Henry V

Description

Henry V
Laurence Olivier (U.K., 1945)

Made during World War II and chosen partly for its England-at-war setting and nationalist rhetoric, Olivier’s directorial debut transcended this background through his inspired juxtaposition of stage and cinema, and by the presence of a virtual Who’s Who of British theatrical performers. It opens as a staged performance, with the narrator wondering, “Can this unworthy scaffold bring forth so great an object?” The film quickly answers this rhetorical jab by moving toward another layer of fantasy, stylized matte backdrops and brightly soaked Technicolor capturing a middle ground between theater and film. The world truly becomes its stage, however, as it then leaps toward realism—or fantasy: “real” world location shooting, highlighted by a recreation of the Battle of Agincourt that embraced all the potential of the cinematic medium. For Olivier the film “tells of the unconquerable spirit of the English people.” It was so successful that even the usually jaded critic James Agee wrote, “I am not a Tory, a monarchist, a medievalist, an Englishman, or a lover of war: but the beauty and power of this traditional exercise was such that, watching it, I wished I was, thought I was, and was proud of it.”—Jason Sanders

• Written by Olivier, Alan Dent, based on the play by William Shakespeare. Photographed by Robert Krasker. With Laurence Olivier, Robert Newton, Leslie Banks, Renée Asherson. (137 mins, Color, 35mm, From MGM)

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http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/

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