Armando Iannucci in Milton's Heaven and Hell BBC 2 (2009)

[@b.alexanderjohnstone9774]

You know you've made it when ... the BBC let you do a programme on your uni thesis! Thank you, this really is such a treat.

[@wasteland01]

This is a great gift. I am rereading Milton in a whole new way. Thank you, sir and to the people or person who put this on KZbin thank you so much.

[@curtlafond2731]

Oh my, what a fabulous treatment! I know the goal is to bring Milton to a wider audience by sharing the enthusiasm, amazement, power of the poetry and politics, but for those of us already of Milton’s party, we know where Ianucci is going. Here comes books are not dead things. The blind professor, here comes the late espoused saint. Now the man who serves prisoners defends poetry’s liberating power and we’re off to think of Milton in the Tower. Ianucci’s film gives Milton the fabulous, lively, human treatment he deserves. Bravo.

[@Hythlodaeus69]

Him walking down the streets of London doing an exposé on working people as the fallen angels doomed to an eternity of suffering... pure comedy 😂

[@cheerdown87]

I love it when he sits with the 1st edition and just starts reading it; the excitement is palpable and contagious!

[@gryeskedal6300]

Just watched it here from the west coast of Norway, from and island . I am speachless!! I have to go out on the streets and tell it from the mountains!!

[@Toria_official_1]

Had to watch this for an assignment but I have to say I was quite intrigued and entertained. This was well informed.

[@pchabanowich]

Thank you for so tender a glimpse into your wondrous mind and heart, too, Armando, and Milton's...🌹

[@clairejones1063]

This poem maybe difficult to read but it is flooded with energy and beautiful language. Milton wrote most of this amazing piece of literature whilst imprisoned and blind!!! Take a bit of time to listen and read it. It is simply beautiful. Thanks for this video, it helped me greatly when I was writing during my undergraduate Xxxx

[@melvastrong3048]

This is one of my favorite documentaries. THANK YOU.

[@lohkoonhoong6957]

Armando, your passion is infectious; We have started to read PL again, Using your pointers; we see and feel the Zing of his craft, as we read aloud the Text and, honest to Milton, hear the waves.

[@juliettejones6091]

That's an amazing poem.

[@ishmaelhope2516]

This is a delightful documentary. Armando Iannucci's enthusiasm is infectious, and his erudition is humane and joyous. I want to learn about and read more of Milton, after being inspired by Iannucci's word-loving, adventurous exploration of the great writer's masterpiece.

[@leonkirby8295]

Just listened to several Harvard lectures On Milton. I found them tedious without the light of joy or love. Thank you for sharing your love and brilliance

[@ayacheadouane1590]

I am an Algerian born man who is fond of the British poets and authors such as : the great poet John Milton, William Shakspeare , Charles Dickens, Jane Austen,charlotte bronte , William Wordsworth, Joseph Conrad, Anne Bradstreet and many other great writers who shaped the English Literature . However I am deeply flabbergasted at hearing some British born young people who don't know John Milton. That's a shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Yes...but unfortunately it's true. But thanks for your comment . Algeria is a fascinating country with a bloody and complex history .And , I hope , a bright future ?

[@blackmetalmagick1]

Great find, such a shame how many people haven't heard of Milton

[@RottenDoctorGonzo]

I don't know in which part of the world are you, but here in this country everybody knows Milton. All usually by age 17.

[@joolartey]

Cause people dont waste their time reading fictional books and its not even a book like twilight or harry porter

[@sadinboton1487]

I have heard of John Milton his lost paradise maybe a decade before I learnt the my first word in English.

[@anonb4632]

@@joolartey Less of a waste of time than crappy Hollywood films. I found that last Star Wars a challenge to get through, more than this.

[@joeyharper4483]

It was a requirement for me in my 9th grade at Hanceville high school in Alabama. Funny thing a few years before I found out about Paradise lost because of the band Danzig. I aced the test highest among my class when I was normally among the middle in grades. Definitely the highlight of my school years just before I quituated to go to work.

[@irishelk3]

Blake did give him more credit, he was consumed with Milton, he did a whole series of paintings just for Paradise lost, loads in fact. Blake himself wrote an enormous poem called Milton; i have a copy of one edition from 1907.

