Shakespeare’s plays can be interpreted in a number of ways, one example of this is seen between the two Henry V movies by Kenneth Branagh and Sir Laurence Olivier. These two versions of the play differ in nearly every way possible. In Sir Laurence Olivier’s version of the Battle of Agincourt, there is a lot of bright colors, the costumes look like they are from a cartoon. Overall the appearance is what one would expect to see at a poorly renaissance fair. Before the battle there was a lot of rainfall, which turned the field into a giant mud puddle. However, the Sir Laurence Olivier version does not indicate this as most of the battle field is dry with very green grass. We see the French men approaching the British by watching the horses, and …show more content…
the terrain below them, none of which is muddy. There are archers that send off a large number of arrows so thick and closely packed that one can not see through them. Only after the French get close enough to the British for combat battles, does the ground become muddy. After the battle is over, Henry and the other English men speak about the men they have lost. While they speak about their fallen friends, there is no show of sorrow or grief from the losses of lives, enemies or friends. Kenneth Branagh’s version of the Battle of Agincourt, there is a lot less color, everything is muted, and sets a more serious scene.
In Branagh’s version, we do not see the French approaching, but rather Henry and his men preparing to fight, seeing their reactions to hearing the French, outnumbering them by 3:4 at the very least, charging at them. As the English men were mostly arche’s this version shows more about how the archers were directed and has a more realistic arching as they are not all in one motion, but in separate sections, still together, in rows. The field in this version is a lot more realistic to the history, as there is a large section of mud, ranging what looks like the whole battle field. This version shows a more realistic battle, the scene is a lot more bloody, and the men have wounds on them afterwards. When the battle is over, and the men go to find out about the numbers of dead, there is a lot of emotion on the screen, there is a man holding a fallen friend, and a man sitting by his young dead son, Henry in this version actually seems angry when he says he is angry over the luggage boy’s deaths. The Kenneth Branagh version then shows the English men taking care of their dead and shows the aftermath of the battleground, the number of dead and blood around the
area. When comparing the two versions of the scene, it is obvious which one is of higher caliber. The Sir Laurence Olivier version would probably not be as terrible on it’s own, but all the extra elements Branagh adds to his movie makes the scene so much more realistic. If I choose to watch Henry V in the future I would choose the Kenneth Branagh version because it does not feel like they are acting.
Passage Analysis - Act 5 Scene 1, lines 115-138. Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme: the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play.
In the play Henry V written by Shakespeare. Henry was presented as the ideal Christian king. His mercy, wisdom, and other characteristics demonstrated the behavior of a Christian king. Yet at the same time he is shown to be man like any other. The way he behaves in his past is just like an ordinary man. But in Henry’s own mind he describes himself as “the mirror of all Christian kings” and also a “true lover of the holly church.
Comparing the Presentation of War in the Oliver and Branagh Film Versions of Henry the Fifth
...battle marked the end of the fighting in Northern France. After being pushed out of northern France, Henry VI sent an army to Bordeaux in an attempt to gain at least some territory in France. The French responded by besieging the town of Castillon. In an attempt to lift the siege, the English attack the French force besieging the town. The English are defeated once more and are driven out of both Castillon and Bordeaux. The only remaining English territory in France was the coast of Calais, which remained in English control until the mid 1500s.
Shakespeare, William. Henry the Fourth, Part 1. Ed James L. Sanderson. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1969.
The film uses various techniques to present a particular view of the war against France. What is that interpretation and how does the film convey it?Although the Branagh version of Shakespeare's Henry V remains very close to the text, with only a few lines left out of the film, the movie portrays a very clear and distinct message about war and Branagh's opinion on the matter. Henry V is fundamentally a play about war, and it would have been very easy for Branagh to make his version of the play into a film that glorified war. Instead, Branagh took the opportunity to make a statement about what he felt was the true essence of wars - both medieval and modern.It is clear through Henry V that Branagh thinks that wars are a waste of precious human life, and in the end are fruitless, causing more loss than gain.
Kenneth Branagh creates his own individualistic adaptation of this classic through the use of visual imagery, characterization, and setting. Branagh cut many lines and speeches from the text to better support his interpretation of a more open and informal society of warm-hearted, affectionate characters. Though Shakespeare's mood is more formal, Branagh remains true to the essence of the play as all of the same characters and most of the dialogue are justly included in the film. Although distinct differences can be made between Branagh’s film and Shakespeare’s written work, they both share a common denominator of good old-fashioned entertainment; and in the world of theater, nothing else really matters.
This proves that William Pitt did have the techniques to defeat the French. But people might say that he made things worse, because...
...in themes similar to those found in the two Henry IV plays, such as usurpation, rebellion, and the issue of lineage of royal right. But Richard II and King Henry V are decidedly more serious in tone, and in comparing them to I Henry IV and II Henry IV, the argument can be made that it is these two latter plays which resound with greater realism with the broader spectrum of life which they present. Shakespeare carefully balances comedy and drama in I Henry IV and II Henry IV, and in doing so the bard gives us what are perhaps the most memorable characters in all of English literature.
... version of Henry's court and Henry's camp, the dramatic effect constituted, in its way, a reasonably accurate depiction of Henry's achievement in England." (Pilkington 1-2) I believe that Shakespeare's Henry V contains more charm and less fanaticism than the true Henry V. Shakespeare has created a fairly accurate depiction of life in this time period, altering only what he saw fit for his own lifetime.
Shakespeare, William. Henry IV: part one. Ed. P. H. Davison, New York: Penguin Books, 1996.
1. What is the difference between Introduction 2. What is the difference between History 3. What is the difference between a's Planning / Preparation 4.
Shakespeare, William. "Henry V." The Norton Shakespeare: Histories. Eds. Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, and Katherine Eisaman Maus. London: Norton, 1997. 726-795.
According to Movie Fone the clothes and the guns that both the French, the British, and the Natives wore were correct for the time period. Also the majority of the locations were accurate in this film (Rappe). Many of the people in this film were historically real, one of these many people was Col. Edward Munro (Rappe). Another person that was portrayed in the film that was historically accurate was General Daniel Webb (Rappe). Fort William Henry was the fort that Munro and his army were fighting behind (Rappe). While Munro and the British army were fighting against Marquis there were children and w...
Shakespeare’s plays are a product of the Elizabethan theatrical context in which they were first performed. A lot of pressure was put on Shakespeare as he wrote his plays because he was not allowed to upset the royal family. His style would have been different than others in those times and a lot more thought has gone into his writing than people listening would think. Usually, the audience take for granted the cleverness and thought of Shakespeare’s writing, however, now we have studied and gone into great detail about Shakespeare’s writing, we can appreciate it more than they did: