An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
Acting
Hordern's Lear crumbles magnificently from pride to broken nothingness.
Production
BBC's sparse aesthetic lets language and performances dominate completely.
Director
Jonathan Miller
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jonathan Miller, a qualified doctor, brought clinical precision to Lear's mental deterioration.
Brenda Blethyn's film debut as Cordelia; she later said Shakespeare on camera terrified her more than any subsequent role.
GB
