross section of responses to the Shakespeare inquiry: bewilderment, indifference, mild hostility. Shakespeare intimidates people. Especially Americans. The most interesting interview involves an English actor/scholar who explains the dilemma his thespian compadres west of the pond face: they add inhibition, they feel that because of the long shadow of history, perhaps the Brit pedigree itself, that the pursuit is hopeless. The American actor is so concerned that he cannot convincingly convey the poetry and anguish, or to even understand. This perfectly illustrates the way many of us feel. 

 LOOKING FOR RICHARD is not exactly "Shakespeare for Dummies"(although, at one point Pacino waves a copy of the play's Cliffs Notes). Rather, the film is a somewhat post-modern assemblage of the actual performance of the play (indoors and out) mixed with assorted discussions of interpretation. Lots of points of view to consider. What credence should we give the average joe versus the scholar? That very point spurs an amusing debate between Pacino and an actor as to the value of opinions. Are all opinions equal? Why should what the stuffy Ph.D. pontificates be worth more than that of the theater patron who may have, as a teen, rather have made out with his girlfriend than watch the damned play (referring to, quite amusingly, the esteemed actor Kevin Kline, who has done more than his share of Shakespeare). Hilariously, the film then cuts to one of those stuffy wits who admits he has no idea what a particular scene means. The movie is quite interesting, but it meanders. Any one interview would've been satisfying to watch for its original duration, rather than the mere seconds sprinkled throughout the film. Then we see large chucks of the play itself-well mounted and supremely well acted by the aforementioned as well as Harris Yulin and others.

 Pacino had originally wanted to just "film the play" but felt that a doc attempting to deconstruct would be more effective. He was mostly correct. Besides, Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh (who is also interviewed briefly) have already done definitive cinematic versions. Projects such as this also court the danger of becoming a vanity piece. We see Pacino in all his neurotic, hammy glory here, enough at times to make me almost wish that Robert De Niro would come out and shout some verses from Ecclesiastes in iambic pentameter. One sequence that made me squint a bit involved the performance of the key scene of Richard attempting to find the good graces of Lady Anne (Winona Ryder), intercut with a lip smacking Pacino, very playful as he hangs off a piece of metallic art in a park. When the scene between the characters reaches the crescendo Pacino had just predicted, we get his face full frame, shouting "Aha!" OK, so who is supposed to feel stupid now, Al? No matter. A small quibble.

LOOKING FOR RICHARD is a real find for the faithful, and those interested in rolling back the meaning. I don't think the movie will win any Bard converts, but one never knows. It doesn't always happen overnight. Pacino spent 3 1/2 years putting together this movie, perhaps gleaning deeper understanding at the exhausting end. I have been a devoted fan of Shakespeare since about 7th grade. Interestingly, it was in part due to a classroom screening of Franco Zeffierelli's 1968 take on Romeo & Juliet. When I began to delve into the text, I was put off, yet so intrigued it became an almost herculean effort of obsession to comprehend. Pacino also feels this way. Before the cameras, he pulls back the well worn binders of his paperbacks and analyzes every beat of the trials of Richard. He goes a bit mad. So do his business partners. 

If you've seen other films like this, where an actor or some other notable gets some film stock and a budget to shoot a labor of love documentary, you get the obligatory scenes: the producer reaming over the budget, the police showing up to kick the principals out of a location due to a lack of work permits, the general questioning by everyone as to why this project was undertaken in the first place. All of those scenes are here, with the added dimension of the producer quite unashamedly admitting he's never understood this play. Another telling moment at the end, as Pacino's Richard lies dying: a studio guy looks on, "It's over, right? That's it? I bet if I tell him we have ten more reels of film stock available he'll want to somehow keep filming this thing."