Henry V
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Henry V

Year:
Duration:
137 min
Genres:
Action | Biography | Drama | History | Romance | War
IMDB rate:
7.8
Director:
Kenneth Branagh
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations
Details
Country: UK
Release Date: 1989-11-08
Filming Locations: Crowlink, East Sussex, England, UK
Earnings
Budget: $9,000,000
Gross: $10,161,099 (USA)SEK 1,443,733 (Sweden)
Cast
Actor
Character
John Sessions
John Sessions
Henry V
Derek Jacobi
Chorus
Kenneth Branagh
King Henry V
Simon Shepherd
Duke Humphrey of Gloucester
James Larkin
Duke John of Bedford
Brian Blessed
Duke Thomas Beaufort of Exeter
James Simmons
Duke Edward of York
Paul Gregory
Westmoreland
Charles Kay
Archbishop of Canterbury
Alec McCowen
Bishop of Ely
Fabian Cartwright
Earl Richard of Cambridge
Stephen Simms
Lord Henry Scroop
Jay Villiers
Sir Thomas Grey
Edward Jewesbury
Sir Thomas Erpingham
Ian Holm
Captain Fluellen
Danny Webb
Gower
Jimmy Yuill
Jamy
Shaun Prendergast
Bates
Patrick Doyle
Court (as Pat Doyle)
Michael Williams
Williams
Richard Briers
Lieutenant Bardolph
Geoffrey Hutchings
Corporal Nym
Robert Stephens
Auncient Pistol
Robbie Coltrane
Sir John Falstaff
Christian Bale
Robin the Luggage-Boy
Geraldine McEwan
Alice
Judi Dench
Mistress Nell Quickly
Paul Scofield
King Charles VI of France
Michael Maloney
Louis the Dauphin
Harold Innocent
Duke Philippe of Burgundy
Richard Clifford
Duke Charles of Orleans
Colin Hurley
Grandpré
Richard Easton
Constable Charles Delabreth
Christopher Ravenscroft
Montjoy
Emma Thompson
Princess Katherine de Valois
David Lloyd Meredith
Governor of Harfleur
David Parfitt
Messenger
Nicholas Ferguson
Earl Richard Beauchamp of Warwick
Tom Whitehouse
Sir John Talbot
Nigel Greaves
Duke Jean of Berri
Julian Gartside
Duke Jean of Bretagne
Mark Inman
1st Soldier
Chris Armstrong
2nd Soldier
Callum Yuill
Child (as Calum Yuill)
Kenneth W Caravan
English Soldier (uncredited)
David Speed
Soldier (uncredited)
Fred Wood
Soldier (Hooded with Staff) (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Ian McKellen turned down the role of the King of France.
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Paul Scofield and Ian Holm would appear together again the very next year in Hamlet (1990). Their roles; as the Ghost and Polonius, respectively. These roles would be played in director Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996) by cast members Brian Blessed and Richard Briers.
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Gérard Depardieu not only dubbed the title role in French, he helped to secure distribution for the film in France. In thanks, Kenneth Branagh cast him in Hamlet (1996). Branagh and Depardieu also both went on to play Cyrano de Bergerac.
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Goofs
After 4 minutes a violin string is plucked. This string is clearly one of the middle strings, either the "D" or the "A" string. However, we actually hear the sound of the "E" string being plucked.
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During the battle scene, a horseman's sword is seen bending severely when striking another sword, clearly revealing that it is rubber or plastic.
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When the army crosses the river, rain is clearly falling into the water in the foreground but not in the background, which is glassy smooth.
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Quotes
King Henry V: For there is none of you so mean and base, That hath not noble lustre in your eyes. I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
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Exeter: This is his claim, his threatening and my message. Unless the *Dolphin*
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King Henry V: I was not angry since I came to France, until this instant!
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Faq
Q
Is the film a direct adaptation of the play?
