Henry V (1944)

Henry V
Directed by Laurence Olivier
Written by William Shakespeare
1944/UK
Two Cities Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#180 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Henry: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;/ Or close the wall up with our English dead!/ In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man/ As modest stillness and humility:/ But when the blast of war blows in our ears,/ Then imitate the action of the tiger;/ Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,/ Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage;/ Then lend the eye a terrible aspect. [/box]

Laurence Olivier’s debut as a director made Shakespeare as stirring and accessible as it would have been on stage and threw in some very innovative cinema to boot.

The famous play’s plot deals with the efforts of King Henry V, now matured from the dissolute Prince Hal of Henry IV Parts I and II, to reclaim what he believes is his rightful title as King of France.  He inspires an army to join him on his quest.  On arrival, the French are not prepared for him, and offer some leeway after a siege.  Later, they decide to fight and Henry’s vastly outnumbered army emerges victorious at the Battle of Agincourt. Historically, the decisive victory of English longbows over heavily armored French forces spelled the end of hand-to-hand combat as a method of warfare.

The film was intended as a morale-booster ahead of the Allied invasion of Continental Europe.  First-time director Olivier, if constrained by his budget and wartime shortages, knew no limits in cinematic vocabulary.  Each of the parts of the film has a distinct look. The play begins at the Globe theater, with the actors in theatrical costume and make-up and Olivier himself declaiming rather than speaking his lines.  We move on to the court of France where the scenery and costumes were made to resemble illustrations in the medieval Book of Hours.  The stirring battle sequences are realistic but still bathed in bright Technicolor.  The whole is set to a brilliant score by William Walton.

A viewer’s reaction will probably be colored by his appreciation for the Shakespearean language.  All is lifted intact from the play, although Olivier injects comedy where none was intended and also inserts a few bits from previous Shakespearean plays, notably the Henry IV plays.  I love this movie for its visuals and for the battle scenes, which in the hands of actor Olivier are truly stirring.  I especially like the part where an incognito Henry visits the common soldiers in their camp the night before the battle.

There is an excellent commentary on the Criterion DVD by film historian Bruce Eder, who is one of my favorite commentators, having done several of Criterion’s releases of British titles.  My favorite of these is his commentary to The Lady Vanishes.

Laurence Olivier won an Honorary Academy Award for “outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing ‘Henry V’ to the screen.” The film was nominated for Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color; and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (William Walton).

Trailer – is this the longest trailer of all time?