Liathach's November 25, 2009 blog

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Wednesday blog

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 @ 09:29 AM

I'm a sucker for Shakespeare.

Particularly the histories, and particularly Henry V, especially with Kenneth Branagh in the lead.

We few. We happy few. We band of brothers

We are but warriors for the working day

Unlike the French knights, the English had no professional standing army. Farmers and labourers fought alongside the nobility. I don't know if you know the story, but most schoolboys of my generation did, back in the day when history was all dates, and monarchs and battles! How King Harry's tiny, weary army defeated three times their number at Agincourt, and the flower of French nobility was wiped out. Henry V married Catherine of France, but died just before he became King of France too.

I don't usually do jingoism, but Shakespeare could turn out a line! I saw the premier of this film in 1989(?) in London, and the whole cinema erupted at the end of the Crispin Day speech.

And I once saw Branagh on stage as Richard III. The point where he woos the grieving Lady Anne over the coffin of her husband he has only recently murdered...

Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?

As Branagh left the stage, he paused and turned to the audience. He raised an eyebrow and....just looked at us. As if daring us to criticise him. It was the most faultless piece of acting I have ever seen. Pure magic.

And did you spot a young Christian Bale in that clip?

stampedeofworms

USA

October 2004

NOV 25, 2009 10:03 AM

If aliens ever come to Earth and threaten to kill all humanity on the spot unless we can demonstrate our worth, we can show them the National Parks, The Sistine Ceiling, and we can play dvds of Olivier until Branagh can be flown in to do rep Shakespeare.

Grayb

Dover Plains, NY

January 2009

NOV 25, 2009 11:33 AM

Ah, Shakespeare... now you're talkin'!!! The best, the brightest and for all time the greatest! Within minutes of taking my Kindle out of the box I purchased a Complete Works and a week does not go by that I do not enjoy at least a portion of a play.

I'm always somewhat saddened and more than a bit dismayed when I hear someone say that they don't appreciate or enjoy Shakespeare, or - perhaps even worse - that they've never been exposed to his works. It's almost beyond my comprehension. A true tragedy and such a shame...

I've enjoyed countless live performances but never an uncut Hamlet - I was thrilled when Branagh's version was released. A few missteps, perhaps, and one sorely miscast player but, in general, sheer bliss.

Hats off to you, sir, and to your superb taste!

wsoxfan

Little Neck, NY

February 2008

NOV 25, 2009 02:09 PM

Kenneth Branagh is an amazing actor. He really pulled off his dual role in one of my favorite movies, Dead Again.

I was never much into Shakespeare. I was intrigued with The Merchant of Venice, though for a reason other than a literary one. Having grown up in a neighborhood that was rife with gamblers and other Damon Runyon characters, there were a fair amount of loan sharks who did business in the area.

Of course, the most common name for a loan shark from what I knew at the time was "a Shylock". Thus the curiosity of that particular play for me.