Shakespeare "King Lear"- (1997 TV-Ian Holm), Act 1, scene 1

from end of Regan's speech of love to her father to Lear's exit at end of scene.

here is one link for all the excerpts uploaded of the Holm "Lear":
http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=04AC969F56A00360

Ian Holm ... Lear
Barbara Flynn ... Goneril
Amanda Redman ... Regan
Victoria Hamilton ... Cordelia
David Burke ... Kent
Timothy West ... Gloucester
Adrian Irvine ... France
Nicholas R. Bailey ... Burgundy


Holm has been acting professionally since joining the Royal Shakespeare Company as a spear-carrier in 1954.

He was a young 66 when he filmed this "Lear".


from an interview:

Was Lear a difficult role for you?

Difficult physically, because you expend an enormous amount of energy. But mentally, it is not a difficult journey compared, say, to Antony in Antony and Cleopatra. The verse structure helps you enormously. You get carried along by it.

Back to the beginning of the play: What is Lear's motivation for the who-loves-me-most contest? Is he being serious? Is he capricious?

He's all of those things. You're quite right to take the beginning of the play, because the first scene is unquestionably pivotal in the action. As Gloucester says, "All this done upon the gad," which means in the instant. You start out with a nice family meeting. He's removing his crown, he's going to divide the kingdom among his daughters, and they're going to play the game. Goneril and Regan saying, "Oh God, here we go again. Yes, we love you, we love you, we love you." Then this silly little shit Cordelia -- forgive me -- says, "No!" Which sparks an overreaction in Lear. Suddenly she's out, Kent's banished, and the whole thing falls apart in five seconds flat. As in so many of Shakespeare's tragedies, you begin with this extraordinary impetus that is unstoppable. Once the wheel starts to go downhill, that's it. You race through to the end. It's the same with Macbeth. It's the same with Othello. All these powerful emotions take over, and you are driven through. That's back to what I was saying about Shakepeare. All you have to do as an actor is go with it and trust him.

Yes, Lear is a capricious, tyrannical, impossible, lovable human being. He's like all our grandfathers. He goes through this extraordinary journey into and out of madness. I think an interesting thing is that there is no redemption. By the time he and Cordelia get together it's too late. She's killed and the tragedy ends horribly. In real life, 18th-century audiences couldn't cope with that. They changed the ending and had Cordelia marrying Edgar and living happily ever after. It's only comparatively recently that there's been a reversion to Shakespeare's original intention.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• King
• Lear
• KingLear
• Ian
• Holm
• IanHolm
• VictoriaHamilton
• William-Shakespeare

[twags32689]

i totally agree, Holm is such an underrated actor... he's utterly brilliant

[Jordanmode]

I disagree. I think that would be a poor reaction considering the situation, and a blatant one. Regan and Goneril aren't mere vaudevillian, black-clad villains who twirl their mustaches and snicker at peoples' misfortune. Never in my mind, anyway. They're far more multi-dimensional than that. Subtlety in this scene works better for me than such obvious deviousness.

[Nelsonhojax15]

Kent is the magistrate from Braveheart!

[TheOrthodoxSteven]

Ian Holm is an absolutely brilliant actor! A true master.

[ntherewas1]

well that kiss at the beginning was a little creepy

[Whovian69uk]

This King Lear version didn't fall into the recent trap of 'updating' or 'modernising' a great story. This fantastic version of a literary master work was flawlessly portrayed and a must see for all, not just fans of shakespeare.Thank you so much for uploading. You are a star.

[Artvy1]

A genious creation of Shakespeare,

Played by the actors so ingeniously bright!

[dylanbonnar]

Shakespeare is so right about parents, and making children feel ''obligated'' towards them. There is such truth in every one of his plays.

[JohnCurry1]

Victoria Hamilton shines.

[BandWagon1987]

@bridgetlear2009 Cordelia had two sisters, no brother. :)

[BandWagon1987]

@SEANMANIA That's called being human :)