With tensions between England and the arrogant French pushed to breaking point, King Henry the Fifth sets out with his armies to conquer and quell the French in their native land. The film builds up to the historic battle of Agincourt with the troops and the king camping together and making progress across the land, with the French armies preparing for battle as King Henry and his men go from battle to camp to battle on the way to right the wrong of offence caused to England by France.
When I saw the slightly more famous version of this story from Lawrence Olivier I must admit that I liked it but struggled with simply it was delivered and how the focus was flag-waving. With Branagh's version I was amused by the fact that I got a lot more from it even though it was clearly made with a lot fewer resources to hand. The downside of this is that the film does not have the majesty and the sweep of the dialogue and scenes tend to be smaller and reliant on darkness. At times the cinematography looks drab and does seem like it belongs on the television rather than the cinema but, credit where it is due, the Agincourt battle is impressive regardless of the restrains on it.
Where the film is better than Olivier's is in the delivery of the language and the direction of the material. Branagh brings out so much more of interest in the material than just national pride. He brings more of the story with the sense of pride countered with the horror of war, the reality of the lower classes and such. The only things I thought he should have dropped were both scenes that involved Katherine, the first was a bit out of step with his vision of the rest of the story, while the final scene makes for a weaker ending than should have been.
The cast aids him greatly in bringing this approach out to its potential. Branagh himself leads the cast well and gets better as the film goes on and putting as much effort into the smaller moments as he does into the famous scenes. I thought Jacobi was excellent and really sold his narration and made the device of a modern chorus work well. The cast is deep in talent in every area, from characters with big parts to those with only a few moments on screen. Holm, Sessions, Blessed, Coltrane, Scofield, McEwan, Briers, Dench and others are all excellent and a young Christian Bale is good in a minor role.
Overall then, this may not be considered to be better than Olivier's version but to me it is, thanks to the greater interest it shows in the material. The cast respond well to this and the delivery is with a passion and meaning that makes up for the limits of budget and a bit of a "tv" feel.
