Sightlines · reception
How Henry V was received
1989 · Kenneth Branagh · Henry V on Sightlines
The arc
Greeted in 1989 as the arrival of 'the new Olivier' — a 28-year-old unknown taking on the play Olivier had made a wartime monument — it's now remembered as the film that single-handedly relaunched the Shakespeare movie, kicking off the 90s Branagh boom.
What’s debated
The eternal fan debate is Branagh vs Olivier: is the mud-caked, disillusioned 1989 version truly the anti-war corrective to Olivier's 1944 pageant, or does it end up glorifying Henry just as much, only with dirtier faces?
Its footprint
The St Crispin's Day 'band of brothers' speech is the film's calling card — endlessly clipped, quoted in locker rooms and eulogies alike — and the long post-battle tracking shot set to Patrick Doyle's 'Non Nobis, Domine' is one of the most referenced single takes in Shakespeare on film.
Where it stands
It's the gateway-drug Shakespeare film — the one cinephiles hand to people who think they hate Shakespeare — and a fixture of 'best directorial debuts' lists.
Did you know? Branagh was just 28 when he made it, and his debut earned him Oscar nominations for both Best Actor and Best Director — while a 15-year-old Christian Bale appears as the Boy.