Yesterday was Veteran's/Remembrance Day, a day we honor those who have served. Many don't, and for those we have the words from the Bard of Avon, who described the bond between veterans better than anything ever written in the English language.
The 1989 film is a masterpiece. If you haven't seen it you are in store for a treat. Not only was it an all-star Shakespearean cast, but Patrick Doyle's score is a tour de force. one made more impressive because it was his very first film score.
Film critic (and notorious grump) Roger Ebert wrote of Kenneth Branagh's St. Crispin's Day speech:
There is no more stirring summons to arms in all of literature than Henry's speech to his troops on St. Crispan's Day, ending with the lyrical 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.' To deliver this speech successfully is to pass the acid test for anyone daring to perform the role of Henry V in public, and as Kenneth Branagh, as Henry, stood up on the dawn of the Battle of Agincourt and delivered the famous words, I was emotionally stirred even though I had heard them many times before. That is one test of a great Shakespearian actor: to take the familiar and make it new.
I've posted this scene many time here on this blog, and it never gets old or stale. It is, after all, the best description of the bonds between veterans ever penned in the English language.
4 comments:
An excellent film.
Though the Crispin Day speech is probably the best part of it, the Nom Nobise song after the battle has always gotten me. Every time I hear it. The way it starts with one voice and just builds and builds, in the midst of blood and death, a rising of faith that transcends the mortal plane.
Yeah. The song sung that way is just that good.
Brilliantly done -- Branagh's performance was far better the Sir Lawrence Olivier's wooden rendition from years ago. The music was equally a part of the performance as you say. And look, there is a young (14) Christian Bale in the crowd -- who knew he would have such a bright career ahead?
Thanks for the reminder, I am always inspired by this speech -- "our hearts are in the trim". Wonderful post.
My favorite part is:
"Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us."
Whether it was Shakespeare himself, Marlowe or robin the luggage boy, there is no finer writing on the planet than the St. Crispin's Day Speech
The clip was good, very good. But it does not come close to Sir Lawrence Olivier's rendition of the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x26GN6rQbZI
That scene is a masterpiece.
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