I actually really liked this!! Call me a nerd but I actually would’ve loved if the whole thing was a globe reenactment. Olivier’s clear understanding of and love for not only the material he puts on screen, but the circumstances in which it was initially intended to be performed is so palpable. If there is one Shakespeare play where you can play with form like this, it’s definitely this one. I think of Henry V as a proto superhero movie; it’s got secret identities, alter egos, easy, happy endings, and one infallible hero who seems incapable of losing, like Captain America with a bowl cut, and Shakespeare lets us in on the artifice at every turn because he’s reminding us that what we are seeing is all indeed a fantasy. It’s interesting to see how he almost predicted the genre in that way. I’ve also always been raised to believe that Olivier is a presentational actor, and while that’s not not true, I was really struck by his listening in this film and ensemble work, and through this framing device we get to see glimpses of Olivier the actor through Olivier the king. He has this moment where he tosses his crown onto the spire of his throne that is SOOOO specifically Prince Hal that showed me that I was watching an actor make informed decisions in the moment. It’s impossible not to draw comparisons to Branagh when you watch an Olivier movie, since Branagh has in effect reheated Olivier’s nachos, but I saw much less self indulgence and artifice in Olivier’s work than I was expecting and instead saw much more genuine and humble love for the craft. I think this movie is really fun, especially if you’re a nerd like me, and that the first third of it especially should be shown in every Shakespeare class possible.
I actually really liked this!! Call me a nerd but I actually would’ve loved if the whole thing was a globe reenactment. Olivier’s clear understanding of and love for not only the material he puts on screen, but the circumstances in which it was initially intended to be performed is so palpable. If there is one Shakespeare play where you can play with form like this, it’s definitely this one. I think of Henry V as a proto superhero movie; it’s got secret identities, alter egos, easy, happy endings, and one infallible hero who seems incapable of losing, like Captain America with a bowl cut, and Shakespeare lets us in on the artifice at every turn because he’s reminding us that what we are seeing is all indeed a fantasy. It’s interesting to see how he almost predicted the genre in that way. I’ve also always been raised to believe that Olivier is a presentational actor, and while that’s not not true, I was really struck by his listening in this film and ensemble work, and through this framing device we get to see glimpses of Olivier the actor through Olivier the king. He has this moment where he tosses his crown onto the spire of his throne that is SOOOO specifically Prince Hal that showed me that I was watching an actor make informed decisions in the moment. It’s impossible not to draw comparisons to Branagh when you watch an Olivier movie, since Branagh has in effect reheated Olivier’s nachos, but I saw much less self indulgence and artifice in Olivier’s work than I was expecting and instead saw much more genuine and humble love for the craft. I think this movie is really fun, especially if you’re a nerd like me, and that the first third of it especially should be shown in every Shakespeare class possible.
