This monologue alone manages to put tears in my eyes. It blew my mind when I was reading the play for the first time, I was caught completely off guard. This was such a brilliant performance by Firth. I hope one day I'll be lucky enough to catch the play live. Thank you for posting.
Pinter himself was from East London, and I myself live among cockneys but it's just hard to imagine Colin Firth, a guy who's pretty much type cast to play posh characters, with that accent...a good one too, i agree.
Nice posting. I am always amazed at this man's ability to inhabit a character. This is just a reading, but it becomes quite powerful and moving. Not sure where the negativity about this comes from, but I think it is a fantastic interpretation by Mr. Firth. He is not an Oscar winner for nothing.
I agree Firth's acting is beautiful and moving here. I wouldn't call this "just a reading", because he is in fact, not reading. He is acting it fully, even if it's not part of a full production of the play. 🙂
"When I believe there's a human being in action, up there; In that moment. Alive! Right there and then...I get Spellbound!" Uta Hagen. (I believe this quote is very relevant to this wonderful performance from Mr. Firth)
Most of Pinter's characters are cockney's, just like MC, so it's little wonder Colin sounded like that with his accent on. It's pretty admirable how well he voices the character.
Ce doit être éprouvant de lire assis, ce texte, avec autant de chaleur de conviction. pour nous transmettre un message. Le visage les mains tendus Toujours convaincre c est ainsi pour M. Firth. Dommage je ne comprends pas beaucoup l anglais. Le parlé . Aussi je vais rechercher ce texte provenant de cette pièce de théâtre qui doit être de toute évidence exceptionnelle. En français ?
Very moving ... as the portrayal of a poor unfortunate. There's a priceless actor! I don't know the play so maybe this character is not all he seems on the surface.
Wonderful words, wonderful performance. This play really got under my skin, Donald Pleasance had me in tears with his performance, strongly recommend you seek out that production.
I agree! After the Caretaker I watched a bunch of Pleasance's other films (like holy shit he was in Look Back In Anger with Richard Burton in 1959!) and he is an all time great that I don't think I've ever seen mentioned when great actors are chatted about. Another actor who blew me away with their skills was Jason Robards in Long Days Journey Into Night & The Iceman Commeth - he just chews the place up!
@@bungorogers7067 Yep , completely agree as well about Robards, totally brilliant performances and rarely praised as much as feel he should be. Particularly in Once Upon a Time on The West. His character is comic, intimidating, clever, insightful and tragic. He hits all those beats and keeps the character totally believable.
Вы гениальны Коллинз Ферт, спасибо , за то что вы есть.Смотрю на вас много лет,так хотелось бы чтобы мои дети и внуки смотрели на вас,и научились быть настоящими мужчин Ами. не
Colin Firth would have been better suited to playing the Tramp character instead as he has the right accent to perform the Donald Pleasance charachter.
A pretty good effort here, but for the full, unforgettable impact of the entire speech (and not just this fragment), listen to the astonishing Peter Woodthorpe, the original Aston, deliver it on the available CD recording of a live stage performance from the 1960 premiere London run. (His costars Alan Bates and Donald Pleasance are equally amazing.) It will break your heart.
In my mind this is how i imagines Aston but after watching the other spectacular performance so many different parts of Aston came to light. He is a very complex character, seemingly simple minded and good on the surface yet theres a sadistic and creepy insane edge to him. In the other performance what Colin really seemed to miss out on is the emphasis put on Building the shed before he gets revenge. His voice i think is spot on, he just fails to portray all the depths of the character. My opini
just saw shaw's and firth's together. different times, style, approaches. Shaw's is more poetic, Firth's more specific, method. Both are excellent examples of the craft. Firth appears more lobotomized than ect'd, but the point is damage. Done by those with power to those without. Which is almost all Pinter wrote about really. Imagine this monologue in Soviet Russia, or Argentina....were those "hallucinations" or merely inconvenient observations?
