Armando Iannucci in Milton's Heaven and Hell - BBC Documentary (2009).
An entertaining and enthusiastic celebration of Milton's well-known, seldom read, epic poem, Paradise Lost. Iannucci has a genuine and contagious love for the poem. His readings, while holding dog-eared and broken backed editions, are surprisingly revelatory. He transfuses fresh hot blood into the language.
His ambulatory reading and gloss on these famous lines - around 7:46 - goes from political double-speak to the concentration camps in a flash.
The mind is its own place, and in it self
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n.
For me, it was the hook. After that, I was in for the duration of the documentary.
The best online Paradise Lost is at Dartmouth:
https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/text.shtml
The best audio book is narrated by Simon Vance:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Paradise-Lost-Audiobook/B002V9Z6GG
Also, Iannuci's Death of Stalin is brilliant. And, of course, Veep is well-acclaimed.
No comments:
Post a Comment