In Richard Loncraine’s film adaptation of the William Shakespeare classic Richard III,

we are presented with a version of the play that confronts many issues facing the
relatively modern world. By changing the context and timeframe of the play to the early
1900’s, Loncraine creates a way in which a mainstream film audience can accept and
appreciate the subtleties of William Shakespeare, without ultimately contorting the
essence and feeling of the play. This significant yet befitting change Loncraine makes to
the text is no better exemplified than in one of the opening scenes of the film in which
Richard of Gloucester orates his world famous “Now is the winter of out discontent”
soliloquy. This passage shows us what can be done with Shakespearean literature when
adapted into a visual medium and explores how this works in relation to characterization,
convergence of dialogue and the overall cinematic presentation of the film, altering views
of the text through the changes, omissions and additions made by Loncraine to the
primary text in his adaptation.

Whilst the play picks up where Henry VI, Part III finishes off, amid the deaths of the
Lancaster royal bloodline, the film goes back and explores the immediate history of the
play and shows the assassination of the Lancaster’s , perhaps in an attempt to establish
the context of the play and draw the differences inherent in the film to the forefront early
on. Richard’s speech, or soliloquy in the play, however, is where the film begins to come
into its own entity, exploring the characters in a depth equal to Shakespeare’s devices
throughout the development of the scene, in particular the complex and multi faceted
character of Richard. For example we see Rivers to be particularly well defined in this
scene through his obvious outsider status whilst the relationship between Queen
Elizabeth and King Edward is explored through their seeming bliss during their dance
together. While these planted preconceived notions of each character are inherent, the
scene is primarily used to bring into light early in the play the character of Richard of
Gloucester, one who narrates and underpins the entirety of Loncraine’s adaptation. His
introduction to the film as more than a just a faceless gas-masked villain could not be
more befitting, established through one of Shakespeare’s most well known pieces of
poetry, one so exquisite and rich in detail it forces the audience to become immersed in
the play from its beginnings, and by doing so become ensnared by the charm oozing from
Richard.

The speech that forms the centerpiece of this particular scene seems to be split into three
distinct sections both in the film and in the play, yet in different ways that alter how our
perceptions of the film as an individual text to the play develop. The film splits
Shakespeare’s dialogue shifts in a more literal way, changing the context and audience
which Richard addresses. In the first section of the speech he speaks to the general
audience present at the ball, commending King Edward for his accomplishments before
finding himself in the bathroom where his lunacy begins to unravel. He begins to speak
erratically to his own reflection, condemning those he previously commended before
discovering the audience and sharing his plans with them about his naïve and unknowing
brother, the Duke of Clarence, seamlessly shifting into the next scene, providing yet
another setting change. Loncraine’s adaptation of this facet of the speech seems to
consciously follow Shakespeare’s lead, presenting the same ideals as the primary text yet
swaying to make it appeal to a greater audience without losing the majesty of the
Shakespearean language.

In the play we are presented with a different yet strikingly similar account of Richard’s
speech. Whilst Loncraine found ways in which to introduce characters early on through
Richard’s audiences, Shakespeare leaves the “speech” as a soliloquy, forcing the play and
the audience to delve into the psyche of Richard more affluently. Whilst Loncraine’s
version of the scene features only one portion alone with Richard, Shakespeare’s entire
speech is in plain view of him, exposing him even more as a character “determined to be
a villain” (I:I, Ln. 30). Shakespeare’s original text can also be split into three distinct
sections, in a much more lateral train of thought, exposing the three sections in a more
idea based way. The first forms the idea of the situation of his country and himself, the
second forms the idea of his own personal problems primarily in lieu of his deformities
and the third once again explores the plans he has for his brother the Duke of Clarence.
By changing the aside conversation Richard has with himself in the play to a context
shifting speech, Loncraine serves to establish Richard and his surrounding characters
greater, whilst Shakespeare’s original serves more to develop an insight into the psyche
of Richard through his motives and troubles.

In addition to expansions and changes to Shakespeare’s work, Loncraine uses many

filmic devices to bring across the main message of the scene, bringing into focus
elements unavailable in either a reading of the play or a performance of the play. The
strengths of film allow its auteur ways to control and manipulate the audience greater,
[REFERENCE] as shown in the scenes transition from ball to bathroom, where the
camera zooms in ever closer towards Richard’s mouth and gritted teeth, creating feelings
in the audience unattainable in a live stage production or close reading of the text. Whilst
other devices such as audio and light may have been available for a production of the
play, it would never have been as controlled and pinpointed in the same way that the film
does. For example the reverb of Richard’s microphones in the first stage of the speech
establishes an air of authority which commands the attention of the ballroom, something
small that has lasting impact yet is unable to be done on stage. The simple act of a display
of emotion in the film, such as when Richard stares at himself in the mirror, also becomes
much more noticeable and immediate in comparison to Shakespeare’s work, in which it
exists but much further beneath the immediate surface. Shakespearean language in
Richard III talks of emotion whereas Loncraine’s work allows him to show us raw
emotion, one of the strongest point in creating a filmic adaptation.

Characterization in Richard III is also explored differently in Loncraine’s work, primarily

in the character of Richard of Gloucester. The “speech” scene very obviously makes large
reference to Richard’s deformities, especially during the bathroom scene, something
important in the plays work to establish “the Renaissance belief in physical deformity as
an exterior sign of spiritual evil”. [REFERENCE] Loncraine however, creates Richard
differently on opposite scales to each other from Shakespeare, exposing him as more
human than in the play, yet exacerbating his deformities, giving him a crippled arm from
the outset, whereas Richard acquires it mid-way through Shakespeare’s work.
[REFERENCE] Loncraine’s conscious decision to establish Richard as basically human
when in uniform may have been an attempt to establish an even scarier concept to that of
a monstrous tyrant. As history has shown us with Nazi Germany, a motif that seems co-
incide with the film and in particular our scene, the most shocking thing to comprehend
about the movement is the idea that those who committed the atrocities were human
beings just like you and me. This provides Richard with more human qualities, which
seems befitting, as the idea of outside deformity as metaphysical deformity has
diminished almost completely in modern society. [REFERENCE]

The dialogue changes and inclusions in the “speech” scene give us a perspective on how
Loncraine’s film tackles the overwhelming source material provided to create a
streamlined and slightly more linear version of the play. Loncraine makes much more use
of the deformity of Richard by cutting more ‘backseat’ material from the soliloquy such
as lines 16 to 19. Loncraine omits these lines, in which Richard laments love due to his
deformations, perhaps in an attempt to linearise the play, seeing as a few scenes later he
successfully seduces Lady Anne. In addition to his trimming to enhance the overall
narrative, he also adds a section in which Richard states “Why I could smile and murder
while I smile, Wet my cheeks with artificial tears and frame my face to all locations” as a
way to foreshadow the plans which Richard reveals in the next few lines and continues to
be explored in the remainder of the film.

The overall presence of this scene in the film is one in which we are reminded that
Richard is ever present. Even whilst he is not on screen in other portions of the film, he is
always being discussed or being brought about, which can backed by the absence of any
form of sub-plots. Each and every character in both the play and film are used primarily
to further Richard’s own story, with relatively no aside stories, creating the film
exclusively about the rise and fall of Richard. Through the “speech scene” in the film or
opening soliloquy in the play, we are shown the ways in which the different mediums of
film and play, despite being relatively the same text, can enhance and work together to
provide a clearer and unobstructed understanding of King Richard III, one of the most
tyrannical and intriguing leaders of modern history.