Set in a post Chernobyl world, William Shakespeare V (theatre director Peter Sellars) attempts to reconstruct his ancestor's play, KING LEAR. Loosely (very loosely) based on the play by William Shakespeare (perhaps inspired is a better word) and directed by Jean Luc Godard (LE MEPRIS). While I found much of the movie self indulgent, clearly we're in the hands of a major cinematic artist. This is no more filmed Shakespeare than the science fiction film FORBIDDEN PLANET (based on THE TEMPEST). Filmed in a fragmented off the cuff style, actors were often given the material just before the shoot with no time to prepare. Only Godard knew what he was doing and there's some speculation that even he was doing it all on the spur of the moment. Sound effects of squawking seagulls and snorting pigs seem arbitrary as they accompany some scenes. I have no idea what Godard was attempting to accomplish but if it's a mess, it's the kind of mess that could only have been made by a cinematic master. With Burgess Meredith as Lear, Molly Ringwald as Cordelia, Woody Allen, Julie Delpy, Norman Mailer, Leos Carax and Jean Luc Godard playing himself I assume.
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