Merveilleux Colin qui donne tout de lui même. Ce ne doit pas être favcile de commenter assis. La respiration n est pas complète. Enn nage je suppose.. Pinter pinter déjà entendu. Je vais voir
Thanks for posting this important piece of art but unfortunately the subtitles are incorrect right off the bat. The first line should begin: 'About a week later...' Not: 'That's a week later.' Maybe this is because it's voice-recognition software generating the text, but either way Harold would surely be pretty pissed off about it.
@forevergreening Hello thanks for the reply.I tried to respond via messaging but it wouldnt send for some reason That's a shame.Would you happen to know the name of the broadcast.I might be able to find it directly through the bbc. Thanks Conor
With all due respect, I don’t think Firth has done it justice here. Aston isn’t a simpleton, and he’s played him as such. Pinter intended Aston to be more understanding and benevolent than this.
Darcy with that accent...NOOOO!!!!! Think of your reputation Mr Darcy, what would Lady Catherine DeBurgh say. I agree with jake1991, he does sound a little like Michael Caine..
Shaw. By a mile. It's absolutely authentic because of his timing and what he doesn't say but you know he's thinking and it's as clear as his words. Firth's not authentic, as good he is in his technique, and because is not so deep into the character as Shaw, there is a difference that is quite outstanding between the two. Different life experiences, I suppose.
Firth is a much better actor than he is usually given credit for (though that's partly his own fault for playing too many one-dimensional characters in flimsy rom-coms) but he doesn't convince in this role. He spends the whole monologue attempting to hide his RP accent, and what emerges is neither a working-class accent or a natural-sounding voice that belongs to the character. Aston should be telling this story as 'matter of fact' as possible in the beginning, gradually finding that his painful memories draw him back into the world of the hospital. Firth here starts with Aston already emotionally affected by the story, which leaves him nowhere to go. He's manipulating the audience into feeling sorry for him, which isn't Aston at all. There's no element of surprise here, just a good actor showing us a few tricks. (CassiusRoma now stands back and waits for dog's abuse from Firth fans)!
I theenks he doud a bluudy gud job mate,,,,i does I duz,,,,do one betta an put it un da Bluudy you tube mate,,,shew me ya work mate ,,,shew me ya work,,,,
Yeah but this is a stand alone piece, which is a different animal. Mr. Firth is aware of the requirements of the role as he played it earlier in his career.
Honestly mate I can understand where you are coming from but I have been given this monologue to perform for my exams and it is bloody hard because with this character you don't have a massive chance to portray emotion due to what has happened to him and if you look at Firth's version more closely he doesn't actually get emotional into about halfway through it. He isn't pausing because of the emotion itself but of the fact that he can't form his thoughts properly which leads to a great and emotional part when Aston is explaining this and you can actually see a tear in Firth's eye. Honestly I think he has done a great job as Aston and I will be definitely using him for my inspiration
THIS BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES. COLIN FIRTH IS SO BRILLIANT IN BRINGING THIS MAN'S FEELINGS TO LIFE. SO LUCKY TO HAVE SEEN THIS!
Acting at its best. This is for me a point of referrence to anyone wanting to aspire to theatrical greatness.
This monologue alone manages to put tears in my eyes. It blew my mind when I was reading the play for the first time, I was caught completely off guard. This was such a brilliant performance by Firth. I hope one day I'll be lucky enough to catch the play live. Thank you for posting.
I watched this in the west end over 30yrs ago what a play the acting was the best I’ve seen
Thank you for sharing that. Can I ask who was portraying Aston that night?
I found this spellbinding. He was so true! And I absolutely LOVED his accent. I could listen to him speaking like this all day long.
you want to hold Firth, don't you? I mean he's so totally available, willing to be visible. there's not an ounce of reserve in him. amazing acting.
Pinter himself was from East London, and I myself live among cockneys but it's just hard to imagine Colin Firth, a guy who's pretty much type cast to play posh characters, with that accent...a good one too, i agree.
I like this interpretation very much. Wins so much sympathy. I like Colin Firth in this more than anything else.
So moving. Good actor.
that's the thing. it's hard to remember he's acting. incredible.
