10 Best William Shakespeare Film Adaptations

5. Richard III (Richard Loncraine, 1995)

You may have noticed by this point that none of Sir Laurence Olivier's interpretations have made it onto this list, at least so far. It's not that I consider him a bad actor, or a bad director of Shakespeare €“ not unless I were looking to be lynched over the internet. But this list is concerning itself with the most cinematic adaptations, whereas Larry's films are very stagey, even by the standards of the day. There is no better way to illustrate this point than with Richard III.

Richard III is the final part of Shakespeare's first tetralogy, following the three parts of Henry VI. It follows Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the deformed brother of King Edward IV and a highly regarded military leader. With the House of York on the English throne and the War of the Roses seemingly over, Richard plots to set Edward and his other brother against each other, killing all those before him so that he may have the crown. It's one of the darkest and most political of Shakespeare's plays, whose moral questions still resonate today.

While Olivier's version resembles a recording of a stage play (albeit a very good one), Richard Loncraine's version is perhaps the play's most cinematic rendering. It relocates the action to a fascist vision of 1930s England, commenting about the corrupt nature of the English aristocracy and using familiar buildings to make the action resonate, e.g. making St. Pancras the seat of Edward's government. Best of all, it features Ian McKellen in one of his most terrifying and visceral performances, with his reading of the opening speech being perhaps the best on record.