This film is part of Rentals
King Lear
An experimental truncation of Shakespeare's play, emphasising its essential physicality.
Director: Steven Rumbelow
Overview
A harsh, barbaric vision of pre-medieval Britain, all flaming torches and inexplicably disturbing rituals. Prior familiarity with the text helps, because after witnessing the protagonists' symbolic birth we're dropped onto the blasted heath without a narrative map. Still, this interpretation offers an effective condensation of the play's themes and tone. Like Peter Brook and Grigori Kozintsev, director/adapter Steven Rumbelow favours high-contrast black and white imagery, illuminated by flickering flames.
King Lear was the filmdirectorial debut of Steven Rumbelow (1949-2016), adapted from his 1973 Triple Action Theatre production, which a member of the BFI Production Board saw and admired. The budget was tiny, but Rumbelow specifically wanted a bare bones, back-to-nature effect. While continuing as a stage director, he made similar low-budget independent productions of Saint Joan (1977) and Faust (1980), the latter based on multiple source texts, before turning to more commercial film and TV fare. He was the grandson of Alfred Rumbelow, founder of the Rumbelow's chain of shops.
Related
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Shoshana Shoshana
Historical drama 2023 121 mins Director: Michael Winterbottom
A young Jewish woman’s relationship with a British policeman stationed in British Mandatory Palestine has lasting consequences for the region in Michael Winterbottom's powerful thriller.
The Peasants The Peasants
Drama 2023 115 mins Director: Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela
Using an advanced oil painting animation technique, The Peasants is a visually thrilling rendering of Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning tale.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.