Jean-Luc Godard's King Lear: A strange little gem

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Ah, Cannon Films. You were the best of the bad movie companies of the eighties, churning out B-movie after b-movie like Willy Wonka's factory. Like Wonka, you also had a varied input, releasing foreign films, arthouse experiments... and even some exploitation. But there's one project of yours that I've taken in interest in, and that is Jean-Luc Godard's 1987 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear.

It all started at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985. Schlock-meister Menahem Golan was eating lunch with Godard. At the end, Golan had a large dinner napkin in his hand, waving it in the air like a king would his newborn son. Scribbled on the napkin was a contract, signed by Picard-- I mean, Godard --, to direct a modernization of the Shakespeare classic, with Norman Mailer (though Roger Ebert in 1986 said that Marlon Brando was considered) and Woody Allen(!) as the Fool. The screenplay appeared to be a big undertaking; according to IMDB, it took the combined efforts of Mailer, Godard and actor Peter Sellars (not THE Peter Sellers, mind you), who played the protagonist, William Shakespeare Junior the Fifth. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, after civilization has been obliterated by... the Chernobyl meltdown? Weird. Anyway, most of the great works were destroyed by the holocaust, and Shakes Jr. is charged with the gargantuan task of restoring his ancestor's plays.

The following are the only videos on the entire Internet related to this strange little piece of art that I could find. In fact, they're the only bits of the movie I've seen. The only way you can even watch this film nowadays is if you have it on VHS, or if you know some especially deranged Hong Kong bootlegger (sorry, Spoony).

This the intro to the film, which consists mostly of a four-way conversation between producer Tom Luddy, Mailer, Golan (the "let me tell you" voice) and Godard, secretly recorded by the latter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi-_s2Ffe28&feature=related[/youtube]

Nothing particular, except the fact that Burgess Merideth is playing Lear, with Molly Freaking Ringwald as Cordelia!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybOhr-RtAas[/youtube]

I've got to say, the acting in that little snippet is pretty good, especially coming from Mickey and a so-genetically-perfect-she's-got-to-be-fake redhead.

Weird stuff...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8rvg5 ... shortfilms

Here's the entire film, but you're going to have to download the Veoh player to watch the whole thing.

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/categ ... 6dq5d2hF5#

Overall, Godard's take on Shakespeare sounds intriguing. It'd be great if Criterion got the rights to release it on DVD.

Bump.

Just felt like it.

Jeez, this thread isn't turning out the way I wanted it two. Time for desparate measures. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Conway Twitty.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V1fX-FvKW8[/youtube]

Any minute now.