Showing all 19 items
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- Certification
- Sex & Nudity (3)
- Violence & Gore (6)
- Profanity (1)
- Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking (1)
- Frightening & Intense Scenes (2)
- Spoilers (6)
Certification
| Certification |
Sex & Nudity
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- There is implied adultery between a man and two women (both of whom are married for at least part of the time their affairs are taking place). This is faithful to Shakespeare's play, and it is condemned by the noble characters and the play as a whole.
- A few of Lear's knights are briefly shown chasing a servant girl. One man tries to grope her, but she screams and runs away and nothing else happens.
- In a fit of insanity, Lear strips naked out in the heavy thunderstorm, but very little actual nudity is ever seen (we get a very brief and partial glimpse of his buttocks).
Violence & Gore
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- PG-13 material due to a few brief albeit disturbing scenes of violence throughout.
- A man cuts his own arm and draws blood to make it seem like another man has stabbed him in order to falsely accuse him.
- One man defends himself from another by hitting him with his staff, knocking him to the ground. He then grabs the man's sword and runs him through his chest. Intense scene but not very bloody.
- A man is captured by Cornwall's soldiers and lynched. The man is shown crying while the noose is put around his neck, and we see him die and hear his neck break when the soldiers pull away the stool. This is a pretty brutal scene, though it is relatively quick.
- One brief albeit very graphic and disturbing scene of torture and mutilation a little over half-way through the film (described below).
- The final scene of the play (also described below) is quite violent and sad, though this film's depiction of it is not overly gory.
Profanity
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- No profanity whatsoever. The dialogue in the film is taken verbatim from William Shakespeare's actual play.
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking
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- Some consumption of wine by adults, all part of the play and historically accurate, and it is not inappropriate in any way.
Frightening & Intense Scenes
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- The film as a whole, like Shakespeare's play, is an intense tragedy of violence, hatred, and familial as well as civil strife. The play centers around acts of betrayal and deception. The film is faithful to Shakespeare's play, and the acting (though intense and even at times somewhat disturbing) really brings that drama and tragedy to life.
- Suggested MPAA rating: rated PG-13 for a brief sequence of bloody violence/gore
Spoilers
Violence & Gore
- The Duke of Cornwall is shown ripping Gloucester's eyes out of their sockets while he is tied to a chair and screams in agony. Blood and gore is shown squirting and dripping out of his eye sockets. This is the only really violent scene in the movie and only lasts for a few minutes, but it is extremely graphic.
- In the same scene, a servant draws his sword to try and stop Cornwall from ripping out Gloucester's other eye. Regan stabs the servant in the back and kills him, but not before the servant mortally wounds Cornwall. Cornwall coughs up blood while blood is also seen pouring out of his chest. Cornwall then rips out Gloucester's other eye before dying.
- After this scene, Gloucester is seen throughout the film with a bloody rag over his eye sockets as he wanders blindly through the wilderness. This is not particularly gory, but it can be disturbing and sad.
- As per Shakespeare's actual tragedy, the ending scene results in almost every characters' death. Regan is poisoned by Goneril. Edmund is mortally wounded by Edgar after being defeated in the duel. Goneril commits suicide. Cordelia is executed off-stage and brought on the stage/screen by her father, King Lear. King Lear then dies of grief and anguish. This is all in Shakespeare's play, and it is depicted in a startling albeit not very gory way.
Frightening & Intense Scenes
- This film would probably be rated PG-13 "for a brief sequence of bloody violence/gore," because of the scene where Gloucester's eyes are ripped out. Without that scene, the film would probably be PG "for some intense violence and disturbing thematic elements."
- NOTE: If you are viewing this with younger kids, the key phrase to wait for is "Fellows, hold the chair." If you click "skip" at that point, it will take you right to the next scene, and you will avoid seeing anything unsuitable for younger audiences. The rest of the film is pretty much family friendly, and it is a very good rendition of Shakespeare's tragedy. That one particular scene, however, is likely to be very upsetting to those sensitive to violence.
