Richard III - Kenneth Branagh - Act 1 Scene 1

[SophyaAgain]

Even being ancient Englidh, even do not understanding precisely it's delightful to hear their dialogue. The rhythm, the intonation and how words flow.

[Skipn27]

What the heck is that cracking sound?



[imokin86]

Thanks for the upload! It helps so much to see the text as the actors pronounce it. Greetings from Russia!

[katiush65]

neato! i heard the first two lines last night in the movie "the King's Speech" and went to look it up on youtube! It's one of those quotations that sound familiar but you can't place the context... (for non-Shakespeare fanatics, anyway!!) I don't know anything about Richard III. Kenneth Branagh is great.

[JamesMorphettTV]

quality stuff.

[Mathiastro]

Excellent. Bravo, Ken.

[KayJay123567]

Why hasn't he adapted Richard III into a film yet? He'd be fantastic!!

[nicodagger]

mom63423, I'm actually only 21, but I've been a student of acting and the Elizabethan era since I was 14, so I learned this fact a long time ago. I've heard reproductions of the Elizabethan dialect, it's very cool, and nothing like what Branagh does.

[nicodagger]

The accent used by Branaugh has nothing to do with how English was spoken in shakespeare's time....the accent was closer to modern Irish than what we hear here, and with Olivier, etc.

[mom63423]

@nicodagger How old are you, dear? LOL!

[Flubly]

@nicodagger I've never heard that before, I've always been taught that Elizabethan English was closest to unaccented English. I say closest since they probably did have regional accents but they would have been much different and milder than they are now.

[godbluffvdgg]

I want to see Branagh do Macbeth. He is one of the greatest Shakespearean actors. His Henry V is amazing, as well as his Hamlet.

[paperback1956]

This production by TOF is far and away the best production of Act 1, Scene 1 that you're likely to read and hear. To do this so effectively and continuously shows ability and vision which can only be the envy of those of lesser knowledge and ability. I hope that this continues for many years to come.

[gcmoss]

Wow, totally as creepy as Iago!

[metteholm75]

That sound must be his halting footsteps.

[Herobelle]

What is that annoying noise in the backgroud meant to be? Sounds like someone ripping paper.

[rem857]

Great play. Richard had the 2nd most amount of lines out of any Shakespeare play. Hamlet is the 1st. both have wellllllll over 1000 lines. The man who played Richard in the time it was written went up to Shakespeare after the play and said "If you do that to me again, I'm going to ill you" due mainly to the fact this is the only play where the Main character does not get a break like many other plays.

[Roipoisson]

Anyone know who the cast of this recording?

[gdamac]

Kenneth Branagh is awesome

[mozurkz]

Sounds like an extraordinary performance.

[ShakespeareHamlet]

no. Olivier had starred in a film version of "As You Like It" in 1934.

[hotlovehotlovehotlov]

"Now is the winter of our discontent" what is the meaning of this sentence? what could it refer to ? (being away of anger for instance ?)

[4919115202052]

The sentence begins "Now, is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York". Richard's brother Edward was crowned King after battles over the crown between the houses of Lancaster and York (the War of the Roses - which continue through the play).

The line is often misinterpreted because of the opening words "Now, is the winter...", as opposed to a more modern - "Now, THE winter of our discontent IS made glorious summer..." :)

[hotlovehotlovehotlov]

great, and i do thank you. But i mean as a modern quote, what could it mean ? The end of the anger? or The short peace ?!

[baldwalrus7]

It means the fighting and disputes of the War of the Roses have ended, due to the victory of Edward (IV).

[isselman2000]

Winter is the end of the year.

[baldwalrus7]

And? It's not describing a literal cycle of the year, it's describing a sequence of political conditions (from bloody death to peace).

[jazzmantrey]

This speach begins by comparing the wars to the seasons."The winter of our discontent" is the war that has just ended, as well as the time that the house of York was out of power. It is "made glorius summer" because not only is the war over, but York is now the ruling house, it is not mearly a summer, it is glorius, thanks to "this sun of York" sun of York is a pun, the sun in the sky over the countryside of York, and the son of the Duke of York, the father of Edward, Clarence, and Richard.

[Ilska]

The "winter" referred to is the War of the Roses between (mainly) the houses of York and Lancaster, which would (according to the play if not to actual history) have been over had it not been for Richard's ambitions.

[zahir13]

I like Branagh, but this isn't him at his best, imho. But then I'm comparing him to Al Pacino and Ian McClellan which mightn't be fair? Methinks maybe this just isn't the right role for him. Love to see him as Angelo in MEASURE FOR MEASURE, or even MACBETH.

[mom63423]

Please, put him to the test listenig to his performance in Act 1, Scene 2 of the same drama and let me know...

[BRUTUALTRUTH]

You talk absolute fucking bollocks!!!

[oktayne]

why the subs?? its in English.

[mom63423]

It's made so in order to help people who aren't English mother tongue to understand it well (it's ancient English, be merciful!)

[Aeschylus]

@mom63423 It's a good thing too: there are some plays in German & Greek that I wish people would do the same for!

[Bendy4skin]

I'm terribly sorry I misunderstood what the first comment said.

[ShakespeareHamlet]

Mr. Branagh should make a movie version of this wonderful play, as he's remade 2 film versions of Laurence Olivier's Shakespearean works ("Henry V" & "Hamlet").

[Bendy4skin]

not to forget much ado about nothing

[ShakespeareHamlet]

well, Sir Laurence Olivier didn't do a film version of "Much Ado About Nothing," at least to my knowledge. Mr. Branagh should also do

"The Tragedie Of Macbeth." Olivier was going to do a film version of the play (and had already written a script and had begun scouting locations), but the financial failure of his classic "Richard III" and the death of the producer in a plane crash derailed those plans. Oh, what might have been. Still, it wouldn't hurt to see Mr. Branagh attempt it.

[Roipoisson]

Branagh has done 3 films, not just 2, of Shakespeare plays previously tackled by Olivier, the third being "Othello", although they played different roles (Olivier, in blackface, was Othello; Branagh was Iago).

[ShakespeareHamlet]

yea, but I don't count it, as both Olivier and Branagh didn't direct the respective film versions.

[AlexanderBarnett]

@ShakespeareHamlet Olivier did indeed direct the film versions of Hamlet and Richard 3.

[mom63423]

After having watched your video "Richard III - scene 2" I OUGHT to buy the whole audio recording. It's wonderful from start to finish.