A little touch of Branagh : Henry V

Abstract

Taking as a starting point the illuminating similarity between the critical reception of Kenneth Branagh's film of Henry V (1989) and the liberal humanist reading of the Shakespearean play-text, this article highlights a series of significant stress-points in the playtext and looks at the way they are dealt with in the Branagh film. It is claimed that the film is riven by one central contradiction: namely, that between a political (critical, detached) and a personal (emotional) representation of the action. Ultimately, it is argued that the film's promotion of the spectator's identification with the psychology of power makes of Branagh's Henry a leader for our politically muddled times.