HENRY V Movie Review
1944 Laurence Olivier
Shakespeare's are the most challenging and tempting plays for a filmmaker to adapt to the screen. They're filled with action—often confusing action—and far too much dialogue—dialogue often used to describe events and actions that film can show directly. How does the director streamline the weighty works so that the public will be attracted without losing the richness? Laurence Olivier managed that and much, much more on his first try. In some ways, his acting-directing debut is as impressive as Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. Henry V is an ambitious, demanding film that gracefully transcends its roots as a piece of expensive propaganda.
The famous opening shot is of a playbill fluttering down from a blue sky. It advertises a Globe Theater production of “Henry Fift.” The camera pans down to reveal an aerial view of Shakespeare's London, ships on the Thames, and then into the theater itself. As the orchestra strikes up and signals curtain time, the theatergoers slowly find their places, some sitting onstage. The performance begins, and after a few minutes, the camera prowls backstage to the actors, some already in costume, some getting ready. The first 30 minutes or so are rough Skakespearian sledding, as characters discuss the young King Harry's (Olivier) decision to invade France, and broadly overplay all of the comic elements. Within those opening scenes, the confines of the Globe Theater slowly dissolve, and the action takes place on larger sets, with elaborate backdrops somehow reminiscent of the Emerald City in Oz, finally moving to full exteriors for the battle of Agincourt. Seen purely as stagecraft—or should that be filmcraft?—the transition is remarkable. Olivier uses the play's unwieldy structure to his advantage.
The action shifts from the haughty French ambassador's dismissal of Henry's claim on French territory, to Henry's boyhood pal Pistol (Robert Newton), to the French court, to Henry's future wife Katharine (Renee Asherson), to the Channel crossing and the first battle. Though Olivier completely eliminates two key subplots, the story doesn't find its emotional center until the night before the battle of Agincourt, “a time when creeping murmur and the poring dark fills the white vessel of the universe.” That's when the film settles down, too. Olivier puts aside his bag of tricks and focuses on the young, uncertain king who walks in disguise among his men, equally uncertain but willing to follow him. To grossly oversimplify, Olivier the actor takes over from Olivier the director, and he makes the final stage of Harry's coming-of-age seem completely real. That is also the moment when Olivier invented what has been called “the oblique close-up,” where he sits thoughtfully and his character's soliloquy is delivered in voice-over.
The battle itself is a grand piece of epic filmmaking that's set up by Olivier's stirring delivery of the famous St. Crispin's Day speech. Following it, the charge of the French knights across the field is a colorful, gaudy romp... until the arrows fly. If the sequence lacks the violent hand-to-hand intensity of some other cinematic combats, it's still superbly paced and choreographed, and it's photographed in bright, vibrant tones. Comparisons to Alexander Nevsky and Charge of the Light Brigade are not out of place.
Finally, though, perhaps the most incredible thing about the production are the circumstances under which the film was made. In 1943 and '44, German bombers were attacking England every night. Art directors Paul Sheriff and Carmen Dillon had to work with what they could find. All the crowns are made of papier-mache; the chain mail is woven wool sprayed with aluminum paint. It's easy to say that the “blood and toil and sweat and tears” spirit of the times informs the film itself, but Olivier is never that obvious. Yes, Henry V is patriotic and courageous. It's also an exciting portrayal of a pivotal historical event that never loses sight of the humanity of the people involved, kings and yeomen alike.
Cast: Laurence Olivier (King Henry V), Robert Newton (Ancient Pistol), Leslie Banks (Chorus), Esmond Knight (Fluellen), Renee Asherson (Princess Katharine), Leo Genn (Constable of France), George Robey (Sir John Falstaff), Ernest Thesiger (Duke of Berri), Felix Aylmer (Archbishop of Canterbury), Ralph Truman (Mountjoy), Harcourt Williams (King Charles VI of France), Max Adrian (The Dauphin), Valentine Dyall (Duke of Burgundy), Russell Thorndike (Duke of Bourbon), Roy Emerton (Lt. Bardolph), Robert Helpmann (Bishop of Ely), Freda Jackson (Mistress Quickley), Griffith Jones (Earl of Salisbury), John Laurie (Capt. Jamie), Niall MacGinnis (Capt. MacMorris), Michael Shepley (Capt. Gower); Written by: Alan Dent, Dallas Bower, Laurence Olivier; Cinematography by: Robert Krasker; Music by: William Walton. Producer: J. Arthur Rank, Laurence Olivier. British. Awards: National Board of Review Awards '46: Best Actor (Olivier); New York Film Critics Awards '46: Best Actor (Olivier); Nominations: Academy Awards '46: Best Actor (Olivier), Best Interior Decoration, Best Picture, Best Original Dramatic Score. Running Time: 136 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.