Martin Scorsese on the Richard III Restoration

Shot in VistaVision and Technicolor, Richard III is the most eye-catching of Laurence Olivier’s essential big-screen Shakespeare adaptations. For years, it couldn’t be seen in its original glory, due to lost footage, faded colors, chemical staining, and missing frames. But that was before its recent restoration by the Film Foundation, which you can see on our new Blu-ray and DVD editions of the film. In this video, filmmaker and foundation director Martin Scorsese explains the history of Richard III’s falling into disrepair and delineates the painstaking processes of finding the best surviving elements and bringing the film back to a version as close as possible to what Olivier intended.