Bad acting, and could anyone understand a word they said?

"It must be thought on. If it pass against us,
We lose the better half of our possession:
For all the temporal lands which men devout
By testament have given to the church
Would they strip from us; being valued thus:
As much as would maintain, to the king's honour,
Full fifteen earls and fifteen hundred knights,
Six thousand and two hundred good esquires;
And, to relief of lazars and weak age,
Of indigent faint souls past corporal toil.
A hundred almshouses right well supplied;
And to the coffers of the king beside,
A thousand pounds by the year: thus runs the bill."


Im sorry, but someone tell me what the hell that even means? Now how is someone supposed to understand something like that when its quickly said in a heavy British accent(southern hillbilly American accent for you Brits)?

Yeah, sure. Bad acting? You are american, right? So why don't you watch "Hard to kill" instead and stop bothering us? This is one of the best movies ever made. The acting is superb. Would you like them to have a texan accent, or what the hell? It's Shakespeare. Do you really despise William Shakespeare? What do you read, then? Dan Brown?

"Bad acting? You are american, right? So why don't you watch "Hard to kill" instead and stop bothering us?"

Blah blah, Americans are stupid, blah blah, Americans are morons.

Why don't you tell me which deity it was that breathed such great intelligence and appreciation for art into the minds of YOUR countrymen.

I got it, thanks.

...and so it goes, and so it goes.

Dear Troll,

I am Swedish and I have no problem understanding the english spoken in this film. It is crisp clear and beatifully spoken. Here is a hint: Shakespeare was a playwrite, so if you don't like theatre, it is best to stay away from his work.

I believe your aim with your trolling was to, by means of spurting stupid and uneducated statements, start an avalanche of antiamerican sentiment so that you, and other trolls, can show up and shout that anyone not agreeing with you are anti-american and that their hateful ideas should not be taken seriously, so that you could feel good about the only thing in your life you perceive as being worth anything, i.e. being american. _That_ is sad. Now, don't you realize: you don't have to bait for these sentiments anymore?

Frankly, it is getting rather tired: american troll shows up on message board, dissing a non american film by pretending to be, or by actually being, stupid, and then lean back and enjoy the ensuing flame war between their marks and the stupid americans (n.b. not the-stupid-americans, but the-stupid-specimens-of- the-american-species)who run to their aid wielding the dumbest, most ignorant arguments ever conceived by man.

IMDB is supposed to be a place where film is discussed- film from all the world. It is in the english language because a lot of people are able to use it and because the IMDB people are english speaking, but it is not a purely american or indeed anglo-saxon-centered site. You can find films from the entire world and discuss them with people who actually understand them. Unfortunately, it has now turned into a neverending "youguyshateusamericans" used to increase the isolationism and feelings of we against them that americans use to comfort themselves in a world where their popularity is in an all time low.

In short - people like you, use a place like this in order to tell yourselves that people don't like you because they are ignorant, by enticing replies from stupid individuals in an eternal circular argument.

Please do it somewhere else, as some of us actually care about film.

I really don't know what you mean by "heavy British accents." The accents in the film were perfectly normal and intelligible. As for the "arcane old English," I can only say that anyone who doesn't understand or appreciate Shakespeare should simply not be watching a movie adapted from one of his plays. It's a Shakespeare film, so of course it's going to have Shakespearian dialogue. He wrote most of his famous works around 1600, and the fact they've persevered for 400 years should say something of their quality, not to mention the quality of his language.

You also hate theater, apparently. Again, why did you watch this film if you can't understand English, don't like Shakespeare, and hate the theater?

"Go to Red Alert!"
"Are you absolutely sure, sir? It does mean changing the bulb."

This has to be a wind-up. Nobody - not even an American - could be so stupid as to air such prejudiced and ill-informed views, thus advertising their ignorance to the whole world. I suppose it's a given in today's world that the words "crass, stupid, American" are all natural bedfellows, but this really takes the cake!

If he doesn't appreciate Shakespeare and the richness of his language - still vital and mesmerising after more than four centuries - why watch it in the first place?

Then, having watched, why not shut up and try to learn. After all, even the most arrogant ignoramus should have enough sense to realise that if a playwright's work is still popular after 400 years, it may be worth at least another look.

As for the accents, it is an English play after all, and the language many of us speak and appreciate for its richness is English, not some bastardised trans-Atlantic imitation thereof.

Then there is the acting! I doubt a finer cast of Shakespearean interpreters could have been assembled, and they really do work so well together that the entire production is - to this watcher anyway - a joy to behold.

It is little wonder Americans are so universally disliked when one has to bear witness to such arrogant ignorance as that displayed by xagent003.

In closing, as Spike Milligan used to say, "Love, light and peace."

If you can't find the documentary "The Story of English" (hosted by newsman Robert MacNeil), try to locate a copy of the book. There's an entire section devoted to how dramatically Shakespeare influenced the English language. In fact, if you are a native speaker of English, it's a safe bet that not a single day of your life goes by without your saying or hearing a passage from Shakespeare. Quotations and expressions galore come directly from Shakespeare, two in Henry V being "band of brothers" and "household words."

http://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa042400a.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198245/

If you can't understand Shakespeare due to the vocabulary and cultural references (an understandable enough thing), get an annotated copy of the play. I liked the Folger editions when I was in high school. They had the text on one page and explanations on the facing page.

You don't understand British accents? Watch more PBS and BBC. Listen to the BBC radio programs. It'll come eventually.

As for the acting being bad, nope, sorry, you are on your own there. Much of the English-speaking world doesn't agree with you. Look who's in the cast:

Paul Scofield (the king of France), Best Actor, A Man for All Seasons
Judi Dench (Mistress Quickly), Best Supporting Actress, Shakespeare in Love
Ian Holm (Fluellen), an acclaimed stage, screen, and TV actor
Derek Jacobi (Chorus), another acclaimed stage, screen, and TV actor
Emma Thompson (Katherine), Best Actress, Howards End, and Best Screenplay Adaptation, Sense and Sensibility

And so on. Talent galore!


Stamp out silly threads! How many "so-and-so looks just like so-and-so" discussions do we need?

Wow! Where to begin?

First off, I'd like to apologize to the rest of the world for the ignorance of some of my countrymen.

Secondly, the language is ENGLISH not American. The writer was an ENGLISHMAN, not an American. The play and subsequent film(s) are about an ENGLISH king. If the play was "Henry's Fifth Avenue" it would have been filmed with an American New York accent. If it was "Henry's Fifth of Moonshine", it would likely be in an American Hillbilly accent.

Go back and watch the latest Brittany Spears report on E! News. I'm quite certain that it has been recorded in an accent that you will be able to comprehend.