Henry V

Henry V
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Elizabethan history, while not the thing for my everyday entertainment, truly does thrill when experienced sparingly. It's been years since I've seen Kenneth Branagh's stark and exciting Henry V. I slid back into the speech patterns quickly enough, loved the costumes and casting, and was moved by the work itself. It is as much a triumph today as when it debuted.

"Straightforward, energetic, updated Bard. 28-year-old star-director-adapter Kenneth Branagh's spellbinding version of Shakespeare's Henry isn't superior to Olivier's 1944 version--it's different, and complementary to it. ... In addition to his own extraordinary performance as King Henry, Branagh elicits brilliant work from a stellar cast, including Derek Jacobi as the chorus, Paul Scofield as the French king, Ian Holm as Fluellen, Robbie Coltrane as Falstaff and Judi Dench as Mistress Quickly. "--TV Guide
"There is no more stirring summons to arms in all of literature than Henry's speech to his troops on St. Crispan's Day, ending with the lyrical 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.' To deliver this speech successfully is to pass the acid test for anyone daring to perform the role of Henry V in public, and as Kenneth Branagh, as Henry, stood up on the dawn of the Battle of Agincourt and delivered the famous words, I was emotionally stirred even though I had heard them many times before. That is one test of a great Shakespearian actor: to take the familiar and make it new."--Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Reviewed by: Amy
Age group: Adult
Classification: Entertainment/Fiction
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for a bloody battle

Grade: B+