Henry V

Rating:
Summary: Branagh's Film Adaptation is Exceptional
Review: In his directing debut Kenneth Branagh took considerable risk with Henry V as his efforts would be undoubtably measured against Laurence Olivier's 1944 classic film, especially since Olivier, like Branagh, both directed and played the leading role. As rarely happens, we are fortunate to now have two outstanding productions.

Branagh's production is best illustrated by his images of a long, miserable march in endless rain leading to a brutal, bloody, and exhausting battle at Agincourt. And yet, it is much more than an epic film of warfare between medieval England and France.

Branagh's Henry V is a heroic king, like Olivier's production, but Branagh's Henry is more complex and more contradictory and is thus more in keeping with Shakespeare's play. Shakespeare's genius allows us to interpret events in Henry V in a multitude of ways, and we find ourselves returning to his play again and again to rethink our previous conclusions. To a lessor degree the same is true of this film.

In the first act we see two bishops manipulate Henry V for their purposes, but on closer look we wonder whether Henry is actually manipulating the bishops to gain their public support for a war against France as well as to provide a possible future scapegoat. Is this a heroic, pious king as we believe from the beginning, or is he more subtle and manipulative?

We know that in the medieval period sons and daughters of aristocracy married whomever most benefited the wealth and position of their family. Love was seldom a factor. And yet we see a Henry V that appears enchanted by Katherine and his proposal is more than diplomacy. In fact, he appears anxious to let others handle the details of the treaty while he has time alone with his future bride.

Familiarity with Shakespeare's play is indeed helpful, but not essential. And with each viewing the play becomes even better.

As others have noted, it is disappointing that the DVD version did not contain any special features like a Branagh commentary, some discussion of medieval warfare, or a look at the historical Henry V. But, nevertheless, add this film to your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps best Shakespeare film yet. Don't buy this edition.
Review: The battle of Agincourt, the subject of "Henry V," marked the rise of the longbow and the last stand of armored calvary. The English longbowmen targeted the French horses, and once the horseman was on the ground, he was all but helpless. Thus, 12,000 English defeated 60,000 French (if the play's figures are accurate). Branagh's version is not as true to this historical detail as the earlier Olivier film; Frenchmen in plate armor leap into the saddle, and the English engage the French hand-to-hand as soon after firing their first volley.

Nonetheless, Branagh's version is dramatically unparalleled. He shows strikingly that those 12,000 arrived at the field after marching for weeks, downtrodden and diseased, drenched and dreary, each man wishing he were home abed. With the scene thus set, Branagh shows off the improbability and power of the dramatic juggernaut that is Shakespeare's "St. Crispian's Day" speech. Patrick Doyle's excellent, relentless score (which itself ranks among the best film scores of the last thirty years) and Branagh's inspiring delivery also propel the speech forward with locomotive force. By contrast, in Olivier's version the sun is shining, the English tents neatly pitched, and thus his Crispian's Day speech has all the dramatic urgency of "Tally ho anyone?"

The cast of Branagh's Henry V is stellar. Derek Jacobi is powerful as the Chorus (his opening speech is electrifying and sets the pace of the film, like a stampede of wild horses). Brian Blessed (who you might remember--trivia moment here--from the 1980 "Flash Gordon," which he, Max von Sydow, and Timothy Dalton would all probably rather forget) brings impressive gravitas to the role of Exeter. Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Ian Holm, Paul Scofield, and Christopher Ravenscroft (excellent as the herald Montjoy) round out the supporting cast.

Wait to buy a DVD edition worthy of this film. The video and audio, while adequate, are somewhat pixilated and less than clean. Most disappointing, the disc contains no additional features (beyond the bland theatrical trailer). By contrast, the Paramount release of Branagh's second film, "Dead Again" contains Branagh's full-length commentary on the production's innovations and, unlike many such self-congratulatory commentaries, also its flaws. Branagh's comments on Henry V, his first and most artistically successful film, as well perhaps as an interview with or commentary from Patrick Doyle or any other interesting dramaturgical materials, would greatly enhance the DVD. Five stars for the film. Two for this DVD.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent DVD for an Excellent Film!
Review: When I first saw this film I decided right then I must own it! Unfortunetly that was when it had just gone out of print.

