This Soviet version of Lear is the finest of the several I have seen. It brings me closer to the heart of the drama. The great director brings to it a deep understanding of the play. The ambiance is a barbarous pre-medieval age, populated by cripples and destitutes, remiding one of Breughal. The mist blanketed Russian plain and a restless sea are captured in b/w. Multitudes appear with little justification except perhaps to palliate the censors and give it a socialistic stance by comparing it to the bad old days. Shakespeare in this play gives us nothing less than the grandeur and vastness of the inner world of human beings. His conception of Man is cosmic. Particularly well done are Lear's post abdication encounter with the two elder sisters, with Goneril giving an outstanding rendition of her part. Lear undergoes a spiritual transformation after the storm and his encounter with Cordelia as he opens his eyes to "fair daylight" is a literary tract to make us wonder. The climactic duel between the half brothers and the piling of bodies thereafter is something I grasped the first time. My words can hardly hope to suffice for this. This movie makes me want to read the play.
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