@jesustonight - most humans would disagree. Withnail is one of the finest scripts ever written; Johnny Depp asked Robinson to direct the Rum Diary as he thought Withnail to be "perfect cinema"
I love this scene! It's from the Act II, Scene 2. They did make some minor cuts (2), but I think it's maybe better this way. I wish he could do the whole Hamlet! It is so touching, it's unbelievable.
i sometimes wonder where norman is now. proberly wintering with his mother in guildford a cat, rain, vim under the sink and both bars on but old now there can be no true bueaty without decay.
As someone else pointed out, the really touching thing about this great scene is that finally you see proof that Withnail really is a great actor --- but he has wasted all his talent and chances by being drunk all the time and refusing to work his way up. The original script had him blowing his brains out after this ...
He is absolutely a sensitive,neuroticism and promising boy.a born actor and born poet with an acid wit. However,what he is brilliant at is not that he could blurt out lines like HAMLET, but is that he is the VERY Withnail,the biggest coward,and the bravest bastard.
Thanks for posting this bit, I am addicted to this Movie, I have the dvd sent all the way from across the Pond from a best Cousin, it's the only real decent thing he has ever done for me, nothing can top it lol. I get my little fixes from time to time on small portions of it.
It is one of the great movie moments but i think you need the whole lead up to it that is the movie.... (was this George Harrison/Handmade's first film?
It is one of the great movie moments but i think you need the whole lead up to it that is the movie.... (wa this George Harrison/Handmade's first film?
What a piece of work is a man! How nobel in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me. No, nor women neither.
@retroecho I see what you are saying - But, it is irrelevant because Withnail's performance, whilst seemingly ignorant, is powerful, and he uses it for his own means. The words are one thing... The performance of the words is another thing. There is art in the words on the page, and yet to an actor the words on the page are as a painter's brush, to the painter... An actor, can use the words to express something of their own. And that is what Withnail does in this beautiful, terrible scene.
@retroecho Not every point has an exclamation mark. It isn't just barked out. And to be fair there are numerous versions where bits here and there are omitted. It is not uncommon for a performance to omit lines or even whole scenes in order to fall in line with the director's interpretation. Complaining about the exact lexis with this scene is, I feel, missing the point. Its a powerful scene and the delivery is excellent.
@uksnootyfox I disagree, i think Withnail could be a brilliant actor and that this is done superbly, but that's the great tragedy of it. He gives his best performance when no one is there to see it and he genuinely allows his own emotions at Marwood leaving to overcome him, when the rest of the time he tries so hard to succeed that he never does.
@dleeds95 The name appears on the telegram that 'I' (Paul McGann) receives. Its generally acknowledged by McGann, Bruce Robinson (writer & director) and others on the film that the character's name is Marwood. When Withnail and Marwood run out of the pub after being threatened by the "Ponce Guy" Withnail yells, "Out of the way Marwood!"
The Marwood name is also used in the screenplay. The "...I" credit was really just a play on the film's title.
@joeisaflyingfish It is only in his feelings of sadness does he reach the emotion to give these words life, and so give such a performance the solitude giving us the true hurt of this good bye
@MrRik2 If you think someone having an opinion is trolling, then you either do not understand what trolling really is, or are adept at it in your own right. Good day.
A very simply directed scene, that would have been very easy to have overdone. beautifully melancholy, poignant and such a fitting ending for the film.
I don't like this version because he's supposed to be speaking to Rosencratz and Guildenstern....it gives a better effect plus it doesnt make him seem as though he has truly lots his mind speaking aloud to the air or, God forbid, the dog lol.
A wet wolf in a cage. Is there a better visual depiction of dejected and wasted beauty? Withn'l the caged wolf. Without this scene the film is just ok
This was indeed a poignant ending to the movie. Standing alone in the rain, umbrella in one hand, bottle of booze in the other, and the most convincing and powerful delivery of the 'what a piece of work is a man' quote from Hamlet that you'll ever see. And thats why at the heart of this black comedy is a deep tragedy. Not just the tragedy of a parting friendship, but of a wasted talent.
I find this scene so sad. Somehow i relate to it. The sense of hopelessness in a world that has so much beauty, yet for a few, it eludes those who would admire it most. A man broken by life, drink, failure and just too damn poetic for his generation.
Are you talking Hamlet or Withnail? If Withnail, did you know they actually at one point was going to have him go back to the flat and blow his brains out? They thought it was just too sad and violent an end though, so decided not to. I have always taken that scene in hamlet to be an outpouring of despair...so the words of Hamlet from Withnail are enough....I'm very glad they never had him commit suicide.