But If you are like me, you were anticipating the re-release more than any other film. Think of the shock I had to find it was coming out on DVD!

The quality of this version is absolutely supberb! The sound quality is crisp and clear. Although no extras were put in for the DVD version other than a trailer, it is well worth it to purchase this DVD if you have seen the film. If you have not seen this film, but have seen Braveheart, The Messenger, or Gladiator, you will cherish this film as well.

Fans of Branagh will find this film unmatched. This is Branagh at his best!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible and great
Review: Henry V was never one of my favorite Shakespearean plays, both because of Henry's own considerable faults and because of the ending of the play. Henry's claim on the French throne is pretty shaky, legally, and he pretty much decides to head off to war because of an insult to his ego. Then there is the matter of Henry ordering the massacre of the French prisoners taken during the battle, which Branagh doesn't address in this film. It's a horrific act, impossible to reason away. And then you have the fifth act, with Henry trying to woo Catherine in broken French, which is an odd change of tone after the murder and slaughter of the first four acts.

But there's no denying Henry's charisma, and Branagh makes you understand why Shakespeare thought Hal a hero as well as a scoundral. This version is memorable for the showing the terrible violence of Agincourt, that the affront to Henry's ego meant that thousands died horribly on the battlefield (John Keegan's book "The Face of Battle" brilliantly describes what the fighting at Agincourt was like. And it was horrible).

Branagh does not shy from that horror. The scene where he carries a boy killed in the fighting to a wagon carrying the dead away, with a sad, mournful song in the background, is heartbreakingly beautiful.

And of course there is the speech Henry gives before the battle, stirring his soldiers that years from now other men will envy them for being by his side on this day, St. Swithen's day (I may have misspelled that, sorry). It is perhaps the greatest battlefield speech recorded in the English language, and when I heard Branagh say the words, those beautiful words, it was all I could do to stop myself from grabbing a sword and slaughtering Frenchmen.

Those two scenes alone make this movie worth seeing, and those two scenes will have you hitting the rewind button and grabbing the tissues. They are remarkable.

Rating:
Summary: English Subtitles
Review: This is a wonderful film, and Kenneth Branagh did a wonderful job. I noticed that several people had complained that there were no English subtitles for the DVD. There are no subtitles in the audio selection portion of the DVD, but if you have a modern TV the subtitles are accessible through closed-captioning. Hope this helps!

Rating:
Summary: Post Vietnam, Post Let's-make-HenryV-A-Really-Nice-Guy
Review: Shakeseare knew about expediencey. He knew of brutality and treachery, of open conflict and the ways in which royalty can become prisoners of the juggarnaut of war.

Shakespeare's *Henry V* is a miracle of a play, in which Shakespeare both caters to an audience expecting a model Henry and incorporates his own knowledge of what kings become under the pressure of historical circumstance. With music and lighting, Brannagh shows us the boy-king as a formidable and feared presence, but we are not invited, at the beginning, to question his goodness. As the play progresses, however, we see Henry's multidimensonal personality. He is one man to his old tavern friends, and quite another to those same friends in times of war. Henry knows he must shed his past. He does so brutally. Bardolph is hanged as the king watches, and even in the flashbacks to the tavern scenes, we see Henry's calculating nature. He can never afford to become part of one world, much less a raucous one: he is a chameleon.

And it is that that makes him a good king, and it is that which makes him frightening. Brannagh gives us no easy solutions. He shows us a king who is more than his body, but who inhabits a sometimes weak and frail carcass. And Branagh shows us the mud and blood and casual slaughter of war, as York, in battle, is mobbed, and slain by blows that seems almost to crucify him. This is most definitely a post vietnam film. But even Brannagh cannot have Henry recite Shakespeare's most chilling lines: "Kill all the prisoners." Ambiguity is ambiguity, but apparently the idea of Henry having his troops cutting the throats of the French taken prisoner was too much even for Branagh.

