Laurence Olivier’s version of the Prince of Wales turned king is a colorful masterpiece and stays true to the spirit of the poet William Shakespeare. Unique, powerful, and inspiring, Olivier plays and directs this film during his younger years and gives a knockout of a performance with such clarity and devotion to the English monarch. The costumes are detailed and beautiful, the cinematography is outstanding, the art direction is crafty, and all of the performances by the cast are superb. This is by far one of the best productions of Shakespeare put to the screen. That color is awesome!
King Henry of England sets out to France to recover land that is rightly his by divine right. At least that’s what the Archbishop of Canterbury told him in act 1. That sly dog! Anyway, I enjoyed the film immensely. It tested my ability to follow Shakespeare’s words with the help of Olivier’s speech. Iambic pentameters flow smoothly helping the flow of all of the scenes. All of the characters in this film are convincing and give their characters heart.
One part of this film that I found to be the best part of the whole movie are the first twenty minutes. It starts off in the year 1600 in London at the Globe Theater. I saw actors portraying actors in contemporary costumes portraying characters in the early fifteenth century. We see the actors behind stage getting dressed and applying makeup, getting their lines memorized, and making sure that all of the sets and props get on their way. It is a very audience active scene set in real time. After those twenty minutes, the stage transforms into the fifteenth century reality with proper period clothing and backgrounds. We go into the past with the actors! This transition is so smooth and so thought-out. It was pure movie magic. Nothing else comes close to the blend of timelessness that Olivier gave it.
Laurence Olivier in Henry V
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