@GhibliFan1 I never knew that about the suicide scene, so thanks for sharing. The pub scene was my old stomping ground in Notting Hill / Westbourne Park. It was also the first Firkin pub and wa called the Frog and Firkin. though in the film it's called the Mother Blackcap. I think it would be great if they made a sequel based in the 80's or 90's.
@GhibliFan1 Actually I'm told that he poured the wine down the barrel of a shotgun he'd brought to the park in his coat, chugged the entire bottle from the gun, and shot himself in the mouth when the wine was done
I love this scene.its the best recital of this scene(from the play) even though its not a soliloquy its works best as one i think.no offence Mr. Bill S.
He gets much of it wrong, but we'll forgive him that as he's pissed. However, yes...it's one of my favourite recitals of it, too. Perhaps because he is pissed....and gets it wrong. :)
What is all this crap about this being an admission of love for Marwood? I have seen this move about a billion times. He is a trained actor, can't get a job, he is giving the performance of his life in front of wolf pen in London zoo. It is just showing the irony that he can act!!
@MrGnarleysteve he has just basically said good bye to his best friend the only one who understands and shares in his terrible lifestyle. I feel alot of sympathy for Withnail. Towards the end of my uni years I became a borderline alcoholic. Once my friends left me to pursue other things I often spoke this to myself in absents of their company. Losing friends is about as powerful as losing a family member when you truly love them. Call that self pity but thats what Withnail is doing here.
How the words come alive here... No longer mere words written on a page but here, displayed a beautiful rendition, a look inside the Bard's mind. Thank you Richard Grant!
I might be wrong, but isn't this technically not a soliloquy as (I think) Hamlet says this to Rosencratz and Guildenstern. But then again what R.E.G is doing in this video is a soliloquy, if you don't count the dog.
@MeBeMat I thought the same thing shortly after posting the video, but kept it this way because of the way it's performed. I'm still not sure I'm happy with the title I gave this video.
@MeBeMat It's not technically a soliloquy, in the same way you're not technically a prick for pointing that out, above all the other beautiful things you could say about this clip.
This is truly one of the most powerful, allegorical and tragic endings in all of cinema. Tepid career or no, Richard E. Grant has this scene (and film, of course) as a solid claim on pure talent. He can be very proud that it is this for which he is most famous.
I LOVE this movie. Finally bought it. It is one of my very favorites of all time. Hamlet is one of my favorite plays. This scene makes me cry everytime.
What a sad and tragic thing for the wolves, born free to roam the wilds, to be couped up like that. As a wiser man than I once said, 'Can't tame what's meant to be wild, it ain't natural.'
@LeCutter they've moved them now. always thought it was sad whenever i walked my dog there; the wolves could see all the dogs running across the grass.
... and there it is: the end of the optimism of the 1960s and the generation of free love. The 'paragon of animals' replaced by the 'quintessence of dust', cynicism overcoming idealism, as the pouring rain washes over Withnail's prematurely aged face. I didn't grow up in the '70s; listening to this speech, I'm glad I didn't.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
You could've gotten the same performance if you got a drunk off the street and paid him to read the lines. Really, where's the passion? Kenneth Branagh puts this guy to shame.
@pmo1983 he is a classic actor, reciting shakespeare whilst stone cold sober, Richard E Grant is a Tee Totaller, it is a classic bit of acting and truly a cult British Film :o)
The word 'acting' springs to mind, and very good at it too :o)
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Wow, Kenneth Branagh's version is way better than this.
Hamlet didn't have a bottle of scotch when he said this, this guy is just spitting out the words and it doesn't sound like he means it. Where's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
@NitraicAcid Dude, this isn't a rendering of Hamlet, so no R&G it is however a clip from the greatest film of all time (see the number of people below that agree), Sianisit's comments are spot on.
Go to Lovefilm and order "Withnail and I" immediately. Watch it stoned at least 3 times and you will LOVE IT!
P.S. I think his delivery is better than Brannaghs
@Niiauyr Cheapen it? I've seen it so many times, in so many various states. Sober, pissed, stoned, whatever. This movie can't be cheapened. It's amazing in any state at any time.
It all just depends on how you want to feel whilst watching.
@NitraicAcid You fool, this isn't hamlet, this is withnail.
Doesn't mean it? If you watched the movie you wouldn't be able to say that. This is delivered wih every ounce of passion withnail could muster after what happened in the film. It's a beautiful rendition and far better than Branaghs.
