Shakespeare "King Lear"- Laurence Olivier: end of play

Laurence Olivier ... King Lear
Colin Blakely ... Kent
Dorothy Tutin ... Goneril
Jeremy Kemp ... Cornwall
Robert Lang ... Albany
David Threlfall ... Edgar
Robert Lindsay ... Edmund

clip starts with Edmund and Edgar fighting, Act 5, scene 3, lines 162 to end--but with some cuts and transpositioning of lines. (Arden edition)

go here to see a very young Dorothy Tutin in "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1952 film):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=c61vfHZT3j8

Director: Michael Elliott

Shakespeare's "King Lear" (filmed 1983 for TV)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Olivier
• Lear
• Blakely
• Tutin
• ColinBlakely

[marius478]

I always cry at that. "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, and now... no breath at all...?"

[wickedgal27]

its BEN HARPER FROM MY FAMILY!!!!

[sageSPH]

There is King Lear, and then there is Laurence Olivier's King Lear. William Shakespeare would be proud.

[rigstula]

@0davus The ending of 'King Lear' was perceived to be so bleak that Nahum Tate's version featuring a happy ending dominated the stage from the Restoration until the 1830's. Truth is, no other Shakespeare tragedy ends on on a more pessimistic note. In 'Antony and Cleopatra', for instance, there is a sense of glory in the noble suicides of the two titular characters as well as the notion of Rome's future golden age under Augustus. 'King Lear' ends with a gloomy observation of the play's events.

[rigstula]

@0davus There is much truth in what you state. Despite this, the fact that justice arrives too late does not diminish the injustice of what happens. On the contrary, the fact that the play presents such a sense of hope through the actions of the good characters contributes to make the ending seem even bleaker and more unjust. The price Lear pays for his folly in many ways seems too harsh, but that is what makes it such a powerful tragedy.

[0davus]

**That's why Lear is cursing everyone at the end, "You are men of stone." What he means is none of you care, you will wait till it is too late then clean up the mess. As Lear himself does, executing the executioner. Justice is 'right' but it does no 'good,' it is just an endless march of punishment, because justice is lifeless. Without life there is no meaningful justice for good or bad. But without care there is no life. Lear's greatness is his heart, though he finds it very late.

[0davus]

Actually Edgar almost saves Cordelia, after Edmund's repentance (cut out of this vid) he is running to save her. Lear kills the hangman as well - too late.

Shakespeare's comment on the nature of justice is more "too late" than it doesn't exist at all.

Another example is Cornwall's servant who doesn't lift a finger until after one of Gloster's eyes is put out.

It raises the question, not of whether life or existence is fair, but whether fairness/justice matters as we think it does.

[MacWillyFortunes]

They left out my favorite line!

"Yet Edmund was beloved

The one the other poisoned for my sake,

And after slew herself."

[rigstula]

I find 'King Lear' to be Shakespeare's crowning achievement, and the ending is easily one of the most haunting and heartbreaking moments in both literature and theatre. As Samuel Johnson said, the death of Cordelia goes against every sense of justice and the hope of the reader. All other Shakespearean tragedies end with at least a small glimmer of justice and/or hope for the future. 'King Lear', however, leaves an impression of pure despair.

[unclebreezybum]

@austpom333 he was hiding his identity



[kendosendo]

@marius478 it is good isnt it!!

[gilbertgodlyddd]

@marius478 Agreed my friend, although it is THOU and not NOW..