For its faults and its merits, this film sucks the viewer in. We care. We almost care too much, because war destroys the innocent as well as the guilty. The abrupt courtship between Henry and Katherine (of France) at the end is shown very clearly as Henry's attempt to turn tragedy into comedy, but Henry is no longer the king that he was. He is too stained with blood. The marriage comedy, except for a few laughs, falls flat. It may be said that Henry, the victor, knows that he has somehow failed. And history (sadly) has the final word.

But Brannagh here is at his best; his shoe-string budget simply makes the film free of flab and full of imagination. Henry's frailty, pain, need to protect a country, desire to triumph and at the same time remain human lift this film above everything else Brannagh has done. Although it may pretend to, this film gives us no easy answers. See it and weep.

Rating:
Summary: Henry V brilliant/DVD version pass
Review: I looked forward to the DVD version of Henry V with such anticipation. I gave my niece my VHS copy for her library - with what disappointment did I open the package, pop it in, could not even believe that there wouldn't even be English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles. No, voice over commentary - nothing! I would gladly have held on to my VHS and waited for the deluxe version. What I have now is a version that does not need to be rewound, but can only be played in one room.

This was the first film I saw after I had my son, it was the first time he stayed alone, first babysitter (my husband), I was so moved, I couldn't wait for the VHS, bought it immediately, bought the soundtrack.

My son, at age 10 now (from hearing it constantly) has picked out the theme song on the piano and cello.

I just don't understand MGM missing this kind of opportunity. I transcribe the voice over commentaries for films coming out on DVD, so this is just a crashing disappointment. I will hold on to this and hope for a more feature rich version (a la "Dead Again") or "Young Frankenstein."

I would suggest giving this DVD a pass and waiting for them to correct the oversight with a DVD it deserves.

Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Adaptation - I'm just wild about Harry
Review: Kenneth Branagh breathes new life into "Harry". Branagh bothdirected and stars in the film - a feat easily comparable to OrsenWelles creating Citizen Kane - Branagh pulls it off as well (or shouldI say - pulls it off as Welles).

The supporting cast was made forthis film. The use of a modern Chorus on a soundstage draws theviewer into a voyueristic struggle for the soul and "heart"of France.

Yes, there is strong visual atmosphere; but, the scenerynever detracts from the delivery of the dialogue or storyline. Branaghtakes the Bard's words, makes them his own and fills the screen withhis own style of visual magic. He creates the world of King Henry byusing the simplest of sets - but yet it doesn't lose the complexity ofthe text.

The feel good movie of the summer, winter, spring andfall. "Let it be a muse" of film that fires the soul - andlet your imagination follow "Harry" as he become Henry thefifth.

The music soars and feels as natural as if Shakespeare alsowrote the score. A soundtrack must for the collector.

Rating:
Summary: Like everyone else has been saying, fantastic film!
Review: I completely agree w/ the other reviewers: one of, if not the best, Shakespeare -> film adaption ever made. I definitely think this is the best way to introduce high school students to Shakespeare.

On a side note, did anyone else notice that the DVD case has Harry in the Dauphin's armor? Kinda weird, I thought. Did they think his leather armor was not tough-looking enough?

Rating:
Summary: Historical account of great English king
Review: As a history teacher,I am always looking for visual aides for my students. This film captures the leadership and honor of Henry V. It accurately demonstrates warfare during the 1300's Hundred Years War. From the costume of Henry with both French and English standards to the longbows to the muddy fields, the Battle of Agincourt is recreated beautifully. Branagh is one of the finest Shakespearian actors of our time and potrays the king with compassion and strength. This is one Hollywood film of a Shakespearian play that does not deviate from how the playwright meant for the story to be told. It is an excellent historical film.