@vagabondicus It certainly is Heartbreakingly fucking bastard briliiant indeed. I love this speech (if it isn't a soliloquy) and it's made all the richer by it being a good actor playing a bad actor doing Hamlet and he gives the performance of his life and there is no one there to hear it. This most excellent canopy the air (and it's pissing down) says it all. Be lucky.
I can certainly relate. You get wasted, you laugh, you do crazy things but you always seem to end up on your own in the pissing rain screaming Shakespeare at the sky with a bottle of something or other in your hand (without wellingtons). I do, anyway.
I think that it's because he's actually living the part, rather than acting. He has been acting up, now the truth hits home, an actual reality, he's no one to play to. He's proving to himself that he can actually do it and better, because he's been there and felt it. method acting 101. creativity vs conventionality. Withnail and I.
Monty says earlier in the movie........It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when he awakes and quite reasonable says to himself: I will never play The Dane. When that moment comes, ones ambition ceases. So its a sad ending, his ambition has ceased!!
Perfect last scene to a beautifully written and performed Indie movie.There's so much to laugh at it, yet love, while recognising so much...
I can't imagine that I'll ever read a screenplay as perfect as this one. I really hope that someone proves me wrong some day, but until then? 'Withnail' for the win. :)
I think that possibly when "I" said that. It was like when we are cornered by someone who smells a rat and we then procede to say any mortal fucking thing that comes into our heads by way of making an excuse and lieing outrageously to get ourselves off the hook !! These 2 characters-If i'm not much mistaken would say any mortal thing (I feel) in order to get booze,have a good time and avoid being on the receiving end of Monty's sexually predatory suggestions!!!
I feel that this scene also reflects Withnail's incredible talent of being a stage performer and the severity of the disappointment he must feel that "I" is on his way towards his career, that ultimately the real hero of the day is the one that stays behind with the darker aspects of reality, to do battle with ones demons and to return from that place with the real treasure.
I never at any point in this film get the impression that withnail holds any feelings for " I " other than the sort of feelings that we all hold for our mates--YES -He's sad because his biggest friend has gone! (moved on) and he is left behind-and all on his own,but never do I get the impression that withnail holds any form of homo-erotic feelings, either for " I "---Monty???!! or indeed anyone else
I absolutely love this scene used to quote it all the time
richard Es finest hour
shame the film was an ill concienced mess with no plot story script editor or a point
jesustonight 3 weeks ago
@jesustonight - most humans would disagree. Withnail is one of the finest scripts ever written; Johnny Depp asked Robinson to direct the Rum Diary as he thought Withnail to be "perfect cinema"
brodhurste 1 week ago
@jesustonight You...quote the film? You mean Hamlet? o_O
CIoudbby 1 week ago
I love this scene! It's from the Act II, Scene 2. They did make some minor cuts (2), but I think it's maybe better this way. I wish he could do the whole Hamlet! It is so touching, it's unbelievable.
bonheurbrun 1 month ago
as a youth i used to weep in butcher shops
mfbx9sbf1 1 month ago 4
i sometimes wonder where norman is now. proberly wintering with his mother in guildford a cat, rain, vim under the sink and both bars on but old now there can be no true bueaty without decay.
johnjotto 1 month ago
dont threatin me with a dead fish.
johnjotto 1 month ago
See, he WAS a good actor!
finmagik 1 month ago
As someone else pointed out, the really touching thing about this great scene is that finally you see proof that Withnail really is a great actor --- but he has wasted all his talent and chances by being drunk all the time and refusing to work his way up. The original script had him blowing his brains out after this ...
caveofprogramming 1 month ago 2
the 5 who clicked dislike are terrible cunts
iamwalkingthec0w 1 month ago
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emptybagful 2 months ago
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emptybagful 2 months ago
don't mean come off as "nitpicker"...but didnt Hamlet give this speech to his "school chums"...that would make it a monologue...not a soliloquy
matthunterrlf 2 months ago
Who dislikes this, seriously?
mreesm 3 months ago
awesome
MrDarkTides 3 months ago
i took a fart on the rolo dart
ryanhancock1234 6 months ago
I love his bow at the end, and how the rain on his umbrella sounds like applause
AHafan2 6 months ago 22
outstanding.
