Henry V

When this movie was first released, I was living in Memphis, Tennessee, not exactly the most cine-literate city in the world, and it was only showing at one theatre in town- luckily, it was right next door to where I worked. I decided to see the late show one night after work, and was so totally blown away that I saw it every night for the next four days, in one case even getting off work early to catch it. As the first directorial outing for Kenneth Branagh, it must surely rank among the most impressive directorial debuts in history. I don't feel that I'd be overstating my point to say that not since Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" was a directorial debut so impressive. From Derek Jacobi's brilliant opening soliloquy as The Chorus to the climactic battle sequence and the following sequence of King Henry's surveying of the carnage on the battlefield, this is a film that never lags, owing to Branagh's willingness to excise certain sequences that don't translate well to film- a move that Olivier was unwilling to make for his production of Henry V back in the 40's. This film totally altered the way I thought of Shakespeare- I went from looking at a Shakespearean work as being full of literary merit, but of dubious entertainment value. However, after this film, and followed soon after by "Hamlet" with Mel Gibson and "Prospero's Books" with Sir John Gielgud, I came to realize the full entertainment value of Shakespearean story, long before the recent Shakespeare explosion brought on by the Romeo and Juliet music video with Leonardo DeCaprio.

With tensions between England and the arrogant French pushed to breaking point, King Henry the Fifth sets out with his armies to conquer and quell the French in their native land. The film builds up to the historic battle of Agincourt with the troops and the king camping together and making progress across the land, with the French armies preparing for battle as King Henry and his men go from battle to camp to battle on the way to right the wrong of offence caused to England by France.

When I saw the slightly more famous version of this story from Lawrence Olivier I must admit that I liked it but struggled with simply it was delivered and how the focus was flag-waving. With Branagh's version I was amused by the fact that I got a lot more from it even though it was clearly made with a lot fewer resources to hand. The downside of this is that the film does not have the majesty and the sweep of the dialogue and scenes tend to be smaller and reliant on darkness. At times the cinematography looks drab and does seem like it belongs on the television rather than the cinema but, credit where it is due, the Agincourt battle is impressive regardless of the restrains on it.

Where the film is better than Olivier's is in the delivery of the language and the direction of the material. Branagh brings out so much more of interest in the material than just national pride. He brings more of the story with the sense of pride countered with the horror of war, the reality of the lower classes and such. The only things I thought he should have dropped were both scenes that involved Katherine, the first was a bit out of step with his vision of the rest of the story, while the final scene makes for a weaker ending than should have been.

The cast aids him greatly in bringing this approach out to its potential. Branagh himself leads the cast well and gets better as the film goes on and putting as much effort into the smaller moments as he does into the famous scenes. I thought Jacobi was excellent and really sold his narration and made the device of a modern chorus work well. The cast is deep in talent in every area, from characters with big parts to those with only a few moments on screen. Holm, Sessions, Blessed, Coltrane, Scofield, McEwan, Briers, Dench and others are all excellent and a young Christian Bale is good in a minor role.

Overall then, this may not be considered to be better than Olivier's version but to me it is, thanks to the greater interest it shows in the material. The cast respond well to this and the delivery is with a passion and meaning that makes up for the limits of budget and a bit of a "tv" feel.

This film surely must be in the frame for a number of best ever categories - best Shakespeare film adaptation, one of the best ever war films AND one of the best ever performances by a male actor. It's truly stunning to see how Shakespeare's words, which seemed dull and difficult to understand at school, can be spoken as passages of such depth, beauty and power. Not one in a thousand actors could do this convincingly - but Kenneth Branagh can.

I think this far outshines the Olivier version from 1944 (very good though that was). Branagh convinces (where Olivier does not always) as he gives a wider range of emotional responses to Henry - self questioning, compassionate, sad at the harsh realities of life. You can really believe that here is a young man who used to be a playboy now faced with having to grow up and behave as a king of England. As others have said, he gives such fire and charisma to the battle speeches that you want to march straight into battle yourself! And importantly, Branagh also convinces utterly in the romantic wooing of the French princess.

Naturally enough, the film focuses on the main actor playing Henry, but the supporting actors are also excellent. Derek Jacobi, particularly, does wonderfully in a difficult role. If I had to give one very slight caveat however, it would be that Emma Thompson (who I love as an actress), does not quite convince as a native French speaker, though she makes a good try at speaking the language rapidly. Perhaps Juliette Binoche would have been better here? But overall the obvious rapport between Branagh and Thompson (who were married at the time) is more important than any slight problems with the accent.

The only Shakespeare performance that tops this movie is seeing Branagh give a live performance on stage - I was privileged to see him (with Emma Thompson) perform Much Ado About Nothing in the late 1980s, and that's still the best I've ever seen.

Don't just see this - buy or record a copy. If you see it once, you will most likely want to see it over and over! 10/10

Excellent return to Shakespeare's young King Henry with 28 year old Branagh perfectly filling the shoes Olivier tried so hard to fill 40 plus years before. Branagh, who also directed, brings the film to life with exciting battle scenes, a first rate supporting cast that features the fine Shakespearean veteran Jacobi as the Chorus. Also with Holm, Bannen, the always reliable Brian Blessed and Emma Thompson. The story is better told and moves about at a much better pace than previous Shakespeare films. Branagh started an incredible trend with this film. (Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Othello) He was Oscar nominated as Actor and Director for his work here. The film won for Costuming.

As famous as Olivier's Henry V was, it was sorely outdated and as part of a war effort, it was predictably one-dimensional. Branagh's Henry V does more justice to the many facets of Shakespeare's words and reminds us of how good the Bard was at spinning a good yarn.

Some of the best English actors take their turn here. Scofield is in his element, playing a distracted French monarch. Ian Holm is an irascible (isn't he always?) Fluellen. Derek Jacobi is a master chorus (you can listen to that voice ALL day). Judi Dench is a soft hearted Nell who's seen better days. Branagh himself puts forward energetic vitality to the lead role. However, it IS rather difficult to look past the very English look Emma Thompson has in her portrayal of a French princess - but that's no fault of hers.

8 out of 10