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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: January 27, 2015
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Emma Thompson, Simon Shepherd, Judi Dench, Alec McCowen, Ian Holm, Christian Bale, Paul Scofield
Year: 1989
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The Movie:
King Henry V of England is most famous for the Battle of Agincourt, which was one of the most decisive victories in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. England won the battle despite a numerically superior French army, resulting in Henry marrying the daughter of King Charles VI and increasing England's claims in continental Europe. After years of legal wrangling and much dissent, the two nations signed the Treaty of Troyes, Henry married Charles's daughter, and the two had a son, Henry VI, who became heir-apparent to the French throne.
The events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt became the basis for one of the many historical plays written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Henry V was the fourth and final play in the series, which had begun with Richard II and included Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. Henry V is believed to have been completed sometime around 1599. The character of Henry had been introduced in the two previous plays, where he had been treated as a troubled youngster; by the time of Henry V, however, Shakespeare had crafted him into a much more mature and heroic individual, the kind of leader the country would need if it was to win the long fight against France.
This particular play from may not be as famous as many of the Bard's other works (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and so on), but before 1989 it had been adapted to the big screen at least once, in 1944. That adaptation had been produced, directed, and co-written by Laurence Olivier, who had also starred as Henry. It was a fairly stylized version, though a successful one, garnering its star a special Academy Award for his various duties. Perhaps because the film was so well received, another attempt at an adaptation wasn't made until the late 1980s, when young thespian Kenneth Branagh tried his hand at the story.
Born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Branagh expressed his love for the stage at a young age and went on to enroll in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He found success early, being awarded a SWET Award for Best Newcomer in 1982 and starring in a BBC production of Play for Today. Not long after, he was touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1989 he directed his first film adaptation of a Shakespeare play, Henry V, and, like his predecessor Laurence Olivier, also starred as the lead. The film was a critical success, landing Branagh Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Actor, while Phyllis Dalton won for Best Costume Design.
It isn't difficult to see why the film did so well in academic circles and art theaters. While it remained largely faithful to the word of Shakespeare, it did enliven things by including scenes and dialogue from the previous plays in the series, adding context and a greater sense of dramatic tension. Branagh is terrific in the role of Henry, as is Emma Thompson as Katharine, the daughter of the French king. (Branagh and Thompson would marry in real life, though the marriage wasn't to last.) The performances are excellent in all, with many of the smaller roles filled by character actors or future stars. And Branagh's direction aims for a realistic, gritty evocation of the world of Shakespeare, one not seen on the big screen since Roman Polanski's beautiful—and, until recently, greatly underappreciated—Macbeth (1971).
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory has released Branagh's directorial debut with an MPEG-4 AVC encode in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Henry V is an extremely cinematic movie that should benefit from the format; Branagh employs innumerable wide and long shots to emphasize massive interior sets (such as when Henry V makes his grand entrance framed by a huge doorway), interspersed with medium and close shots for intimacy. Unfortunately, the 1080p transfer utilized by Shout! is too soft, with little revealing detail and a surfeit of grain, particularly during dark sequences (which make up most of the film). That same darkness also results at times in excessive crush. Brighter shots—which are few and far between—fare better, though they still lack detail. Given the number of facial close-ups, there should be much greater clarity, but there is little to suggest that this is a hi-def presentation. That same lack of detail doesn't do any favors to the Oscar-winning costumes, either. Colors are drab, but that isn't necessarily the fault of the transfer; the film has always tended toward a dark and subdued color palette, often appearing awash in a sepia tone with chiaroscuro lighting, no doubt to emulate the look of candlelight. There's a surprising amount of dirt and debris, given that the film is relatively recent, with white specks appearing throughout. The only conclusion left to make is that the transfer is fairly old; the film could benefit from a newer one. Running at 138 minutes, the fairly lengthy film would also have benefited from placement on a 50GB Blu-ray disc rather than a 25GB BD.
Thankfully, the sound fares much better. Featuring a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, Patrick Doyle's score is robust. The film may be dialogue heavy, but it features a good number of sound effects, particularly during the battle scenes. The spoken word is never difficult to make out (though there are English subtitles if you do have problems), and the score is never problematic. Sound doesn't veer between loud and soft extremes and is presented fairly evenly, making for a pleasant aural experience.
The only extra is a low-res, full-frame trailer running 2:10. The film features eight chapter breaks.
The Final Word:
Henry V is a good film, one deserving of far greater attention than it has received in the years since its original release. It's also deserving of a much better transfer from MGM. Until the day that it receives such a transfer, Shout's BD release will have to do.