[@ponceperales1041]

Today is January 27, 2021. The physical toll of Covid 19, a year later, has been devastating and it is wreaking havoc around the world. It helps to spending time with good company. Blake’s Milton sounds great. A gift. Thank you. Hope you and your family are well.

[@markgrenier6787]

Bravo food sir...bravo

[@collinkody3122]

i dont mean to be offtopic but does someone know a way to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb forgot my password. I love any help you can offer me!

[@rowanbraden8406]

@Collin Kody Instablaster ;)

[@collinkody3122]

@Rowan Braden i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@gryeskedal6300]

This was so very interesting!! I have been starting and pausing, and writing down almost every word. In my diary. I am so greatful for this production!!!

[@xuruiyu]

"In between bouts of Club Penguin" Truly, a Paradise was lost....

[@Vcosn]

This deserves more views, just like more people need to read 'Paradise Lost'. I was mesmerised when I first read it.

[@sebastianfrancis7818]

Milton's imaginations and the details in them are fantastic.

[@abaschowdhary6015]

Such type of documentaries are very good especially about the awareness which people don't have

[@suerichards2563]

I have been struggling to get my head around Paradise Lost for my English MA, this helped immensely, thank you x

[@moesyah]

Iannucci's exploration is so well done. Wow.

[@bobnlouie]

Thank you for putting this up. Never been interested enough to read Paradise Lost, this has changed my mind.

[@sweynskarilsen9105]

I .Gate, you won't regret it. Look at Dante's Divine comedy as well, just as excellent as Paradise lost.

[@Shub99]

Excellent documentary ... Genuine excitement & interest

[@suzifloren6090]

Just listened to audio of this. Wonderful!

[@maxbruno3614]

Wonderful. Great tribute to a great poet..!!!!

[@lohkoonhoong6957]

Something is still seething in Paradise; The fallen angels are not giving up. Since God and the Devil are immortal, They shall engage each other forever.

[@strangerinwhite]

I love John Milton as well other great poets like John Keats, Percy Shelly, Homer, Dante Alighieri, and etc. Let, it surprise people to learn that I am an American with only a high school degree.

[@senecanzallanute4066]

Not surprised at all, Jerome, if you were born with a poetical soul your schooling does not matter. In Tuscany, Italy, it is customary for cooks (not the most educated folks in the world) to know the Divine Comedy by heart. BTW, if you like Milton, you'll like Ariosto, whose verse Milton uses multiple times in PL.

[@cantona7449]

The comma after ‘Let’ nearly choked me. 🤣 kudos my American friend. Love from England.

[@sylwianiemiec3784]

Background sounds are soooo well done.

[@fisherroastedpeanut]

This was one of the greatest things I've ever watched.

[@colinellesmere]

Fantastic tribute to PL. A travesty so few read this masterpiece. Like the end of Ulysses full of kindness. We are on our own, but not really. The human condition is universal.

[@vaughangarrick]

Thank for this. I've had paradise lost on my shelf for over 10 years on my shelf and have read a few passages but needed something to spur me on. This might just do it.

[@preserver7777]

Areopagitica is among history's most influential and impassioned philosophical defences of the principle of a right to freedom of speech and expression. Many of its expressed principles have formed the basis for modern justifications.

[@bryonystocker4556]

preserver7777 1 | /

[@joenicholls3131]

Fantastic documentary, love Armando

[@markrodeo420]

Milton plus MBV makes way more sense than I would have thought

[@classicalguitargirl]

Hi Father John Milton the Elder also wrote beautiful music for viol consorts and voice.

[@Peteroski]

Can't believe I find this so interesting!

[@liberprimus6874]

Great documentary with a nice hook.

[@elpenduloyelequilibr]

fantastic book and documentary.!!! thanks, from Argentina.

[@shabirmagami146]

Brilliant!!! ...thank you ❤

[@DigilusionStudios]

Satan waking up with a Hell of a Hangover? Great quotes? Creation? Angels throwing MOUNTAINS at each other? Its a great book to be read many times. I just want to see a movie now with angels throwing mountains at one another.

[@sherryhuang8420]

Thank you very much!

