''Now is the winter of our discontent'' Soliloquy - Laurence Olivier

I heard some years ago that a camping supplies shop had a sale and had a banner "Now is the winter of our discount tents". Now that was wit.

I lived in England from 1963-66 as the son of a US Air Force serviceman. I went to a small American school on the base and my teacher for two years was Ms. Gloria Magnuson. She was a Shakespeare "freak" as we called her and she took us on field trips to Stratford Upon Avon and to plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre numerous times. I saw Ian Holm play Richard III and I was hooked for life. I saw David Warner play Hamlet and was hooked into eternity. I saw Mr. Holm play Henry V and that was the icing on the cosmic cake. I was 12 and 13 years old. Ms. Magnuson passed on many years back but I thank her to this day for taking a bunch of Yank kids out of their comfort zone and turning them on to the genius of Mr. Shakespeare. Rest in Peace, learned teacher. I miss you...

Imagine walking into the wrong room and this guy just starts talking to you like this.

I can't remember my own phone number and then there's this guy.

When it's done right Shakespeare is completely modern.

It’s wonderful how he goes further away from the camera when he wants to be theatrical and rhetorical, then moves closer when he wants to be intimate and insinuating. It’s a clever blend of acting in two different mediums in one speech.

Sir Laurence Olivier must have done this scene a thousand times. He perfected it with every fiber of his body.

One of the greatest soliloquies of Shakespeare's works. Envy is timeless.

Genius writer, genius actor. Doesn't get better than this.

All done in one glorious sustained take. This man had no equal.❤

The direction here is just superb. When he says "but yet I know not how to get the crown" and pulls the camera along with him, you feel totally immersed.

The use of lighting and shadow is just amazing

Perfection. Olivier veaves two soliloquies together. The opening one from Richard III and one from Henry VI part 3. They compliment each other brilliantly. His delivery is awesome. Cutting each vowel and consonant, underlining the meaning of each phrase to clarify the poetry for modern audiences unfamiliar with Elizabethean prose. Genius.

"Love doth forswore me in my mother's womb..." Damn, that's cold.

I've seen this many, many times and am still left grinning ear to ear and shaking my head with delight each time....hugely funny and marvelously devilish, he proclaims himself a villain and gets us on his side. Supernaturally masterful.

Olivier’s best work, I think. Mesmeric, hitting every beat of language with precision, revealing the disdain for his brother, the self-loathing and pity. Insulting himself to beat everyone else to the punch, he does so to justify his evil deeds to come. He could be speaking plain English and it would be as clear. Notice also this is all one tracking shot. A master at work at the peak of his confidence and skills.

I've never heard anyone do it better. Brilliant. And it just now occurred to me this is where Rowan Atkinson derived his Blackadder (the first one).

You can spend a life time unpacking just five minutes of Shakespearean dialogue. Absolute genius.

No one has ever equaled Olivier's performance of this role. And indeed many other Shakespearean roles. I saw him do Othello and the Shylock on stage back in the 60's and it was gripping.

When I was a kid this scene scared the living daylights out of me. Now as an adult it's one of the most exquisite things I've ever seen. Olivier was cut from a very different cloth ❤