A murderous excitement for your British philosopher sees Richard III (Ian McKellen) descend to insanity. England is organised by civil war, divide between your rivaling houses of York and Lancaster though the setting is transposed into the 1930s. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must first remove the obstacles to his ascension -- one of them his brother, his nephews and his brother's wife (Annette Bening). As soon as the Duke of Buckingham (Jim Broadbent) deserts him, Richard's plans are endangered.