714K views · Jan 24, 2019 · 1:32 · 0 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2019–2021
Harry Melling recites Shelley's poem Ozymandias in the Ballad of Buster Scruggs segment of the Coen brothers film.
Why Hacker News points people here: Linked as a memorable recitation when the poem or themes of fleeting ambition come up.
“The segment is one of the most Darwinian, cold things I've ever seen.”HN comment, 2021
Recited version of the poem Ozymandias
There are two versions of the poem “Ozymandias”[1][2]. They tell the exact same story but in two completely different ways. After reading both, I’m almost certain you will find one more effective than the other. So I hope you reconsider that some ideas are not simply reducible to plain statements. [1]: link [2]: this video (recited)
Extremely cheap money desperate for profit. Escapism for the masses as the Desert grows. New Pharaos building new Pyramids to be remembered in eternity. this video
“The segment is one of the most Darwinian, cold things I've ever seen.”
Opening of the Ozymandias segment from Buster Scruggs
The poem reminds me of the Coen Brothers movie "Ballad of Buster Scruggs", released on Netflix a few years ago, which presents four (or five) vignettes. In one of these Harry Melling plays a handicapped performer of poems in the "wild west", and the segment starts with him reciting this poem. Liam Neeson plays his manager. The segment is one of the most Darwinian, cold things I've ever seen. The whole movie is great, but this vignette especially. EDIT: the beginning of the segment: this video
