King Lear

Peter Brook's King Lear follows the ageing ruler of Britain as he decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. He asks each of them to declare her love for him, and while Goneril and Regan offer lavish flattery, the youngest, Cordelia, refuses to take part in the performance. Enraged, Lear disinherits her and gives her share of the land to her sisters, a decision he soon has cause to regret. The Earl of Kent, who tries to reason with him, is banished for his trouble, and Cordelia leaves to marry the King of France. Before long Lear discovers that the two daughters he rewarded have no intention of honouring their promises, and his misjudgment sets him on a course toward ruin.

The film is based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. Peter Brook directed and wrote the screenplay, adapting a staging he had earlier mounted for the Royal Shakespeare Company, which co-produced the film. Paul Scofield plays Lear, with Irene Worth and Susan Engel as Goneril and Regan, Anne-Lise Gabold as Cordelia, Alan Webb as Gloucester and Ian Hogg as Edmund. Brook's second feature, after Lord of the Flies in 1963, it sets the story in a bleak, wintry world.

On TMDB, the film holds a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 21 votes, a modest response from a small number of users.