Henry V (1989) REVISIT

Writer/actor/director Kenneth Branagh's Henry V was one of the first experiences I had of film adaptations of Shakespeare and was my first introduction to to Branagh's own work. In my mind he remains the reigning champion of Shakespeare film. The film's opening grabbed me in a way that brought me into the story as I didn't expect it could. One of my favourite actors ever (although I didn't know it at the time), Derek Jacobi, stands on an undressed film set and gives the Chorus speech, intentionally acknowledging the limits of film just as the Bard when writing the scene was acknowledging the limits of the stage. But in that moment we see just how powerful those mediums actually are. This is a film and it is going to transport us to another world, another time, and have us experience something we couldn't otherwise. I was hooked right away, and Jacobi's narration remains one of my favourite aspects of this film.

I remember the gleeful joy and I felt at the tennis ball scene which sets the plot in motion. Henry V acts both as climax of the Herniad plays but also a story all on its own. Branagh finds the perfect way to make one film of this story in a way that is as satisfying as watching through all three of the previous plays. He brings in the history, needed for this story to have it's impact in a naturalistic way, that feels for the uninitiated, as if it it contains the entirety of the story, and for those more familiar with the plays, he makes it feel as if it always was written that way.

This film shows what a film maker Branagh is going to become. Although a first time director, he demonstrates both an amazing visual eye (even on a low budget) but also a true talent for story telling. There is a lot going on here, British history that is far more remote for modern audiences than it would have been for Shakeseare's crowds, the culmination of three previous plays whose plot threads are all coming together, and many other moving parts including characters with names like "The Lord of Cumberland" who we have to keep track of. But he makes it all make sense and more than that, he makes it gripping.

A personal favourite for me is the young Emma Thompson's brief cameo as the french princess learning English. Unsubtitlted, the film just asks you to experience her "french" scene and it is lovely and delightful.

But what strikes me about this film is Branaghs' approach to the story, a story which is often feels meant to celebrate nationalism and conquest, which he turns into a film about the loss of war and the arrogance of elitist egos. He takes what Shakespeare gives us and makes it into the story he wants it to be. Yes, Shakespeare's work is generous in that way already and its pliability for interpretation is already impressive, but Branagh is especially skilled at this. With Henry V begins what will be one of the best runs of Shakespeare films of any film maker.

Famously he makes amazing work of Henry's "undercover boss" scene, walking through his camp disguised, to talk with his soldiers unidentified. It is a scene which tied to the history from Hal's youth, forces us to reckon with the roles classes play in the building of empires. This approach was so different than the takes which had come before on screen, takes which often were about building up the King. Also his famous staging of the St. Crispin's Day Speech is remarkable along with the battle that follows it, he juxtaposes the romance of the speech with the brutal reality of what war in that age (and truly in any) really was. The aftermath is palpable loss. Again for a first time film maker Branagh showed us that he would be a spectacular film maker, and that he can bring the Bard's works to life on the screen as no one else can.

Henry V is a lightning bolt, and strikes with as much energy and excitement. Revisiting it I was reminded of the power it had on me the first time and just how well it, as a film, stands the test of time.

Henry V
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Emma Thompson, Judy Dench, Ian Holm, Christian Bale, Brian Blessed, Robbie Coltrane. Richard Briers, Paul Scofield
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writers: Kenneth Branagh, William Shakespeare