[at Gareth's funeral]
Matthew: Gareth used to prefer funerals to weddings. He said it was easier to get enthusiastic about a ceremony one had an outside chance of eventually being involved in. In order to prepare this speech, I rang a few people, to get a general picture of how Gareth was regarded by those who met him: 'Fat' seems to have been a word people most connected with him. 'Terribly rude' also rang a lot of bells. So very 'fat' and very 'rude' seems to have been a stranger's viewpoint. On the other hand, some of you have been kind enough to ring me and let me know that you loved him, which I know he would have been thrilled to hear. You remember his fabulous hospitality, his strange experimental cooking: the recipe for "Duck à la Banana" fortunately goes with him to his grave. Most of all, you tell me of his enormous capacity for joy. When joyful, when joyful for highly vocal drunkenness. But I hope joyful is how you will remember him, not stuck in a box in a church. Pick your favourite of his waistcoats and remember him that way. The most splendid, replete, big-hearted, weak-hearted as it turned out, and jolly bugger most of us ever met. As for me, you may ask how I will remember him, what I thought of him. Unfortunately, there I run out of words. Perhaps you will forgive me if I turn from my own feelings to the words of another splendid bugger: W.H. Auden. This is actually what I want to say: "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone. Silence the pianos and with muffled drum, Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead, Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'. Put crepe bows 'round the white necks of the public doves, Let traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest; My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song. I thought that love would last forever; I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood, For nothing now can ever come to any good."

Dyk in i den brittiska komediklassikern ’Fyra bröllop och en begravning’, en film som inte bara definierade 90-talets romantiska komedier men också blev en milstolpe i karriärerna för Hugh Grant och Andie MacDowell. Under regi av Mike Newell och med ett genombrottsmanus av Richard Curtis, som senare skulle ge oss hjärtevärmande filmer som ’Notting Hill’ och ’Love Actually’, bjuder denna film på en charmig blandning av humor, kärlek och vänskap. Hugh Grant, med sin unika blandning av klumpighet och brittisk charm, spelar Charles, en evig ungkarl vars liv tar en oväntad vändning när han möter den förtrollande amerikanskan Carrie, spelad av Andie MacDowell, på en rad bröllop och en minnesvärd begravning. Tillsammans med ett färgstarkt kompisgäng, inklusive den strålande Kristin Scott Thomas, navigerar de genom livets upp- och nedgångar. Ett av filmens mest ikoniska citat, ”Jag tror jag saknar dig mindre och mindre för varje dag som går”, levererat med perfektion av MacDowell, har ekat i filmhistorien och fortsätter att beröra hjärtan världen över. ’Fyra bröllop och en begravning’ är inte bara en film; det är en hyllning till kärlekens alla komplicerade, smärtsamma och underbara former. En film som definitivt förtjänar en plats i varje filmälskares samling.