Fun with Fascist Dictators II: Shakespearean Edition
It figures that the Bard would have something to say about authoritarian rule; namely, it isn’t that great. And while we might be stretching the boundaries by calling both of these films “fun” and “Shakespeare,” we feel they ultimately qualify on both grounds.
The winter of our discontent has rarely been so fun. Okay, maybe calling this movie “fun” might seem odd, given the expansive body count and extremely high quotient of pure eee-vil that goes on, but… it is a blast to watch the great Ian McKellen devour this role, and nearly as much fun to watch his stellar supporting cast strive to meet his level.
McKellen himself updated Shakespeare’s play, setting it in an alternate England of the 1930s, where civil war and rising fascism are all around. Richard wants the throne very badly and lacks any moral compass at all, so he starts removing the obstacles to his goal—that would be his brother, his brother’s children, and his brother’s wife. It gets pretty nasty.
With McKellen setting the bar so high, his inspired co-stars go for broke, as well. And what a cast! The crazy-great players include Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey Jr., Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Maggie Smith. That’s a cast that includes four Oscar winners and three Oscar nominees.
But it’s McKellen’s show, for sure. In what the Washington Post calls “a shamelessly entertaining display of acting brilliance,” he brings us in on the joke, so that we are nearly complicit as we share the joy he takes in his relentlessly evil actions.
If you’re going to spend a couple hours with a fascist dictator, it might as well be fun.