[@tonyduncan9852]

An hour ago I was lying on a beach thinking about Paradise Lost. I return to my apartment, and after the death of Stalin, this turns up next. Hail Google.

[@bath_neon_classical]

No one in this country cares about epic poetry, it requires something greater than our sub-goldfish levels of concentration.

[@jota55581]

Very few people in the world are spiritual that is why they are manipulated.

[@LouisCann]

this might be a stretch, but does anyone know the name of the song that starts at 24:22 ??????

[@nodisalsi]

About the critique 26minutes in, we read on: … I formd them free, and free they must remain, Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change Thir nature, and revoke the high Decree Unchangeable, Eternal, which ordain'd Thir freedom, they themselves ordain'd thir fall." It makes sense to me. In my words, for God's design for the human, Free Will is essential. Even if it's known that humans will destroy themselves with it, and hence His creation with it, He will not change this design.

[@invoiceverse5363]

Truly interesting!

[@syedaridazahra2507]

Excellent!

[@simonereckhaus]

Here knows when at the start, weird but an absolute banger

[@winwinmilieudefensie7757]

A river of bliss .. i just imagined the carebears in the clouds and stuff ... i m not a kid btw .... but stilll

[@sadinboton1487]

Milton is there greatest writer in English.

[@juneblake3651]

This is excellent !

[@mukthinair4326]

The poet of the greatest spiritual epic in the English language forgotten in the land of his birth. The political progenitor of Shelley, the literary father of Blake. Great tri ute by Wordsworth: "Milton! though shouldst be living at this hour:/England hath need of thee:' Prophetic words. What would Milton have said about Britain of today?

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Yes indeed. ! Our middle class intellectuals and guardians of Culture ( yes the BBC ) spend all their time apologizing that Milton , Shakespeare , Blake , Austen etc are white . Benjamin Zephaniah (!) is considered the equal of Eliot and Keats. Unbelievable....but no one dares to question that openly. Self censorship now governs a large part of academic life. The complete surrender of taste and judgement through fear of being accused of Racism is all pervasive .

[@jota55581]

Does any one know the name of the blind chap whom Armando read the poem to ?

[@marukaheaney4674]

Fantastic!!

[@kurisensei]

thank you

[@tallus4807]

The magic of iambic pentameter

[@yasminasaurus]

Were those primary school children being taught Paradise Lost? when I was their age I was studying Lord of the Flies😂

[@ClayFeet1984]

“Hosanna” isn’t “like an angels saying hurrah” its a plea to “save or preserve us”

[@smhomsi1647]

Amazing ...

[@ipshitajee]

Just some points for myself 38:28 point of conflict 39:18 blindness 41:53 fall (beyond human sight) 42:51 she plucked, she eat

[@moviesclipsandsongs5949]

i wonder why the forbidden tree's fruit is called the tree of knowledge ?

[@2msvalkyrie529]

By eating the fruit we learned that we are mortals and must eventually die. Until then we had lived in blissful ignorance .

[@ronbarzilai5705]

40:17 That's Sonnet 23

[@YunKim-f4w]

Notes for class: Day 2 - I though it’s interesting that Milton gained inspiration from Galileo in Italy -> he’s writing is scientific

[@YunKim-f4w]

Charles burning the book is shocking

[@shabirmagami146]

brilliant 💌💌💌

[@MrRobfullarton]

Creation is not dull, look at the night sky, observe the differences of the animals, one man sees the abstract painting and meaning in a moment, another man can spend his life in vain and see nothing in a lifetime, therefore he declares life to be a nothing. Look at the night sky and know there is no dull God, behind creation.

[@fourdeck33]

Look at the night sky and know there is no God, and no need for one.

[@QHarefield]

26:53 and following "I've no idea what that means. I assume you don't, either." Really? Even I understand it, and I didn't spend three years studying Milton. It's not that hard!!

[@tryharder75]

My brain is cahming…Ianucci and Milton

[@AnIdiotsLantern]

Well after all of these years I think he finally finished that PHD

[@Le_Marquis_de_Faux_Images]

Milton you savage.

