henry v [1989]

my brother is reading and studying the works of shakespeare, reading the plays, the study guides and watching movie adaptations. he invited my father and me to watch his favorite movie adaptation. which happens to be mine as well. so i headed over to his house and watched with great delight and admiration kenneth branagh's rendering of king harry.

i was telling a friend today why i love branagh's version of henry v. it is how branagh directed the film, how it is photographed, edited and lit. i love how he chose to keep the chorus, as played by the brilliant derek jacobi, in the film and keep him in modern dress. thus the scene is set and we get a kind of meta-filter of the story, a kind of storyteller's version of a movie, sorta similar to manuel puig's novel, and film version, kiss of the spider woman. we get the action thru the prism of a narrator and thus we are allowed to be outside and inside the realities of the stories, at the same time.

it is a brilliant move by branagh. i argued with my brother that perhaps branagh was making an anti-war film. the scenes after the battle of agincourt are ripe with melancholy. war is hell. yet my brother pointed out that the genius of shakespeare is to show us the complexities of human spirit, intellect and resolve. thus the deadly speech delivered by henry at the seige of harfleur is one of the most brutal ever delivered. there is no doubt that should the city not yield henry would have made good on his threats. but outside the fields of war henry is kind, clement and honest in his dealings among his fellows.

how could this be? branagh mines these depths with brilliance. he makes a great king henry portraying the monarch with such nuance that the senses of the viewer begin to tingle. especially when branagh delivers the speech on the feast day of st. crispin. i'll leave it at that.

behold: