Richard III

The one starring Laurence Olivier. Can’t say much that hasn’t been said elsewhere, and by people much more knowledgeable of the subject than I. It is excellent through and through, and a very fine DVD edition in perfect keeping with the Criterion Collection’s usual high standards. This is evidently the first time the complete version has been offered to the public in decades, so if you haven’t seen the movie in a few years it’s probably worth checking out – depending on how much of a completist you are about such matters. Extras include a good commentary by Russell Lees, with comments added here and there by John Wilders as well. These range from very specific anecdotes about some of the action behind the scenes to sweeping statements about Shakespeare’s art, with which it is hard to argue but which could also have probably been left unsaid. Although I guess it’s good to be reminded. The second DVD is significant mainly for a fairly extended interview with Olivier by Kenneth Tyson. It’s fun to watch Tyson smoking his cigarette, moving the little prop from this to that grasp, especially the one between his ring and pinky finger. Olivier comes off very well, I think, at once honest about his own achievements, humble before the work of other directors, producers, and fellow actors alike, and most of all proud the craft of acting itself. He also offers some very good insights into Shakespeare’s artistry. He is, not surprisingly, best on himself. Here he talks about mannerisms, of which he’d been accused of having quite a few by various critics throughout his career:

“What are mannerisms? Mannerisms are cushions of protection which an actor develops against his self-consciousness. An actor comes onto the stage on the first night and does something – hangs his head and does something or other – and for that second, it’s a comfort to him, what he’s done. It gives him a little moment of reality at this terrifying moment and it goes into the works, and in the future if he’s not very careful, he resorts to it on any first night and those things collect, and collect up, and you’ve got about 24 or 37 things that you finally can’t do without – those are mannerisms.”