There were two points when Kenneth Branagh stood and surveyed what was going on around him. As the thunderous pounding went on he looked up with an expression of awe, pride and mastery. I don't know how much of it was him or him channeling Isambard Kingdom Brunel but it was wondrous.
At some point in their histories, most nations experience
a revolution that changes everything about them.
The United Kingdom had a revolution that changed
the whole of human existence.
In 1709 Abraham Darby smelted iron in a blast
furnace, using coke. And so began the Industrial
Revolution. Out of Abraham’s Shropshire furnace
flowed molten metal. Out of his genius flowed the
mills, looms, engines, weapons, railways, ships, cities,
conflicts and prosperity that built the world we live in.
It was a revolution that filled the world with noise,
smoke, prosperity, pain and possibility.
In November 1990 another Briton sparked another
revolution – equally far-reaching – a revolution we’re
still living through. Tim Berners - Lee invented the
World Wide Web, and built the world’s first website.
He took no money for his invention. This, he said, is for everyone.
Just like the Industrial Revolution, the digital revolution
is turning the world upside down, taking music, books,
shopping, conversation, information to places that they
never went before.
But flickering in the smoke and noise and excitement,
you can sometimes glimpse a single golden thread of purpose – the idea of Jerusalem – of the better world,
the world of real freedom and true equality, a world
that can be built through the prosperity of industry,
through the caring nation that built the welfare state,
through the joyous energy of popular culture, through
the dream of universal communication.
A belief that we can build Jerusalem. And that it will
be for everyone.
Danny Boyle
Artistic Director
London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
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