A
For the most part. All of the dialogue from the film is taken verbatim from the play, all of the characters in the film come directly from the play and all of the events in the film come directly from the play. Most of the differences which do exist between the play and the film are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, and, by and large, the play and the film are essentially one and the same.Almost all of the differences in the film involve omissions concerning material found in the play, but two small scenes actually represent additions to the film; the two flashback scenes. In both of these scenes, Henry (Kenneth Branagh) thinks back to his time as a companion of Falstaff (Robbie Coltrane), Nym (Geoffrey Hutchings), Bardolph (Richard Briers), Pistol (Robert Stephens) and Mistress Quickly (Judi Dench). In the first scene, he remembers a conversation he had with Falstaff, where Falstaff acknowledges that Henry may forget his all of his other companions, but he should not forget Falstaff himself ("No, my good Lord, banish Peto, banish Bardolph, banish Poins: but for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant, being as he is old Jack Falstaff, banish not him thy Harry's company, banish him not thy Harry's company; banish plump Jack, and banish all the World"). In the second scene, he remembers a drinking game between Bardolph and Falstaff, where Bardolph turns to him and says, "Do not thou, when thou art a king, hang a thief". Neither of these scenes occur in the play, but are instead both taken from Henry IV, Part 1. Additionally, the line "Do not thou, when thou art a king, hang a thief" was spoken in that play not by Bardolph, but by Falstaff. However, by having this flashback scene occur just as Henry orders the hanging of Bardolph, changing the speaker of the line creates a strong thematic resonance.Another minor difference between the play and the film concerns the French herald, Montjoy (Christopher Ravenscroft), who is given far more lines in the film than the character has in the play. Many of the lines he speaks in the film where originally spoken by unnamed characters. For example, in the play, the report of the numbers of dead is brought to Henry by an unnamed English herald, whereas in the film, it is brought to him by Montjoy.Another difference is in terms of the removal of material. Lines have been cut from numerous speeches throughout the film so as to shorten the running time, and inconsequential conversations and scenes have been truncated.There is one difference between the play and the film however, which attracted some attention when the film was released. One scene from the play was altered entirely in the film, and as it presents Henry in a somewhat unflattering light, critics pointed out that the film was more of an idealisation of the character than the play. The altered scenes concerned the French murder of their English prisoners. In the film, Fluellen (Ian Holm) tells Henry that the French have murdered the prisoners, and he and Henry and ruminate on how monstrous such an action is. However, in the play, it is Henry who orders the murder of his French prisoners, not the French who order the murder of the English prisoners, due to a French raid on the King's tent, which was guarded only with young boys. Fluellen and Gower (played by Danny Webb in the film) then discuss the raid, and the King's order. Fluellen says of the raid "'tis expressly against the Law of Arms, 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery mark you now, as can be offered in your conscience now, is it not?", to which Gower responds "the King most worthily hath caus'd every soldier to cut his prisoners throat. O 'tis a gallant King". This is changed in the film, thus presenting Henry in a more enlightened fashion; when he hears of the English troops being killed, he responds only with horror, there is no hint of him doing the same thing in retaliation, whereas in the play, he shows himself to be capable of the same level of inhuman viciousness against the "Law of Arms".
Q
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Henry V can be found here.
Q
Why does the film begin on a film set?
A
The opening speech of the play, delivered by the Chorus is: O for a muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention: A kingdom for a stage, princes to act, And monarchs to behold the swelling scene. Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of Mars, and at his heels Leashed in like hounds, should Famine, Sword, and Fire Crouch for employment. But pardon, gentles all, The flat unrais'd spirits that hath dared, On this unworthy scaffold, to bring forth So great an object. Can this cock-pit hold The vast fields of France? Or may we cram Within this wooden O the very casques That did affright the air at Agincourt? O pardon: since a crook'd figure may Attest in little place a million, And let us, ciphers to this great account, On your imaginary forces work. Suppose within the girdle of these walls Are now confined two mighty monarchies, Whose high uprear'd and abutting fronts The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder. Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts: Into a thousand parts divide one man, And make imaginary puissance. Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them, Printing their proud hoofs i'th' receiving earth; For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, Carry them here and there, jumping o'er times, Turning th'accomplishment of many years Into an hourglass - for the which supply, Admit me Chorus to this history, Who Prologue-like your humble patience pray Gently to hear, kindly to judge our play. The basic meaning of this speech is that the Chorus is lamenting how the stage cannot possibly hope to truly represent all that is to be depicted in the narrative, and therefore, the audience must imagine much of the action for themselves. He returns to this point during the siege of Harfleur, again asking the audience to imagine what is described, as it is cannot be shown directly. When the play begins, the Chorus acknowledges that he is quite literally standing on a stage where actors are about to start performing. Obviously, such an opening is a deeply self-reflexive device, breaking the skein of make-belief found in all narrative; the audience is presented with an actor on a stage, acknowledging that he is an actor on a stage and telling them that they are about to watch a group of actors performing on a stage. As such, the opening speech alludes to the very artistic medium itself, and this is the important point for the opening of the film. The film begins on a film set because it is a film; it has the same meaning as the opening speech in the play, but because it is a different medium, there is simply a change of location.
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Photos from cast
John Sessions
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