Sunday, I wrote the review of Olivier\u2019s Henry V.\u00a0 I watched Branagh\u2019s version that night.\u00a0 I watched a while ago but I wanted to have it fresh in my mind especially because I would be contrasting it to Olivier\u2019s film.<\/p>\n
When Branagh\u2019s movie came out in 1989 it made him a star.\u00a0 He was a young dynamic character and the world wanted to believe in heroes again.\u00a0 He was married at the time to Emma Thompson and she played Katherine to his Henry.\u00a0 They were seen as an exciting couple in Hollywood circles and there was great interest in their films together.\u00a0 Putting all that aside, people were ready to take a fresh look at Shakespeare.\u00a0 Branagh adapted the play for the screen and directed himself in the lead.\u00a0 Branagh was young enough and active enough to make King Harry believable.\u00a0 The movie was a critical success.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Branagh\u2019s Henry V left in some of the smaller incidents that Olivier omitted.\u00a0 The three conspirators who planned to assassinate Henry on behalf of the French are duly exposed and condemned.\u00a0 The hanging of Bardolph, one of Prince Harry\u2019s former companions is a stark reminder that King Henry is a changed man.<\/p>\n
But the major thrust of the film of course runs in the same vein as Olivier\u2019s.\u00a0 And yet there are clear differences in tone and emphasis.\u00a0 Despite the theme of war Olivier\u2019s play is the more light hearted and optimistic of the two by far.\u00a0 A good point of comparison is the St Crispin\u2019s Day speech.\u00a0 When Olivier gives the speech, he exudes confidence and a controlled enthusiasm.\u00a0 But when Branagh speaks he impresses on the audience the sense of passion and energy he feels.\u00a0 It\u2019s a rush of adrenaline that he captures in words.<\/p>\n
And the action of the play mirrors this same difference.\u00a0 Olivier\u2019s cinema is typical of what the 1940s would do to portray the late middle ages.\u00a0 It reminds you of how Hollywood would give us Robin Hood or Ivanhoe.\u00a0 It was a sunlit world of grassy fields and picturesque castles with banners flapping in the breeze high above the fields.\u00a0 Branagh gives us explosions, fire, battles in the dead of night and lots and lots of mud.\u00a0 Mud on the ground, mud on the soldiers and mud on the King.\u00a0 And he keeps some of the lines on the war that Olivier left out.\u00a0 When the English besiege the city of Harfleur, Henry harangues the town elders with the horrors that resisting the besiegers would entail if they failed to surrender in advance.\u00a0 He mentions rape, plunder and the vicious destruction of human life from the youngest infant to the oldest inhabitants.\u00a0 So, we can see that Branagh has made the more accurate version of the play.\u00a0 He\u2019s left all the warts in plain sight.<\/p>\n
Now in addition to the grittier nature of Branagh\u2019s production it should be said that his handling of the romance between Henry and Katherine is also more naturalistic.\u00a0 Branagh has an earthier, more openly comical approach to Henry attempting to woo Katherine in terribly halting French.\u00a0 Olivier\u2019s approach is calmer and more restrained.\u00a0 So, all in all let\u2019s call Olivier\u2019s a more formal and austere approach to the story and Branagh\u2019s a more naturalistic and emotional version.<\/p>\n
How do they compare?\u00a0 In my opinion they are both excellent films.\u00a0 And they have different strengths.\u00a0 I watch the Olivier version when I want to enjoy Olivier\u2019s language.\u00a0 He is the gold standard, in my book, for what Shakespeare\u2019s dialog should sound like.\u00a0 No one else makes the text sound real the way he does.<\/p>\n
But if I want to see the story of the war, I will watch Branagh\u2019s version.\u00a0 Branagh and his excellent cast bring the war to life.\u00a0 By the end of the battle of Agincourt you can feel the exhaustion that the English feel as they struggle to bury their dead.\u00a0 Even the miraculous victory they\u2019ve won is almost beyond their strength to grasp.\u00a0 Branagh has done a very fine job of making a Henry V that is faithful to the text and conveys the reality of a King going to war in the Hundred Years War.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday, I wrote the review of Olivier\u2019s Henry V.\u00a0 I watched Branagh\u2019s version that night.\u00a0 I watched a while ago but I wanted to have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,238,237],"tags":[2423,2429,747,2430,888,890,43,191,38,1355,295,2363,2424],"class_list":["post-10565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-classic-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-agincourt","tag-emma-thompson","tag-england","tag-henry-v","tag-kenneth-branagh","tag-laurence-olivier","tag-movie-review","tag-ocf-classic-movie-review","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-shakespeare","tag-shakespeare-in-film","tag-st-crispins-day-speech"],"yoast_head":"\n