Bigviking556 6 months ago
It don't get any better.
thomaslaurie 6 months ago
I know how he feels I hold my bottle to you :(
mrhiide 6 months ago
breaks my heart every time
glittermerchant 6 months ago
He is absolutely a sensitive,neuroticism and promising boy.a born actor and born poet with an acid wit. However,what he is brilliant at is not that he could blurt out lines like HAMLET, but is that he is the VERY Withnail,the biggest coward,and the bravest bastard.
qq357743774 7 months ago 2
Brilliant. I'm left in no doubt that Withnail had prodigous talent, but not the strength of character to fulfil his potential.
Mojosbigstick 7 months ago
My brother used to call me Withnail. I'm not quite sure why... lol!
DarklingStar1969 8 months ago
REG is also very good in the film verison of Twelfth Night
domakesaythink00 8 months ago
@domakesaythink00 True. And 'How To Get Ahead in Advertising'.
MrRik2 8 months ago
He was fucking brilliant in this film
jeffcrapinthehead 9 months ago 2
One of my favourite scenes in any movie ever!
darkshines99 9 months ago
Thanks for posting this bit, I am addicted to this Movie, I have the dvd sent all the way from across the Pond from a best Cousin, it's the only real decent thing he has ever done for me, nothing can top it lol. I get my little fixes from time to time on small portions of it.
brooklynlulu 9 months ago
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It is one of the great movie moments but i think you need the whole lead up to it that is the movie.... (was this George Harrison/Handmade's first film?
shepshepshep 9 months ago
It is one of the great movie moments but i think you need the whole lead up to it that is the movie.... (wa this George Harrison/Handmade's first film?
shepshepshep 9 months ago
@shepshepshep I think the first one was Life of Brian, wasn't it?
MrRik2 6 months ago
@ambient1mfa That's a beautiful commentary.
Vortex42 10 months ago
These are Shakespeare's words:
What a piece of work is a man! How nobel in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me. No, nor women neither.
As you can see the film get them totally wrong.
retroecho 10 months ago
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1050ccTriumph 10 months ago
@retroecho who cares.
sstuddert 10 months ago
@retroecho I see what you are saying - But, it is irrelevant because Withnail's performance, whilst seemingly ignorant, is powerful, and he uses it for his own means. The words are one thing... The performance of the words is another thing. There is art in the words on the page, and yet to an actor the words on the page are as a painter's brush, to the painter... An actor, can use the words to express something of their own. And that is what Withnail does in this beautiful, terrible scene.
Vortex42 10 months ago
@Vortex42 I mentioned it because many people may think it's a flawless performance but it's pretty flawed, like he is.
retroecho 10 months ago
@retroecho Not every point has an exclamation mark. It isn't just barked out. And to be fair there are numerous versions where bits here and there are omitted. It is not uncommon for a performance to omit lines or even whole scenes in order to fall in line with the director's interpretation. Complaining about the exact lexis with this scene is, I feel, missing the point. Its a powerful scene and the delivery is excellent.
123412341234het 8 months ago 4
Withnail is a very poor actor which is why R.E.G. plays this so badly on purpose. To see how it should be done see the Kenneth Branagh version.
uksnootyfox 10 months ago
@uksnootyfox I disagree, i think Withnail could be a brilliant actor and that this is done superbly, but that's the great tragedy of it. He gives his best performance when no one is there to see it and he genuinely allows his own emotions at Marwood leaving to overcome him, when the rest of the time he tries so hard to succeed that he never does.
joeisaflyingfish 10 months ago 7
@joeisaflyingfish How do you know his name is Marwood?
dleeds95 3 weeks ago
@dleeds95 The name appears on the telegram that 'I' (Paul McGann) receives. Its generally acknowledged by McGann, Bruce Robinson (writer & director) and others on the film that the character's name is Marwood. When Withnail and Marwood run out of the pub after being threatened by the "Ponce Guy" Withnail yells, "Out of the way Marwood!"
The Marwood name is also used in the screenplay. The "...I" credit was really just a play on the film's title.
ELO1138 1 week ago
@joeisaflyingfish It is only in his feelings of sadness does he reach the emotion to give these words life, and so give such a performance the solitude giving us the true hurt of this good bye
TheRed2blue 2 weeks ago
@uksnootyfox I also disagree - Brannagh's performance, while closer to the actually words on the page, was bland and uninspired by comparison.
Vortex42 9 months ago
@Vortex42 Fortunately, most don't share your view.
MrRik2 8 months ago
@MrRik2 Well, thanks for chiming in on behalf of the Majority there.
Vortex42 6 months ago
@Vortex42 If you're going to troll, people are going to respond.
MrRik2 6 months ago
@MrRik2 If you think someone having an opinion is trolling, then you either do not understand what trolling really is, or are adept at it in your own right. Good day.
Vortex42 6 months ago
@Vortex42 There you go again...
MrRik2 6 months ago
Oh bollocks to the Wellingtons
clydebear 11 months ago
I read in his book that the idea here was to act like a bad actor trying to act like a good actor... which requires the best kind of actor, I think.
orphyborphy 11 months ago 3
this is slightly heartwrenching, i think he kills himself after this but they decided it was too grim an ending
jhibbitt1 11 months ago 2
A very simply directed scene, that would have been very easy to have overdone. beautifully melancholy, poignant and such a fitting ending for the film.
Tripswitch1000 1 year ago 2
OMG, I just saw this and I can't stop crying - i'm still crying, poor withnail! and all of the comments are very moving aswell.
oh this is so tragic, it really breaks my heart.
MadelieneG 1 year ago
@MadelieneG Taking the piss much?
MrRik2 8 months ago
@MrRik2 no? I was genuinely moved by this.
MadelieneG 7 months ago
@MadelieneG Oh, OK. Fair enough.
MrRik2 7 months ago
Poor Withnail...
AnAccountName050 1 year ago
I don't like this version because he's supposed to be speaking to Rosencratz and Guildenstern....it gives a better effect plus it doesnt make him seem as though he has truly lots his mind speaking aloud to the air or, God forbid, the dog lol.
JUSTINmmm 1 year ago
@JUSTINmmm this isn't actually Hamlet you know...
sstuddert 1 year ago
@sstuddert
troll
horrorshowmalchick 1 year ago
@horrorshowmalchick ?
sstuddert 1 year ago
@sstuddert oh my bad
JUSTINmmm 1 year ago
simply amazing :D but to the one person who disliked this,You sir are a terrible cunt!
MrAdammassacre 1 year ago 48
@MrAdammassacre Everyone have a look at MrAdammassacre's comment posted three weeks ago as of 14 March 2011. It simply MUST be rated the top comment.
GileadKid 11 months ago
@GileadKid ;)
MrAdammassacre 11 months ago
@MrAdammassacre you nearly made me choke on my mini roll
evilceel 1 month ago
@evilceel ;)
MrAdammassacre 1 month ago
rolf...I just watched an advert prior to hamlet
kapwar28 1 year ago
I've chosen to do this monologue for my drama A level because of this movie, because of this scene, because of Richard E. Grant
TaskMaster619 1 year ago
A wet wolf in a cage. Is there a better visual depiction of dejected and wasted beauty? Withn'l the caged wolf. Without this scene the film is just ok
Benmolyneux 1 year ago 2
@Benmolyneux its meant to be a cemetery, listen to the verse again.
kapwar28 1 year ago
It's Regents park zoo, and thats a wolf.
This was indeed a poignant ending to the movie. Standing alone in the rain, umbrella in one hand, bottle of booze in the other, and the most convincing and powerful delivery of the 'what a piece of work is a man' quote from Hamlet that you'll ever see. And thats why at the heart of this black comedy is a deep tragedy. Not just the tragedy of a parting friendship, but of a wasted talent.
cameraguy38 1 year ago 4
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kapwar28 11 months ago
Comment removed
kapwar28 11 months ago
@Benmolyneux Well said. I'm glad that at least one person noticed the symbolism and the fact that it's not a "dog".
MrRik2 8 months ago
The guy who disliked this went on holiday by mistake.
Thorne42 1 year ago 16
I find this scene so sad. Somehow i relate to it. The sense of hopelessness in a world that has so much beauty, yet for a few, it eludes those who would admire it most. A man broken by life, drink, failure and just too damn poetic for his generation.
liquidplastic62 1 year ago 7
@liquidplastic62
Are you talking Hamlet or Withnail? If Withnail, did you know they actually at one point was going to have him go back to the flat and blow his brains out? They thought it was just too sad and violent an end though, so decided not to. I have always taken that scene in hamlet to be an outpouring of despair...so the words of Hamlet from Withnail are enough....I'm very glad they never had him commit suicide.
GhibliFan1 1 year ago
@GhibliFan1 I never knew that about the suicide scene, so thanks for sharing. The pub scene was my old stomping ground in Notting Hill / Westbourne Park. It was also the first Firkin pub and wa called the Frog and Firkin. though in the film it's called the Mother Blackcap. I think it would be great if they made a sequel based in the 80's or 90's.
liquidplastic62 1 year ago
@GhibliFan1 Actually I'm told that he poured the wine down the barrel of a shotgun he'd brought to the park in his coat, chugged the entire bottle from the gun, and shot himself in the mouth when the wine was done
thenazcalines 1 year ago
@liquidplastic62 I'm there, right now.
Joe9017 1 year ago
I love this scene.its the best recital of this scene(from the play) even though its not a soliloquy its works best as one i think.no offence Mr. Bill S.
ScottM83 1 year ago
@ScottM83
He gets much of it wrong, but we'll forgive him that as he's pissed. However, yes...it's one of my favourite recitals of it, too. Perhaps because he is pissed....and gets it wrong. :)
GhibliFan1 1 year ago
Shall we keep on agreeing/disagreeing?
As long as we can can type 'Marwood'?
How is your degree going, peeps?
subnumanoid 1 year ago
This is a beautifully tragic ending to the best film ever made <3
EtherealNectar 1 year ago
when i first watched this film i was convinced he was going to impale himself on the fence.
KaffeKJ01 1 year ago
@KaffeKJ01 In the book, that the film's based off of, he blows his head off whilst trying to drink wine out of that shotgun they find...
familyguy101010 1 year ago
@KaffeKJ01 LOL
irishjanet 1 year ago
What is all this crap about this being an admission of love for Marwood? I have seen this move about a billion times. He is a trained actor, can't get a job, he is giving the performance of his life in front of wolf pen in London zoo. It is just showing the irony that he can act!!
MrGnarleysteve 1 year ago 8
@MrGnarleysteve
Different interpretations.
2210ethan 1 year ago
@MrGnarleysteve he has just basically said good bye to his best friend the only one who understands and shares in his terrible lifestyle. I feel alot of sympathy for Withnail. Towards the end of my uni years I became a borderline alcoholic. Once my friends left me to pursue other things I often spoke this to myself in absents of their company. Losing friends is about as powerful as losing a family member when you truly love them. Call that self pity but thats what Withnail is doing here.
workingclassbum 1 year ago 5
@MrGnarleysteve i would agree 100percent
Graham88able 1 year ago
I've met a few educated vagabonds in my time
Hellishcrusade 1 year ago
How the words come alive here... No longer mere words written on a page but here, displayed a beautiful rendition, a look inside the Bard's mind. Thank you Richard Grant!
chimark33 1 year ago
Has there ever been a better setting for this speech? The rain, wolf and spiked railings are infinitely more fitting than the drab walls of Elsinore.
DavidMJordan 1 year ago 3
I might be wrong, but isn't this technically not a soliloquy as (I think) Hamlet says this to Rosencratz and Guildenstern. But then again what R.E.G is doing in this video is a soliloquy, if you don't count the dog.
MeBeMat 1 year ago 14
@MeBeMat I thought the same thing shortly after posting the video, but kept it this way because of the way it's performed. I'm still not sure I'm happy with the title I gave this video.
JacobRe1 1 year ago 5
@JacobRe1 haha... it's justified I think. Technically it's Withnail's soliloquy of Hamlet's monologue to R&G, but we all know what you meant ;)
shovingwords 6 months ago
@MeBeMat
It's not a dog...it's a wolf :)
Pook365 1 year ago
@MeBeMat it is a WOLF. Not a dog you fool.
ANDROMEDAKRAKEN 1 year ago
@MeBeMat
You are right but very very boring.
wigster1978 1 year ago
@MeBeMat i've read that a soliloquy can address characters.. is it not more to with reflecting the inner thoughts of a character?
sharpsuitedmod 10 months ago
@MeBeMat True , but its cool , and he ( the character ) was pissed while reciting. Cheers for the upload man :)
murtsworld666 6 months ago
@MeBeMat It's not technically a soliloquy, in the same way you're not technically a prick for pointing that out, above all the other beautiful things you could say about this clip.
wigster1978 5 months ago 2
And then.....He filled both barrels of a shotgun,with red wine-Put the gun in his mouth,and pulled the trigger.
MOTHIKAS 1 year ago
Richard Egrant has the best Melifluous English Shakesperean voice ever to come out of a Swazilander of Afrikaans and German parents.
DavidMJordan 1 year ago
@DavidMJordan Narrow praise, indeed.
trinityj1 4 months ago
This is truly one of the most powerful, allegorical and tragic endings in all of cinema. Tepid career or no, Richard E. Grant has this scene (and film, of course) as a solid claim on pure talent. He can be very proud that it is this for which he is most famous.
