But this cycle also suggests Cooke has a future, should he want it, in the movies. But I suspect Cooke has studied both Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V film when it comes to the final battle scenes: we get a welter of blood and mud leading to a stunning crane shot depicting a ghastly patchwork quilt of corpses. Once or twice, as in Clarence’s dream, the use of flashbacks to illustrate past action distracts from the words.
Anyone who has seen the previous episodes will also understand – in a way that is tricky when the play is seen in isolation – just what the women are talking about when they catalogue Richard’s endless crimes.ĭominic Cooke’s direction makes this the most cinematic episode of the cycle. Keeley Hawes turns Queen Elizabeth into a helpless pawn in Richard’s power games. Sleek and savage as a raven in sheeny blue-black robes, Benedict Cumberbatch is surrounded by a force-field of concentration you can practically hear the crackle of synapses as he prepares. Sophie Okonedo’s Queen Margaret stalks the action, right up to the climactic battle, like a vengeful ghost. Judi Dench brings all her clarity of speech and matchless sincerity to Richard’s mother, who views her son with undisguised horror: when she asks “What comfortable hour canst thou name / That ever graced me in thy company?” you totally believe her. Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Carnival Film & Television LtdĪlthough Cumberbatch dominates the screen, this is far from a one-man show.
Keeley Hawes as Elizabeth, Judi Dench as Cecily and Phoebe Fox as Anne.
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