SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

King Lear Roi Lear, Le

Synopsis

Shortened version of the play which depicts most of the main events but omits the Edgar subplot. Ball (op cit) comments ‘Without subtitles this film could not be understood at all...one sees only tirades and movements which baffle. With little comprehension, little emotion can be conveyed. Novelli was a great actor, but he is not a great actor here because he has been unable to adapt himself to the ruthless eye of the camera...'

Country

Italy

Medium

Film

Technical information

Black-and-white / Silent

Year of release

1910

Duration

12 mins; 1065 feet

Credits

Director

Gerolamo Lo Savio

Cast

Ermete Novelli	Lear
Francesca Bertini	Cordelia
Giannina Chiantoni	Goneril
Olga Giannini Novelli	Regan

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Plays

King Lear

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Contained within the BFI compilation DVD SILENT SHAKESPEARE. The film here has been coloured and has a newly recorded score by Laura Rossie. The copy held by the BFI National Archive is incomplete 966ft (11 mins).

Reviews

Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp120-2, 334).

Kinematographic Monthly Record (1 July 1913), p. 116

Production Company

Name

Film d’Arte Italiana

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets