Henry V
1979: David Giles

Like most of the other programs in the BBC Shakespeare Plays series, this has minimal production values: the costumes are basic, and most of the sets are minimal, more suggestive than representative. But the acting forces are excellent, and the performances are exceedingly solid.

Unlike some of the other history plays of Shakespeare (all of which are named after the reigning kings), this one concentrates especially on the figure of the titular king himself. While there are a number of other noteworthy parts, still the one that will make or break a production is certainly Henry’s;. David Gwillim’s performance will inevitably be compared with Laurence Olivier’s (1944) and Kenneth Branagh’s (1989) — high bars indeed. His portrayal is not as immediately as impressive, especially in the flamboyant set pieces — “Once more into the breach” and the Agincourt Day speech. It is, however, a valid (if very different) presentation of the character.

Henry as written is not at all points comprehensible, and in that incomprehensibility lives remarkable scope for interpretive variation. He can certainly be impressive and inspiring, like Olivier’s and Branagh’s, especially when he’s supported by a swelling score by William Walton or Patrick Doyle. Gwillim’s Henry is a bit colder throughout, and unsupported by music save for the occasional incidental scrap. His hortatory speeches are more measured and reserved. There are points where it is not entirely sure that he is wholly in touch with the emotional content of what he’s saying. That itself is arguably valid. Henry can be seen as the grand figure; but there are points in the play (completely consistent with the character he has built up in the Henry IV plays) where one might make a good case that he’s completely cynical and opportunistic, or even a sociopath. The English poet John Masefield says of him (as he appears in the Henry IV plays): “Prince Henry is not a hero, he is not a thinker, he is not even a friend; he is a common man whose incapacity for feeling enables him to change his habits whenever interest bids him...He impresses one as quite common, quite selfish, quite without feeling. ...When he learns that his behavior may have lost him his prospective crown he passes a sponge over his past, and fights like a wild cat for the right of not having to work for a living.” Another interpretation can come from a completely different quarter. Gwillim’s portrayal leaves room for the ambiguity, at least, although — to be fair — his night-time speeches (the incognito encounters and the soliloquy prior to the battle of Agincourt) suggest instead that he is genuine and sincere, but still very much a private person, unwilling to bare his actual feelings to others. He is certainly conscious that being a king is less a matter of his essence than of a role he is playing. In that respect, Gwillim’s portrayal seems to me to hit very close to the mark, even if it is less flamboyant than some of the others.

That being said, he is still not a humorless or dull character. He shows signs of playfulness. After the encounter with the French ambassador at the beginning, he begins taking the tennis balls out of the chest and throwing them to various of his courtiers, who seem to be having a good time with it. Other similar glimmers of humor emerge here and there — something always to be sought and preserved in Shakespeare (since certainly even the darkest of his tragedies are not devoid of humor).

The other conspicuous advantage of this production over virtually all the others is that it is cut less. Many of the exchanges that seem arbitrary or disjunct in the more famous film representations actually make sense here, when they are restored to their proper contexts. They appear less like virtuosic display pieces, and more as organic parts of the whole. This I also take to be a good thing.

As an almost incidental note, there is one strikingly beautiful (and overtly vignetted) scene that breaks the visual fatigue of the rest of the scenes: this is the English lesson scene between the princess and her tutor. It is worth noting too that the actress who plays Katherine (Jocelyne Boisseau) is herself French, so she sounds perfectly fluent there, and a little less comfortable with the English — which is all as it should be.

Overall, I can recommend this film without major reservations of any sort, especially for a more mature student who is able to hang onto the nuances of the language and the argument of the play, but doesn’t need the added buoyancy of the slicker production values and the gorgeous scores of the Olivier and Branagh versions. It holds together exceedingly well, and makes a robust comparandum to any of the others.

Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.

Buy the BBC Shakespeare Plays Histories Giftbox at Amazon. Unlike the complete series, this is in a North American video format, and it includes five plays: Richard II, Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, and Richard III.

Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.