[@b.alexanderjohnstone9774]

Sad but revealing that only older people even knew who he was. And this is progress? We are so much less educated than 12 year boys 50 years ago.

[@paradisefound3536]

It is a testament to the adaptogenic nature of art that, while some clearly see this poem as evidence of Milton's holy devotion, I can see nothing but an atheists manifesto.

[@nassyfesharaki4132]

great and penetrating...

[@annodomini7887]

What ever happened to Michael wood quality of documentaries??? Now they’re all dramatic and can’t stick to the point.

[@rolandhawken6628]

Bloody hell ,mate Slough is hell

[@80thiconoclast]

Why is "darkness visible" so clever? It's just like looking at anything in the color black. Its being dark doesn't make it invisible. Just thought Armando's excitement about this phase was strange.

[@Ronariverah]

Why is it not great he is excited?

[@LOCKEYJ]

He’s not saying the scene is dark, but that the darkness itself is visible, this is a tangible form of dark, this is a dark so dark its bright.

[@UmarFarooq-mm7be]

maybe its like now he is blind and in this, he can well see the pictures of what he is going to write about.

[@freezerjoe]

At 2:42 is he sitting on the toilet?

[@keysemerson3771]

Oh my glorious God in Heaven! An over-extended contrivance based on an ancient book of myths and dubious history. The epitome of an epic poem and in English, no less. Milton was one of the great masters of the art of saying much about a little. Wade into it. Dive deeply into the depths for hours upon hours. An intellectual four ring circus, indeed, and he did accomplish his purpose. He made a name for himself. Oh Milton! Wondrous Milton! Where would I be without thy reflected glory shining on me?!

[@anonb4632]

Milton didn't "spin for Britain", he span for England since the UK didn't exist yet. I know Ianucci has Scottish origins, and he should know the difference pre-1707.

[@user-ez9is7lb9p]

I believe the commonwealth did include Scotland at one point

[@anonb4632]

@@user-ez9is7lb9p There was an invasion but it did not succeed in taking control.of Scotland, only some parts of it.

[@user-ez9is7lb9p]

@@anonb4632 which part wasn’t part of the commonwealth, the royalist rising in the highlands was defeated

[@anonb4632]

@@user-ez9is7lb9p That's not actually true. They never got full control over the West Highlands or most of the islands. (It's worth pointing out the legitimate Scottish parliament had little influence on these areas either.)

[@user-ez9is7lb9p]

@@anonb4632 can’t seem to find any information on that

[@sushmitadey9779]

Can you please do one on Sylvia Platt. She deserves more credit than her ex husband.

[@Poemsapennyeach]

Ridiculously hysterical. We are not so stupid that we need this hype. And of course a person with eyesight can see darkness...I've had enough of this ego trip after 7 mins.

[@jackcooper3307]

I don’t think you’re taking the phrase’s grammatical construction into consideration. It’s a sort of manifested darkness

[@priscillaviolette8153]

Why do people always mistake that "THE FRUIT OF THE FORBIDDEN TREE" is an APPLE...???It is not mentioned as an Apple in the Bible.It is mentioned as a Fruit.

[@LOCKEYJ]

Priscilla Madaleine in a weird way because of Milton. Prior to Milton people made many assumptions about what the fruit may have been, art has depicted apples, pomegranates, grapes, and various other stuff. Milton uses the word Apple twice in paradise lost and it soon after becomes the commonly assumed forbidden fruit... however in Miltons own time the word Apple could still be used as a generic word for seed bearing fruit. When people come along later, after the meaning of ‘apple’ has become restricted- it just reenforces the common conception of the fruit as an apple

[@guyboxerdog]

I'm surprised. I thought it was well known. I love all fictionalised Christian hell mythology so this was always a pull to me. I always thought it was a staple. Even more so since Se7en and The Devils Advocate

[@christiantaylor1195]

Blazing cressets!

[@JohnSmith-qk8rj]

Omg! Building *back* better.

[@donaldreed2351]

Milton doesn't justify "the ways of God to men", he justifies the ways of Milton to King Charles I of England. Is it an accident that "Satan" is one of the greatest characters in world literature?

