Roi Lear Au Village, Le

Alternative title: Village King Lear, The
Synopsis: Fiction film. A blind father is prevailed upon to transfer his property to his daughters who promise to care for him. However, they both find him irksome and reject him. The old man is broken-hearted at his two daughters ingratitude and leaves the house. His servants later find him wandering the village. The servants, knowing the conditions under which the gift was made, take him to a solicitors office, where a meeting is arranged with the daughters. The elder daughter, to avoid a scandal, takes him home again where, feeling some remorse, she treats him more compassionately. Ball notes that this is a new way of interpreting Shakespeare in its modernisation, its refusal to demonise the daughters and Lear’s greater self-awareness.
Series: Vie Telle Qu’Elle Est, La
Country: France
Medium: Film
Technical information: Black-and-white / Silent
Year of release: 1911
Duration: 11 mins; 1010 feet

Director

Cast

History: Distributed in the US by Kleine 8 July 1911.
Reviews: Ball, Robert Hamilton. Shakespeare on Silent Film: A Strange Eventful History. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1968 (pp.131-2, 337). Moving Picture World (May 8 1911).