Tag Archives: Tom Hiddleston

The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #46: Henry V (2012)

08 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Shakespeare, The Rogue's Guide to Shakespeare on Film

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Rogues Guide to Shakes on Film 2

46. Thea Sharrock’s Henry V (2012)

Can Tom Hiddleston carry Henry V alone after we have watched him acting alongside Simon Russell Beale and Jeremy Irons in the two parts of Henry IV?

henry-v-2

Nope.

No.

Not really.

Hiddleston was excellent as the sleazy, wild Prince Hal, and was impressive in his coronation at the close of Henry IV Part 2. As the king in Henry V, his hoarse elocution is impressive, and if I were listening to this in the dark, I might like it fine. Hiddleston’s voice is quite an instrument.

henry-v-1

But his performance as king seems stiff, perfunctory, and a little sleepy. He seems rather lanky to be strong in medieval battle. His beard is thin and slender, perhaps in a laborious attempt to bring this play cycle full circle by making him resemble Richard II, which somehow makes the loss of Simon Russell Beale and Jeremy Irons more obvious. Because his father usurped Richard, Henry wishes to restore balance and credibility to the nobility of the monarchy.

More Richard II? No thank you.

richard-ii

Besides trying to bring season 1 of The Hollow Crown to a close, this film is also competing with Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 adaptation of Henry V, which is simply one of the best films of all time, showing Branagh at his very best.

Henry V 6

Any other film (like Thea Sharrock’s) that attempts this play in an accurate historical setting will seem like someone trying to remake Citizen Kane.

John Hurt does give a touching performance as the Chorus.

henry-v-5

And Mélanie Thiérry is wondrous as Princess Katherine. In fact, this version of Henry V actually redeems what I have long considered to be Shakespeare’s worst scene: the English lesson. Shakespeare perversely delighted in mocking the French accent long before Monty Python did so. Nevertheless, here, Thiérry  as Katherine asks her nurse for the English words for parts of the body in a way that really is about the subtext, which is far more interesting than the text. Katherine intuits that she may be wedded off to Henry should he be successful, and needs to know his language. The scene plays earnestly rather than comically. The scene is about her identity, her future, and, for all of its enumerations of parts of the body, whatever might count as her sovereignty.

henry-v-6

If only the play were about her.

Henry V works so well as a standalone play, so perhaps it is not surprising that it suffers from being the endcap to a quatrology of plays.

_______

1flip

John King (Episode, well, all of them) holds a PhD in English from Purdue University, and an MFA from New York University. He has reviewed performances for Shakespeare Bulletin.

The Rogue’s Guide to Shakespeare on Film #45: Henry IV, Part 2 (2012)

01 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Shakespeare, The Rogue's Guide to Shakespeare on Film

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Rogues Guide to Shakes on Film

45. Richard Eyre’s Henry IV, Part 2 (2012)

Let’s recap my assessment of The Hollow Crown so far. Episode 1 (Richard II) was excruciating, except for the monkey. Episode II (Henry IV, Part 1) proved to be quite good.

Henry IV, Part 2 simultaneously feels like a reboot and a sequel to Part 1, which turns out to be an odd sensation since this Part 2 is wonderful.

The royal plots and the themes are similar. There is a rebellion against King Henry, who is still in failing health.

henry-iv-part-2-3

Prince Henry seems aloof and is mucking about on the wrong side of town rather than in the royal court.

The new development is that Falstaff is insistent upon his rise in social stature. While he is credited with being a knight, the actual provenance of his knighthood is uncertain, and one must suspect that Falstaff took the title upon himself. In Part 1, however, he was given credit for the slaying of the rebel Percy, even though the lie of this, too, seems to be an open secret. (Falstaff stabbed Percy, but only after Prince Hal had slain him in battle.)

With the prince’s good word and the gift of a very young page, Falstaff has been treated somewhat generously by the court, and he proudly wears red finery, in the same colors favored by the king and the prince in the battle from Part 1. Alas, Falstaff is running into trouble with Lord Chief Justice (Geoffrey Palmer, perfectly), who accosts him for those crimes committed before the war, and for continuing to be a corrupter of the prince.

henry-iv-part-2-10

Falstaff insults him wittily, but the confrontation rankles, since the exchange brings to mind Falstaff’s shaky standing as a nobleman.

Matters are made worse when Mistress Quickly makes a scene outside her inn. Falstaff owes her a considerable sum, and he has, apparently, promised to marry her.

henry-iv-part-2-8

In another affront to his dignity, he must mollify her, and arranges to have an evening of celebration in her house, with the prostitute Doll Tearsheet and some of his fellow associates.

henry-iv-part-2-1

This farewell carousing will damn him with the prince, but will also be quite touching. Maxine Peake (who played Titiana in David Kerr’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) gives Doll a remarkably mercurial mixture of vulnerability and toughness, and her affection for Falstaff moving rather than merely tawdry.

henry-iv-part-2-7

For the most part, the prince is avoiding both the court and Falstaff’s circle, in order to continue to conceal his intentions to be an upright monarch without publicly besmirching his reputation with his old confederates.

henry-iv-part-2-6

When the rebellion forces King Henry to prepare for war, Falstaff must conscript soldiers for the fight, and they are a sorry lot indeed. In the countryside, Sir John meets an old friend, Justice Shallow, a friend from his wilder, younger days. These scenes drag on peculiarly, as they do not drive the story forward, but deepen the characterization. What such scenes do, besides working like entertaining set pieces, is make us feel how far away from Falstaff the prince has become, and how old Falstaff actually is. He is, despite everything, a lovable rogue.

henry-iv-part-2-5

Simon Russell Beale is one of the finest Shakespearean actors of our time, and Falstaff is one of Shakespeare’s greatest roles. While I wasn’t sure offering a realistic Falstaff rather than a broadly comedic one was the best idea in Part 1, the comedy works well with a light touch, and modulates so immaculately with the pathos of Falstaff in these scenes that it becomes some of the best Shakespeare ever filmed.

henry-iv-part-2-4

Jeremy Irons as the dying king, and Tom Hiddleston as the prince who watches his father die, are also wonderfully performed.

jpeg

The confrontation between Falstaff and the new king at the coronation is exquisitely heartbreaking.

The war plot is much less important in Part 2, and this makes us feel much closer to the characters, at least the way Richard Eyre has filmed it.

Henry IV, Part 2 is a masterpiece.

_______

1flip

John King (Episode, well, all of them) holds a PhD in English from Purdue University, and an MFA from New York University. He has reviewed performances for Shakespeare Bulletin.

Save