Page 49 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

38 I Shakespeare in the Movies

approach will appreciate this Richard III far more than those who
expect cinematic artists to visually convey Shakespeare's originals.

Deconstructing Pacino
Looking for Richard
Jam Productions, 1996; Al Pacino

Al Pacino is a very different sort of performer from Ian McKellen.
Both an authentic movie star and a highly regarded character actor,
Pacino is blessed with both sex appeal and considerable acting skills.
Which explains why he was, in his highly personal Looking for
Richard, able to pull off the dual vision that McKellen tried, and
failed, to convey. Pacino is as sexy as Clark Gable and as creepy as
Vincent Price, somehow managing to project both qualities simul-
taneously rather than in succession. In so doing, he provided a per-
fect combination of Burbage and Kean.
Though his film, ostensibly a documentary, might also be cov-
ered in this book's final chapter, "Playing Shakespeare," it will be
dealt with here, since so much of the play is presented within the
context of the researching, rehearsal, and shooting processes that
preceded the production we witness. The concept first took shape
in Pacino's mind after starring as Richard III onstage. Pacino sensed
he hadn't succeeded, at least not to the degree he had hoped, in con-
veying to modern audiences his abiding love for Shakespeare in gen-
eral and this play in particular. So he assembled a motley group of
literary scholars, theater professionals, and movie stars to collaborate
on a home movie.
The results might alternately have been titled Deconstructing
Pacino, revealing as much about the well-regarded star as his favorite
author. As Pacino argues his theories about the play with colleagues,
we learn about how he perceives the world—just as everyone's take
on a favorite figure from Shakespeare is, however unconsciously, a
medium of self-expression. Pacino's pilgrimage to Stratford-upon-
Avon and interviews with the likes of Sir John Gielgud serve as
bridges between the play's great sequences, mostly filmed at the
Cloisters in New York for a sense of period. Pacino also offers dis-
cussions with street people and academics—the former offering per-
ceptive observations on why the Bard has survived for centuries, the