[@semipreciousrocks]

This reading of the book on youtube made me fall DEEPLY in love with the poem, the language, Milton. It's abridged (I believe) but the voice acting is unparalleled: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fXqxq4h4q7ZopNk

[@LearnEnglishESL]

Man is flawed and weak but he still must strive to gain a real knowledge of his true “self.”___ “True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.” - Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Baha'i Faith

[@derekstynes9631]

He looked like Cromwell to me .

[@ShinraXSoldier]

Listen to : Elend - Lecons De Tenebres . Thank me later.

[@True_Christian]

Really dumb comment by the narrator at the end when he said Milton really wanted to explain the ways of man to other men. No, he didn't. He said exactly what he meant to be the purpose of his poem at the start: to inform humans about the ways of God.

[@louthegiantcookie]

As a Christian, what do you yourself make of Paradise Lost?

[@Moronvideos1940]

I saw the drooling spit coming out of his mouth during his highly agitated talking ...........

[@mikenowacki9729]

12:40

[@apope06]

GREAT QUESTION.! Jesus not only did not have to die but he could have died of anything. He could have died of sickness. This is why I am not Christian. It is clearly just a story and is meant for dramatic effect. Would anyone pray to a God who dies of sickness rather than being a martyr?

[@MrRobfullarton]

The Hebrew Books (the old testament) have in continuity the story that sin needs to be answered to a blood sacrifice, as sin is a spiritual death, so the Jews used to sacrifice their sins via the atoning sacrifice of a ram (male lamb) upon an altar. Jesus of course did not have to die (and I once wondered that years ago as a boy in the church and felt it too be so harsh my love for him as a man and it made me really think hard on this) he made a voluntary sacrifice in the place of the guilty...its like a novel with recurring themes...on why he was crucified with the guilty criminals. He stated that he was born for a certain purpose and that purpose was to brake the power of sin over men and that he always knew he would have to die a terrible death, and the cross was meant to be temporary separation from God. Its more of argument for the existence of the supernatural, for you, as I believe and know that there is such a think as miracles and healings in this world and that the physical world is only a temporary thing and a reflection of the spiritual world is far greater and outlasting than this present world.

[@DeepfriedNutz]

apope06 You clearly need to read the bible.

[@yvesklein5414]

why is he wandering around the streets trying to read, followed by a hand-held camera? I'd like to hear what he has to say without the awful music and dissonant film editing

[@jackbuckley7816]

The constant camera movement is quite annoying, along with non-stop snippets of modern urban scenes, having nothing to do with the topic, except when he's visiting actual Milton-related sites. This is why I generally prefer straight lectures from behind a podium or at a table. Filmmakers of today believe that viewers won't still for anything that, at first glance, seems dry, sedate, intellectual, or boring--hence, the constantly-moving, at times almost-nauseating, disjointed, hyper-paced imagery, flashing by incongruously.

[@bayreuth79]

I had no idea that John Milton was a good postmodernist! Armando's interpretations of Milton are so anachronistic that its ridiculous. He attempts to turn Milton into a secular humanist, which he most definitely was not. That might be what Armando takes away from Milton's work; but it is evidently not Milton himself.

[@benjoseph8387]

Religionists can turn Jesus Christ into a secularist.

[@anonb4632]

How the heck could eleven year olds study this?

[@MegaMementoMori]

Dude, not cool! In the 4th minute you tell us spoilers that Eve will eat the apple :( I am only in book 6, so now I know what will happen! :p

[@WmThomasSherman]

Milton's is an ultra paganism, because the only heroes he has are gods; whereas in Homer and Virgil the only heroes are people; so that Milton views people with less sympathy or admiration than a pagan poet would. This however is not because Milton is a Christian, rather it is because he is proud Milton.

[@alanparker5966]

Wm. Thomas Sherman I beg to differ. A reading of Samson Agonistes reveals deep insights into humility.

[@philipbrooks402]

At 8.30 Armando introduces some 'meaningless phrases' or some of the earliest known spin as he calls it. Does any body know, but isn't it reminiscent of Thucydides and the corruption of language in the History of the Peloponnesian War?

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Considering that Armando is fully paid up supporter of Tony Blair and Labour Party it's a bit rich for him to disparage " spin ". ? Nobody did it better than Blair.