TheRealOTim 1 year ago 35
I LOVE this movie. Finally bought it. It is one of my very favorites of all time. Hamlet is one of my favorite plays. This scene makes me cry everytime.
vickiehill1 1 year ago
What a sad and tragic thing for the wolves, born free to roam the wilds, to be couped up like that. As a wiser man than I once said, 'Can't tame what's meant to be wild, it ain't natural.'
LeCutter 1 year ago
@LeCutter they've moved them now. always thought it was sad whenever i walked my dog there; the wolves could see all the dogs running across the grass.
georgemcfadyeniscooo 1 year ago
@LeCutter
Well, given that we did tame wolves and many...many other wild animals that really is nonsense.
Either way the wolves have not been there for a long while now...
Pook365 1 year ago
brilliant
alanmullery 1 year ago
Best Hamlet soliloquy ever.
lookingback7 1 year ago 2
If you havent seen the film please dont comment on it, because you are in ignorance.
Partytricksss 1 year ago
I fell in love with RIchard E. Grant in this movie!!!
Squeaky1423 1 year ago
playing the dane as well as any before him
cfcolly 1 year ago
... and there it is: the end of the optimism of the 1960s and the generation of free love. The 'paragon of animals' replaced by the 'quintessence of dust', cynicism overcoming idealism, as the pouring rain washes over Withnail's prematurely aged face. I didn't grow up in the '70s; listening to this speech, I'm glad I didn't.
PhilBag 1 year ago 7
@PhilBag the desperation that cracks through when he says 'beauty of the world' after the rage and frustration of 'how like a god' is awesome.
dacrazyking6 1 year ago
@PhilBag well said.
Hashpotato 1 year ago
Isn't that something !
ahperth 1 year ago
Life apeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours ...
hanson666999 1 year ago
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You could've gotten the same performance if you got a drunk off the street and paid him to read the lines. Really, where's the passion? Kenneth Branagh puts this guy to shame.
NitraicAcid 1 year ago
@NitraicAcid where's the passion? Richard E Grant is playing a drunk unemployed actor playing Hamlet.
2w2c 1 year ago
@NitraicAcid
Have you watched the film???
he is a bad actor reciting shakespeare while drunk.
pmo1983 1 year ago
@pmo1983 he is a classic actor, reciting shakespeare whilst stone cold sober, Richard E Grant is a Tee Totaller, it is a classic bit of acting and truly a cult British Film :o)
The word 'acting' springs to mind, and very good at it too :o)
troublemeister 1 year ago
@troublemeister
i was replying to someone who said Richard E Grant was a bad actor.
My point was that he is playing a bad actor and alcoholic.
i think you misunderstood my point and i think that we agree 100% on the issue.
pmo1983 1 year ago
@pmo1983 I always took it that Withnail actually was a great actor but his lifestyle was what held him up
MERVILLE3 1 year ago 8
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workingclassbum 1 year ago
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workingclassbum 1 year ago
Never underestimate how difficult it is to play a bad actor. Richard E. Grant's performance is extraordinary.
TulseLuper 1 year ago 2
he absolutely nailed this scene.
mystro810 1 year ago
Damn...
Like I said to my brother..
Withnail and I is not a comedy... it's a Tragedy with some great jokes....
TheBitterWeed 1 year ago 4
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Wow, Kenneth Branagh's version is way better than this.
Hamlet didn't have a bottle of scotch when he said this, this guy is just spitting out the words and it doesn't sound like he means it. Where's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
NitraicAcid 1 year ago
@NitraicAcid Dude, this isn't a rendering of Hamlet, so no R&G it is however a clip from the greatest film of all time (see the number of people below that agree), Sianisit's comments are spot on.
Go to Lovefilm and order "Withnail and I" immediately. Watch it stoned at least 3 times and you will LOVE IT!
P.S. I think his delivery is better than Brannaghs
Pithyoneliner 1 year ago
@Pithyoneliner You cheapen a film by recommending that it be watched while stoned.
Niiauyr 1 year ago
@Niiauyr Pretty sure that Bruce Robinson wouldn't have an issue with that particular comment...
Pithyoneliner 1 year ago
@Niiauyr Cheapen it? I've seen it so many times, in so many various states. Sober, pissed, stoned, whatever. This movie can't be cheapened. It's amazing in any state at any time.
It all just depends on how you want to feel whilst watching.
Lpoolboy 1 year ago
@Niiauyr Well said.
MrRik2 8 months ago
@NitraicAcid You fool, this isn't hamlet, this is withnail.
Doesn't mean it? If you watched the movie you wouldn't be able to say that. This is delivered wih every ounce of passion withnail could muster after what happened in the film. It's a beautiful rendition and far better than Branaghs.
