I'm surprised the famous closing lines aren't quoted here....."It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It's a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known."
Talking about maintaining a positive outlook while facing death! I hope to remember that line about having a better rest than I've ever known when my number's up.
As much as I love this movie I get impatient waiting for Carton's last lines spoken in Ronald Colman's magnificent voice. When I first watched this movie in my AP English class over 20 years ago most of the movie was decent to kill a class period but those last lines stuck with me all these years because of their simplicity and their beauty.
You have them transcribed here, I'll try to add them to the quotes page if possible :
Suddenly, I want to weep. But I most hold my tears in check, lest they think it is myself I weep for. And who would weep for Sydney Carton? (guillotine falls, crowd cheers) A little time ago, none in all the world. But somebody will weep for me now. And that knowledge redeems a worthless life. Worthless but for this final moment, which makes it all worthwhile. It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known. (guillotine beheads him).
Suddenly, I want to weep. But I most hold my tears in check, lest they think it is myself I weep for. And who would weep for Sydney Carton? A little time ago, none in all the world. But somebody will weep for me now. And that knowledge redeems a worthless life. Worthless but for this final moment, which makes it all worthwhile. It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.
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Seems to me that the seamstress didn't exist in the book. They added this character to the film and it was good.
We are all globe villagers.
Oh, the little seamstress was a definite character in the book....*Eye to eye, voice to voice, hand to hand, heart to heart, these two children of the Universal Mother, else so wide apart and differing, have come together on the dark highway, to repair home together, and to rest in her bosom.* Such beautiful words! I love this book.
shareTrue, true.
A wonderful film, and the way Carlton's lines are delivered would make the wait worthwhile even if the rest of the movie was atrocious.
Too bad the rich and the masters of the universe of this country have not taken this movie to heart; there is much to be learned. Taxes and spreading the wealth and greed. Freedom. Love. Sacrifice. A wonderful movie, a classic to be cherished.
every time, the courage and love captured in those few lines is overwhelming; especially as delivered by Colman.
shareI rather liked Wiliam Shatner's delivery (considering the setting and context) in Star Trek II.
Men, if you're willing to fight for our people, I want you!
Great movie, great book. Great lessons for everyone in it too. I liked the comment about Shatner's delivery; of all the people who I have heard say the lines, only Shatner rivals Colman in delivery. What a great inspiration to incorporate that theme of self-sacrifice into ST II, its one of the things that makes that movie one I can watch again and again.
A movie people should see once a year, and lines that everyone should know by heart.
Yup, definitely.
shareI remember the "Suddenly I want to weep..." line is spoken by Dirk Bogarde in the 50's version of ATOTC. Very sad.
share"Suddenly I want to weep" is not in the book. None of that is, (except for the famous close), where did you get it from?
shareYes, I just finished reading ATOTC last night and, yes, there is indeed a little seamstress and Sydney Carton does not actually say the famous lines, "It is a far far better thing..." His last words out loud may have been "I am the Resurrection and the Life..." (I was reading the free version on my Kindle, so maybe it was actually "and the Light" and this was a typo--lots of typos in those free versions.)
The famous lines are the last lines of the book. Sydney Carton is imagining the family as they tell the story about him to their children. The story teller, Dickens, surmises that these would have been the words Sydney would have written as his last thoughts if he were given the chance, and they would live on for the family to tell.
Of course, they had to take some liberties to make this into a movie. So who better to say these lines than Ronald Coleman. Some of the points of view in this book are very complex and you would have to simplify a lot to make straightforward movie. But what a story!
Good note. In my dog-eared copy of ATOTC, dating back to 1970 when I was in the 12th grade (ouch!), there is the seamstress as you note. And as you note, his last thoughts are written (but not spoken aloud):
"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place—then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement—and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.
It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
In the movie, as Carton/Colman begins his ascent to the guillotine, the camera pans skyward and you hear his last lines - his last thoughts before the blade falls. "It is a far better..." Then on screen comes the verse: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." And thus concludes a really great movie with great acting, marvelous dialog and much in noble sentiment and redemption.
"Suddenly I want to weep" is not in the book. None of that is, (except for the famous close), where did you get it from?
I wrote it down because I was so moved by Carton's speech. The fact that he gave up his life to save another man truly made me cry too.
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