HENRY V
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ****
Camera Three in San Jose is continuing their six weeks long Shakespeare festival. This week I saw Kenneth Branagh's brilliant HENRY V (1989). It number one on my best of the year list for 1989, but since I wasn't a movie critic then, I never wrote a review of it.
"A kingdom for a stage, princes to act," begins the careful narration by Derek Jacobi ("I Claudius"). His is the canonical British actor's accent - rich and melodious. Truly, he could read the encyclopedia, and people would pay to listen. His small part is a crucial one for he provides the tensive glue that binds the play together.
The secret of this movie is the star, the screenwriter, and the director, namely Kenneth Branagh. He is arguably the preeminent Shakespearean interpreter in the world today, and the best of all of his works is this production of HENRY V.
I've thought about what it is that makes his Henry V come alive so, and it may come down to the basics. He is the master of Shakespearean enunciation. Every word is clear and forceful even when he speaks in whispers. Most Shakespearean actors run through their lines in a blur as if either they have so much to say they have to talk fast or, more likely, they don't fully comprehend them all. Branagh gives the impressions that he has been studying the Bard's original folios since birth. He presents each word to maximum effect.
Any film that is smart enough to get Simon Rattle and the Birmingham Symphony to do the music has already proven their seriousness of purpose. For those of you not familiar with them, Rattle and his orchestra are arguably the best Mahlerian interpreters in the music world today. Since Henry V has the force of a Mahler symphony, what more appropriate group to play the film's music (Patrick Doyle). Their sounds in the film are full of power and energy that further illuminate and enhance the action.
The cinematography by Kenneth MacMillan (A SUMMER STORY, OF MICE AND MEN, and CIRCLE OF FRIENDS) is inviting. The interior scenes are not only lit strictly with candles, but the light even flickers on the players as real candles would. When HENRY V enters the room for the first time, he is in shadow and framed in bright lights from behind. As he walks forward, the camera is below him to increase his stature. This all combines to give the king the aura of a god. Since I am about Branagh's height, I thought, now that's how I'd like to be framed.
Actually, Branagh's physical appearance makes gives him a unique force of presence. His thin lips almost vanish as he speaks which force the viewers attention even more on his words. His brow radiates energy and optimism as he delivers the best speech in the play, the St. Crispin day speech, "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."
Branagh's Henry V is the epitome of self-assurance. No matter how bleak the odds, he has the force of will to convince his men they could defeat a army of any size. His facial expressions radiate confidence. You see him, and you believe.
Branagh, the director, is a master at opening up the Bard's plays. The interior scenes are intimate, but it is in the exterior where his directorial genius shines. His outdoor scenes are full of power to complement the words that are spoken. There are also realistic. His battle of Agincourt becomes a mud bowl and the march to it even worse. His soldier's lives are truly miserable.
Emma Thompson has a fairly small part as Katherine, the daughter of the French King (Paul Scofield). She and her companion, Mistress Quickly (Judi Dench), supply the comic relief in the story. They giggle their lines, which are almost exclusively in French. My favorite is Dench who steals her scenes with her perky and silly little mannerisms.
As a frequent visitor to the British Isles, I loved Constable's (Richard Easton) line toward the end when he can not figure out how anyone who lives in a country with such miserable weather could have the strength to defeat them. "Where have they this mettle? Is not their climate foggy, raw and dull?"
As the battle of Agincourt ends, an exhausted Henry confesses to the French envoy Mountjoy (Christopher Ravenscroft), "I know not if the day be ours or no." To which Montjoy simply replies, "The day is yours."
I could go on and on about this film. The rest of the cast is outstanding. Even the small details like the sounds of the rush of the arrows in the battle is impressive. A film to be seen and savored, again and again.
HENRY V runs 2:17. It is rated PG for some tastefully done, but realistic war violence. There is no sex, nudity, or bad language. The film would be fine for any kid old enough to be interested in the play. I give the picture my strongest recommendation and rate it ****.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: November 11, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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