Plot Summary | Genre | General Vision or Viewpoint | Cultural Context | Themes and Issues

Richard The Third
Directed by Robert Loncraine

Plot Summary

The story in the film centres around Richard of Gloucester who becomes the king of England.  When the film begins Richard is leading an army against Henry who is King of England. Henry is killed by Richard, and Edward who is Richard’s brother assumes the title of king of England.  Edward has two sons and a daughter who is called Elizabeth after her mother.

Lady Anne is a widow whose husband the Earl of Tewksbury was murdered by Richard. Richard attempts to seduce her. Richard then organizes that his brother Clarence will be committed to the Tower of London. He then proceeds to insinuate that Elizabeth the Queen has done this. Clarence is murdered by Tyrell who is hired by Richard and drowned in his own blood. When King Edward hears about the murder of Clarence his brother has a stroke and dies shortly after.

Meanwhile Richard has been plotting with Buckingham an eminent statesman to put Elizabeth’s two sons into the tower on their arrival in London. This he does and organizes their death at the hands of Tyrell. Richard is determined to have no opposition to his reign as king. He murders Hastings the prime Minister and justifies this by claiming that Hastings had plotted to kill Richard and Buckingham.

When the Lord Mayor and the people make a move to elect Richard as king, he initially declines and instead adopts a fake show of piety and coyness. 

Richard is crowned King of England, and marries Lady Anne. The coronation ceremony is similar to a Nazi meeting.

After this ceremony Richmond is advised by the archbishop to flee to England for safety. There he mobilizes an army to fight In the meantime Richmond escapes and organises an army to defeat Richard. On becoming king Richard embarks on a continuous spree of murder. Buckingham realizing his own life is in danger escapes to France to join Richmond. He is captured and brutally murdered by Tyrell. Richard plans to murder Anne his wife and marry Elizabeth the sister of the two young princes. Elizabeth’s mother flees to France and young Elizabeth is married to Richmond shortly before the battle against Richard.

On the night before the battle, Richard is tormented by conscience and has nightmares about all the murders he has committed. Richard’s mother earlier had prophesied his downfall. Richmond and Richard fight with modern military tanks. At the conclusion Richard is defeated by Richmond who then assumes kingship. Richard dies by falling from a high building into a large sea of fire.

Genre

The genre of this film is a modern day tragedy.

Dress and uniforms are distinctly Nazi-style. There are deliberate parallels drawn between the figure of Richard and that of Hitler.
Music is loud and typical of the twenties. It is a blaring jazz style. This is played especially loud at moments of heightened violence.

General vision or viewpoint

The huge predominance of moral evil is evident from the beginning of this film. Richard is clearly a self-professed villain who justifies his actions throughout. People in the realm of England are helpless victims of his whims and violent deeds.

The general atmosphere is one of deceit and betrayal. No one knows who exactly to trust. It takes a mighty military army to bring about his defeat together with the undoubted determination of young Richmond. Only after many years of suffering and destruction experienced by England can peace and justice reign.

Cultural Context

The culture is the nobility or upper class of England. The film is set in the early thirties. The life-style is rich and affluent. The style of dress is elegant and stylish. Some of the uniforms are Germanic and resemble a Hitler style dress.

There are images of the river Thames and the Tower of London.

Themes and Issues

Evil
The theme of evil is embodied in the figure of Richard the Third. He represents his family which is the House of York. He speaks openly about his evil nature and intentions and does nothing to hide them. Externally he is a magnificent politician who can manipulate people and events to operate in his favour. His reign of kingship is one of terror and unbridled violence. The conclusion of the film shows his death and defeat by Richmond who becomes king.

Ambition
Richard is ambitious to achieve the glory of power. He uses his physical deformity to isolate himself from other people and as an excuse for a lot of his egoism. Richard’s ambition leads him to gain the throne of England. Even when that is achieved he is not contented, but continues to murder mindlessly. His ambition is shown to be self-defeating at the conclusion in his murder at the hands of Richmond.

Relationships
The quality of relationships in the film is governed by fear and mistrust. Richard’s violence and anger reaches across the country and few people are safe from his wrath and erratic temperament. The powerful love between Richmond and Elizabeth is the one positive force in the film, which ultimately succeeds in bringing about justice.