WONDERFUL FIRTH 🇧🇷
Nice posting. I am always amazed at this man's ability to inhabit a character. This is just a reading, but it becomes quite powerful and moving. Not sure where the negativity about this comes from, but I think it is a fantastic interpretation by Mr. Firth. He is not an Oscar winner for nothing.
I agree Firth's acting is beautiful and moving here. I wouldn't call this "just a reading", because he is in fact, not reading. He is acting it fully, even if it's not part of a full production of the play. 🙂
"When I believe there's a human being in action, up there; In that moment. Alive! Right there and then...I get Spellbound!" Uta Hagen. (I believe this quote is very relevant to this wonderful performance from Mr. Firth)
I'm doing this monologue for my a-level theatre exam tomorrow. Collin Firths version has been very helpful, thanks for putting this up :)
8 years on, how did that exam go for you?
Just brilliant - am in tears, once again!
What I wouldn't give to see him in a full stage production of this.
I did, at Newcastle.
Most of Pinter's characters are cockney's, just like MC, so it's little wonder Colin sounded like that with his accent on. It's pretty admirable how well he voices the character.
Ce doit être éprouvant de lire assis, ce texte, avec autant de chaleur de conviction. pour nous transmettre un message.
Le visage les mains tendus
Toujours convaincre c est ainsi pour M. Firth.
Dommage je ne comprends pas beaucoup l anglais. Le parlé .
Aussi je vais rechercher ce texte provenant de cette pièce de théâtre qui doit être de toute évidence exceptionnelle.
En français ?
Very moving ... as the portrayal of a poor unfortunate. There's a priceless actor!
I don't know the play so maybe this character is not all he seems on the surface.
Goosebumps ☹️☹️☹️
Really enjoyed this video of coli n...great
Wonderful words, wonderful performance. This play really got under my skin, Donald Pleasance had me in tears with his performance, strongly recommend you seek out that production.
I agree! After the Caretaker I watched a bunch of Pleasance's other films (like holy shit he was in Look Back In Anger with Richard Burton in 1959!) and he is an all time great that I don't think I've ever seen mentioned when great actors are chatted about. Another actor who blew me away with their skills was Jason Robards in Long Days Journey Into Night & The Iceman Commeth - he just chews the place up!
@@bungorogers7067 Yep , completely agree as well about Robards, totally brilliant performances and rarely praised as much as feel he should be. Particularly in Once Upon a Time on The West. His character is comic, intimidating, clever, insightful and tragic. He hits all those beats and keeps the character totally believable.
fabulous and not Colin firths usual character type....deep jewish 'pain aware' Pinter stuff at its best..!
Вы гениальны Коллинз Ферт, спасибо , за то что вы есть.Смотрю на вас много лет,так хотелось бы чтобы мои дети и внуки смотрели на вас,и научились быть настоящими мужчин Ами. не
Masterful
Colin Firth would have been better suited to playing the Tramp character instead as he has the right accent to perform the Donald Pleasance charachter.
Hmmm. After watching Shaw’s performance, nothing else will do.
A pretty good effort here, but for the full, unforgettable impact of the entire speech (and not just this fragment), listen to the astonishing Peter Woodthorpe, the original Aston, deliver it on the available CD recording of a live stage performance from the 1960 premiere London run. (His costars Alan Bates and Donald Pleasance are equally amazing.) It will break your heart.
In my mind this is how i imagines Aston but after watching the other spectacular performance so many different parts of Aston came to light. He is a very complex character, seemingly simple minded and good on the surface yet theres a sadistic and creepy insane edge to him. In the other performance what Colin really seemed to miss out on is the emphasis put on Building the shed before he gets revenge. His voice i think is spot on, he just fails to portray all the depths of the character. My opini
*the other performance being the 1963 film version.
just saw shaw's and firth's together. different times, style, approaches. Shaw's is more poetic, Firth's more specific, method. Both are excellent examples of the craft. Firth appears more lobotomized than ect'd, but the point is damage. Done by those with power to those without. Which is almost all Pinter wrote about really. Imagine this monologue in Soviet Russia, or Argentina....were those "hallucinations" or merely inconvenient observations?