Lpoolboy 1 year ago 4
Best movie ever.
Lpoolboy 1 year ago 3
my favorit movie
henrix999 1 year ago 3
hes one of the best actors alive. I don't know why he never permeated the American film industry or broadway more than he did.
cyfp 1 year ago 6
Heartbreakingly fucking bastard brilliant.
vagabondicus 1 year ago 41
@vagabondicus It certainly is Heartbreakingly fucking bastard briliiant indeed. I love this speech (if it isn't a soliloquy) and it's made all the richer by it being a good actor playing a bad actor doing Hamlet and he gives the performance of his life and there is no one there to hear it. This most excellent canopy the air (and it's pissing down) says it all. Be lucky.
johnnybriggs118 11 months ago 2
Such a great film and great piece of dialogue.
hanson666999 2 years ago 5
Just for the record, the "I" (Paul McGann) in "Withnail and I" is named 'Marwood' in the script.
A lot of you know, but there are a few...
Mickeytt3 2 years ago 2
really? that's mad, how do you know that? but it's just "...and I" in the credits?
BasilBoom 1 year ago
@BasilBoom It's marwood in the script, which is available online.
I hate to misquote things..
I have too much free time...
Mickeytt3 1 year ago
i could listen to this one hundred times and still want to listen again
22drgonzo 2 years ago 4
Great film,fantastic dialogue.
Swarmking 2 years ago
I can certainly relate. You get wasted, you laugh, you do crazy things but you always seem to end up on your own in the pissing rain screaming Shakespeare at the sky with a bottle of something or other in your hand (without wellingtons). I do, anyway.
inthedarkesthole 2 years ago 31
follow withnail and i on twitter!
@_Withnail_And_I
PollyR77 2 years ago
"baastards!! you'll all suffer! i'll show the lot of you! i'm gonna be a staaaaar!!"
Skamplicated 2 years ago 3
got it word for word
XR200boY 2 years ago
A sad thing that the person this character is based upon did actually die from his addictions.
A brilliant ending to a truly great British film.
p.s If you're intersted, read into the original ending for this film, very grim indeed.
JoeBlue727 2 years ago 3
I think that it's because he's actually living the part, rather than acting. He has been acting up, now the truth hits home, an actual reality, he's no one to play to. He's proving to himself that he can actually do it and better, because he's been there and felt it. method acting 101. creativity vs conventionality. Withnail and I.
888willothewisp88888 2 years ago 2
epic!!!!
marcog2 2 years ago
Monty says earlier in the movie........It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when he awakes and quite reasonable says to himself: I will never play The Dane. When that moment comes, ones ambition ceases. So its a sad ending, his ambition has ceased!!
middletonw 2 years ago 6
His choice for a coda (?) is telling. He can trust nor love anyone, because they are all transient and non lasting.
tomeeeee1 2 years ago 3
Thee best film ever
pkthedude 2 years ago 4
Perfect last scene to a beautifully written and performed Indie movie.There's so much to laugh at it, yet love, while recognising so much...
I can't imagine that I'll ever read a screenplay as perfect as this one. I really hope that someone proves me wrong some day, but until then? 'Withnail' for the win. :)
malimble 2 years ago 10
I think that possibly when "I" said that. It was like when we are cornered by someone who smells a rat and we then procede to say any mortal fucking thing that comes into our heads by way of making an excuse and lieing outrageously to get ourselves off the hook !! These 2 characters-If i'm not much mistaken would say any mortal thing (I feel) in order to get booze,have a good time and avoid being on the receiving end of Monty's sexually predatory suggestions!!!
MrBazzabee 2 years ago
I feel that this scene also reflects Withnail's incredible talent of being a stage performer and the severity of the disappointment he must feel that "I" is on his way towards his career, that ultimately the real hero of the day is the one that stays behind with the darker aspects of reality, to do battle with ones demons and to return from that place with the real treasure.
bezoomyazure 2 years ago 11
What a great piece of film making. Withnail reminds me of Keith Floyd to a degree. RIP.
WolfgangHolzmann 2 years ago
I never at any point in this film get the impression that withnail holds any feelings for " I " other than the sort of feelings that we all hold for our mates--YES -He's sad because his biggest friend has gone! (moved on) and he is left behind-and all on his own,but never do I get the impression that withnail holds any form of homo-erotic feelings, either for " I "---Monty???!! or indeed anyone else
MrBazzabee 2 years ago 10
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MrBazzabee 2 years ago
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