August 7, 2009 1:45 PM
Band of Brothers - Henry V - St. Crispin's Day speech
My favorite minutes from my favorite movie.
If you are conservative, if you have men in your family, if you are a political activist, you will surely want to have a copy of Henry V in your family library to watch over and over. I will never forget seeing this scene the first time and - even though I was alone - jumping to my feet and cheering at the climax of the Saint Crispin's Day speech.
If you haven't watched Shakespeare with your children, this is a great way to start (warning: very violent battle scenes). Your ears will grow accustomed to the accents. And after watching it once or twice, you can also read along - perhaps with an annotated version.
My grown up boys LOVE this movie. It spoke to the man in them - and I think because this was part of their introduction, truly love Shakespeare.
Available at Amazon - only 7.99! - or Netflix.
And btw, the young boy is Christian Bale.
Posted in Activism, Movies | Permalink
Comments
Thanks for this tip. I will wait until my little boys are older to show this to them.
Btw, it's about time I said "Hello!" Just wanted you to know that I appreciate your thoughts and how you're so skilled at articulating what's going on w/our gov't. Oh, and thanks also for stopping by my blog and saying hi... I felt sooo honored. God's bless you and your family!
Posted by: gracee | August 7, 2009 8:05 PM
If you have closed captioning, use it! We watch a lot of British comedies and closed captioning is a must!
Posted by: Debra | August 7, 2009 9:09 PM
LOVE that speech!! before we had kids, we'd get together with friends every St. Crispin's Day to watch Henry V. When my kids are old enough to read it, and then watch the movie, I can't wait to start up the tradition again. :)
Posted by: Angela | August 7, 2009 9:40 PM
Oh, Barbara! Henry V is one of my family's absolute favorite movies! I'm so glad you are recommending it. We also enjoy the Branaugh version of Much Ado About Nothing (with a couple of quick fast forwards for nudity). Also, even though many people find fault with it, we have found the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet to be one our children (10 and up) can follow. If you can't tell, my husband and I are Shakespeare fanatics intent on raising 7 more just like us!
I had the pleasure of seeing Kenneth Branaugh on stage in London many years ago. He is the kind of Shakspearean actor who comes along only once a generation. He's probably one of the reasons I love the Bard so much!
By the way, I love your political posts. Please keep it up. My husband is getting quite used to hearing, "I read on Barbara Curtis today..." It's very helpful to me to have your little snippets of commentary and links to round out my news reading for the day (no TV news here--not reliable).
Thanks for all you do,
Shannon
Posted by: Shannon | August 8, 2009 11:55 AM
HV is one of my absolute faves, too. Thanks for posting it. :)
Posted by: Jill | August 8, 2009 8:49 PM
I plan on getting this wonderful DVD. I fell in love with this speech when a hispanic boy recited it in a DVD made by the politically correct National Endowments for the Arts. I watched it over and over, showed it to my grandsons and plan on buying it on Amazon as it is less than $3. Another man on that DVD explained iambic pentameter as the beating of a character's heart inviting ours to beat with it.
Posted by: judy | August 18, 2009 5:52 PM
