alan bates

[fileg]

I just heard that Alan Bates died last night. How much he gave me - from the madness of King of Hearts, to the glory of Oliver's Travels, which turned me on to Alan Plater - a gift in itself.

(Wouldn't he have made an amazing Denethor?)

Joy and Light, and the heart's swift returning...

Comments

[liars-dance.livejournal.com]

A sad day indeed. A wonderful man and a marvellous actor. And yes, he could have carried Denethor very well.

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(Wouldn't he have made an amazing Denethor?)

Omigosh, I was thinking that exact thing when I saw the picture (and I've never seen him before). o.O

[fileg.livejournal.com]

You should see him in King Of Hearts! There are many ways to approach madness...


Oh, he would have been lovely! This pic -- that is the face of the Denethor I tried all summer to understand.

[mrkinch.livejournal.com]

oh, fuck. I didn't know, head in the... ground as usual. Tom Jones was a glimpse other worlds and I'll never forget it.

Alan Bates as...

[(Anonymous)]

Sad news.

Wouldn't he have made an amazing Denethor?

He did a magnificent turn as Claudius in Mel Gibson's film version of Hamlet. I can easily see him conveying the nobility of the Denethor Tolkien described (Pippin's observations of him and Gandalf together are very interesting) whilst still giving us the undercurrents of pride and despair that warred within Gondor's last Ruling Steward. There was no subtlety to the Denethor I saw in PJ's RotK (or TTT-EE).

~Nessime