Dame Judi Dench, Sonnet 29, Graham Norton, and... Schwarzenegger

November 7, 2023 10:10 AM

Gorgeous...
posted by dfm500 (25 comments total)

SWOON
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:41 AM on November 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

That was pretty cool - but the highlight of the episode for me (and wife) was Jay Blades - what a wonderful person. It's amazing how low and then how high a life can be - very glad he is where he is now.
posted by davidmsc at 10:42 AM on November 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

(note: not trying to detract from Dame Judi at all - she is an icon!)
posted by davidmsc at 10:53 AM on November 7, 2023

"Being in any kind of those situations. Being in love or being jealous or being angry or being whatever, and you will find that he - that there is a way of him summing up that is completely sufficient for what your emotion is."

This might be the most British thing I've ever heard.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 11:09 AM on November 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

Arnold as Hamlet, from Last Action Hero.
posted by jozxyqk at 11:10 AM on November 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

That brought tears to my eyes. Amazing.
posted by Mogur at 11:10 AM on November 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

Have to say that treatment of when, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes put a stop to my gab: so affecting.
Mum-Dame Judi was at Jay Blades' Repair Shop a year ago acting vague.
Schwarzenegger was in London to promote his new book and filling the Royal Albert Hall etc. He also made time to run through his life story in 40 mins with Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart on The Rest is Politics - Leading.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:19 AM on November 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

No matter who the guests are on Graham, it is always very enjoyable and I become completely interested in them.
posted by spynotebook at 11:27 AM on November 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

I saw the headline begin with "Dame Judi Dench..." and I went Oh, no... nononono... But this... this is lovely. I love how the entire studio became perfectly silent while she was reciting. Everyone (including me!) was completely spellbound.
posted by xedrik at 11:40 AM on November 7, 2023 [20 favorites]

Just WOW, thanks for finding this
posted by mumimor at 11:45 AM on November 7, 2023

I froze until she was done: so good.

The older I get, the more that I find that most Shakespeare is undeniable and irrefutable -- especially when spoken aloud. (The crummy stuff is just bad, but thankfully there isn't too much of it.) As Dame Judi says, "completely sufficient": I will always stop to listen to any performer letting out with Shakespeare.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:55 AM on November 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Particularly poignant given Dame Judi's issues with age-related macular degeneration, which means she's lost the ability to read (though she has a great memory, as shown, and can still work with adaptations).

A real, genuine treasure.
posted by fight or flight at 12:01 PM on November 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

Gosh, I saw the start of the headline and was terrified of having to type a dot in this thread... Dame Judi is one of my idols.
posted by humbug at 12:13 PM on November 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

She seemed to really go to a place and take a moment to step back from it after. I was utterly transfixed, and damn if that sonnet wouldn't make a great tumblr thread, timeless.
posted by Iteki at 12:47 PM on November 7, 2023 [4 favorites]

There really is something transformative to a set of words when filtered through a master performer's hands.
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:51 PM on November 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

This is my favorite sonnet; I have thought about it countless times over 30+ years and can also recite it from memory. But this still made me cry! Hearing it out loud from someone so masterful is a whole other experience.
posted by babelfish at 1:43 PM on November 7, 2023 [6 favorites]

She's also just done This Cultural Life on BBC Radio 4. Lots more of her thoughts on Shakespeare there.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:04 PM on November 7, 2023 [3 favorites]

Iteki, I first saw this video on Tumblr, actually. It was circulating through Staged and Good Omens fandoms.
posted by humbug at 4:04 PM on November 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

There is a book-on-CD of major actors reading Shakespeare's sonnets. One of my favorites is Alan Rickman but Patrick Stewart is there and so many others.

I think this is it: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Shakespeare-Sonnets-Audio-CD/dp/1885608403
posted by wenestvedt at 4:14 PM on November 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks so much, for the Graham. 3 times I've moved, and once the television system was hooked up, presto, Graham Norton was on. How we learned about him in the first place, when we moved to the UK.
posted by Goofyy at 4:56 PM on November 7, 2023

I think on a previous Graham Norton she said she and her husband started reciting the sonnets every night during lockdown as a way to stay sane. I bet she remembers every one of them.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:07 PM on November 7, 2023

I often dislike actors’ readings of poetry, they turn it into a mini acting showcase rather than trying to bring out the qualities of the written word. Judi Dench shows what’s possible if you do it right.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:54 AM on November 8, 2023 [3 favorites]

fffffffffffff

Sublime.

(I never clicked with that Sonnet - maybe until now. Actors and musicians so often just get better and better with age. She brought out of that what I couldn't find.)
posted by From Bklyn at 2:09 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

When Dame Judi was on "Who do you think you are?", the thing she was most excited about was that her ancestor once lived in the real Elsinore castle. Her love of Shakepeare is hearfelt and well placed.
posted by plonkee at 3:18 AM on November 8, 2023

I had this on as it went out live the other week, and was scrolling and doing other things but by the end had inevitably been drawn in, and put down whatever else I was up to as I watched - a lovely hush and focus that's so rare on Graham Norton.

But seconding that Jay Blades on the same episode was even more moving and jaw-dropping. That Jay and Judi are evidently friends and hold each other in such regard is a lovely thing. (CW on that vid: Mention of suicidal planning, not carried out).
posted by penguin pie at 7:15 AM on November 8, 2023 [2 favorites]