I've been to fearter...I'm still free
Thanks for posting,I really enjoyed it.
Can anyone tell me what program this was from?I would like to see all the pieces.
Thanks
I like it.
This video should be the first result when you google "acting"
Excellent post. Do you have the whole programme?
Merveilleux Colin qui donne tout de lui même.
Ce ne doit pas être favcile de commenter assis.
La respiration n est pas complète.
Enn nage je suppose..
Pinter pinter déjà entendu.
Je vais voir
@NA3LKER
Glad to help!
Nay, it's Colin and his not mine doing, isn't it?
But you believe every word he says
Thanks for posting this important piece of art but unfortunately the subtitles are incorrect right off the bat. The first line should begin: 'About a week later...' Not: 'That's a week later.' Maybe this is because it's voice-recognition software generating the text, but either way Harold would surely be pretty pissed off about it.
Reasonable Michael Caine impression. I’m not bad at it myself; I should put up a clip of my own.
@forevergreening
Hello thanks for the reply.I tried to respond via messaging but it wouldnt send for some reason
That's a shame.Would you happen to know the name of the broadcast.I might be able to find it directly through the bbc.
Thanks
Conor
@jake1991 Probably due to the UK connection, I reckon.
With all due respect, I don’t think Firth has done it justice here. Aston isn’t a simpleton, and he’s played him as such. Pinter intended Aston to be more understanding and benevolent than this.
He sounded like michealkain
Doesn't compare to Robert Shaw's version.
My*
Darcy with that accent...NOOOO!!!!! Think of your reputation Mr Darcy, what would Lady Catherine DeBurgh say.
I agree with jake1991, he does sound a little like Michael Caine..
FIrth or Shaw....or both? And why? Would love to hear opinions...
Shaw. By a mile. It's absolutely authentic because of his timing and what he doesn't say but you know he's thinking and it's as clear as his words. Firth's not authentic, as good he is in his technique, and because is not so deep into the character as Shaw, there is a difference that is quite outstanding between the two. Different life experiences, I suppose.
Where do you train?
@NA3LKER why? are you going to copy it?
guts thee
Firth is a much better actor than he is usually given credit for (though that's partly his own fault for playing too many one-dimensional characters in flimsy rom-coms) but he doesn't convince in this role. He spends the whole monologue attempting to hide his RP accent, and what emerges is neither a working-class accent or a natural-sounding voice that belongs to the character. Aston should be telling this story as 'matter of fact' as possible in the beginning, gradually finding that his painful memories draw him back into the world of the hospital. Firth here starts with Aston already emotionally affected by the story, which leaves him nowhere to go. He's manipulating the audience into feeling sorry for him, which isn't Aston at all. There's no element of surprise here, just a good actor showing us a few tricks. (CassiusRoma now stands back and waits for dog's abuse from Firth fans)!
I theenks he doud a bluudy gud job mate,,,,i does I duz,,,,do one betta an put it un da Bluudy you tube mate,,,shew me ya work mate ,,,shew me ya work,,,,
So I'm guessing you'd like Shaw's better?
Who did NOT ask for sympathy.
But gained mine in spades.
He's doing 'Michael Caine meets E.L.Wisty'. He didn't need to do it Cockney at all really.
Yeah but this is a stand alone piece, which is a different animal. Mr. Firth is aware of the requirements of the role as he played it earlier in his career.
Honestly mate I can understand where you are coming from but I have been given this monologue to perform for my exams and it is bloody hard because with this character you don't have a massive chance to portray emotion due to what has happened to him and if you look at Firth's version more closely he doesn't actually get emotional into about halfway through it. He isn't pausing because of the emotion itself but of the fact that he can't form his thoughts properly which leads to a great and emotional part when Aston is explaining this and you can actually see a tear in Firth's eye. Honestly I think he has done a great job as Aston and I will be definitely using him for my inspiration
US the get
he just can't cut it
Totally miscast