This is literally the moment I discovered Shakespeare for myself! In this one scene Derek Jacobi & Kenneth Branagh undid all the damage that my school had done. That match literally ignited my love of Shakespeare, and I will be forever grateful!
Sir Derek's narration as The Chorus brings illumination to the opening, literally transforming a Muse of Fire in the match into openly throwing light upon the stage, clearly showing us the power switch being thrown so we know he is backstage. Look round carefully as Chorus proceeds through the opening narration. See the stage, the swords, the candles, scrolled lamp filters, set lamps and stage and scenery props. You are on the stage that he refers to. The set dressers even here have performed their craft so well. In speaking to the audience, breaking the 4th wall, he places himself at the border of both worlds, that of 15th Century England and the court of King Henry V, and on the backstage showing the props and items outside of the court. Listening, you can hear him speak carefully bringing you further and further into the scene, as he moves towards the doors, look to the left with HV (Henry V) on the set wall, and he lifts up his voice asking you to "judge our play !" as he shoves the doors open and moves off into the darkness. This is a masterpiece of an opening.
I was performing Shakespeare (MacBeth) in a small community theater when this came out. it altered the way we viewed the production we were working on in a fundamental way: shifting from a "presentational" style to a more personal "experiential" approach. I came to deeply love Shakespeare during the two hours of this movie, and I've never stopped. I believe it was the greatest cast ever assembled for a Shakespearian movie. Thank you to Mr. Branagh, Mr. Jacobi, Ms. Thompson, and all the other brilliant actors. This will always be one of my top two or three movies ever, and I still have several of the soliloquies memorized.
Still raises the hairs seeing it all these years later. But what brilliance from Shakespeare to basically say, "Look, we're going to put on a huge spectacle on this crummy little stage - we need you, our audience, to help out by using your imagination!"
1989 - freshman in college at Michigan State University. I walked into East Lansing’s art house Odeon Theater for the first time, never having heard of Kenneth Branagh. I sat captivated through the entire experience. Rewatching it still takes me back to those early days of an academic awakening, before I knew I would become an English major and a Professor of English Literature.
Derek Jacobi was my first, and honestly only, celebrity crush. I saw him in a BBC production on a crappy tv screen in my high school literature class in 1994. I was 16. This clip reminds me why I was right then, and right now. At the time of writing I am 43 and he is 83. And I'd still take a run at him. 😍🤩
@@xred_ray8009 That’s how Kenneth Branagh works in all his Shakespeare projects, he feels the flow makes for a much better performance. You should read his diary about making Hamlet!
Derek Jacobi rocks! This speech helped me to ace my final, cause reciting it was my final. Well reciting a mix of this and then the entire Band of Brothers speech. Hail Shakespeare, greatest of writers of any century!
Such a great performance here by Jacobi. Think about the person who first performed this role -- likely William Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare had been a popular actor and writer for a decade or so by the time Henry V premiered, likely at the newly built Globe Theatre, of which he was a part owner. Imagine the audacity of the playwright himself beginning the production by apologizing that the play to come would have been better if he had a brighter muse, a cast of the highest nobility, and an audience of kings. And then they see one of the greatest plays ever written.
Wasn't it, in part, an apology/deflection for not including Sir John Falstaff? It was promised at the end of Henry IV, Part 2, so in order to assuage the Falstaff-loving audience Shakespeare himself had to hype them up for the one character they'd love even more--King Henry.
Broreale It doesn't seem so much. If Shakespeare's intention with the prologue _was_ in part, in order to calm the Falstaff-fanboys, you'd think it would mention Falstaff, or at least the previous plays. Instead, the prologue for Henry V focuses on the limitations of theater & the Hundred Years War. Plus, Shakespeare didn't actually break the promise he made. The prologue to 2 Henry IV says that "our humble author will continue the story with Sir John in it... where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat". Falstaff dies in Henry V, so that promise is still fulfilled. There's also the consideration that Shakespeare wrote Merry Wives of Windsor the very next year.
@@Sokrabiades Shakespeare was another boring English assignment until I saw this exact monologue. KB and DJ blew my mind that day. I've been addicted ever since.
Branagh is a very underrated actor/director, and Jacobi even more underrated actor. The way the chorus is not just "some guy reciting lines." Jacobi really gets into it, and the decision by Branagh to cut lines that in my mind would have ruined dramatic pacing, and the irony of having Jacobi in modern-day dress on a stage with electric lighting was directorial genius.
Branagh and Jacobi are "underrated"? Give me a break, Mr. Servo! They are both renowned, award-winning, respected, in demand, admired by their peers, and instantly recognizable. They are millionaires. What's this fanboy obsession with constantly labeling successful people "underrated"? Trying to reduce them to the level of obscure performers who only the cool kids are into degrades them. It makes them out to be losers who never caught on.
To think this play started me on my decades-long Shakespeare journey only solidifies my sheer admiration for The Bard. This opening Chorus just…goosebumps…every time.
Derek Jacobi was Kenneth Branagh's acting teacher, and the soul of Laurence Olivier flowed through them both in this movie, and in Branagh's later adaptation of "Hamlet".
He kindly recorded some of my poetry for my WW1 centenary composition 'Valour' a few years ago. I agree with you, he is an amazingly talented actor. Best, Dom.
Yes! I do like every time I watch this movie. A flippin-Mazing. I purchased in HD on Amazon video last year. That should be an experience after watching the 'normal' version pretty much all my life.
My light on moment was judi dench in the mckellen Macbeth the had washing scene, Will these ne’er be clean. Utterly magical. Like a light switching on in my head
Jacobi does not always punch a whole through the screen, like he does here. His Claudius, Hamlet and Richard II are, IMO, just adequate. But in this movie... It's beyond perfection. Maybe the prologue of Henry V is the best character for him because, well, it is not a character in the ordinary sense. So all he has to do is use his amazing voice, truly a natural gift (I`ve never heard another voice as good, not even Gielgud) and perfect delivery (which thousands have mastered). I don`t know how much it was KB`s design or his own. I suspect the former, because it matches so well the serious, grave tone of all the performances in the movie (contrast with the prologue in Olivier`s film - if you keep the editing of lines and the setting, but switch the tone each actor uses, it sound ridiculous in both movies).
I got lost in the pomposity of how he is performing it. A more real approach would be more effective to communicate the words. While it is grand and melodic, this is why no one understands what is going on. Bad acting.
@@silverwriter6739 No human talketh thus, in my humble estimation. All choppy with no natural flow...with witless and arbitrary breath between words that belongeth together in a single phrase. No, no, my friend, this speech is altogether without natural momentum of a speaker... just individually articulated single words, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
@@newyorkslim2001, this criticism does not answer the question. You said he showed no understanding of the meaning or intent of the words. What meaning and intent did he miss?
@@silverwriter6739 I see the Chorus in Henry 5 as emcee for the event, a coach at halftime, an insightful commentator -- and yes, at times, a meditative historian, as in the night before the big battle. But he ain't Hamlet musing on death, as is the staging, diction, affectations here. Just my view.
This is literally the moment I discovered Shakespeare for myself! In this one scene Derek Jacobi & Kenneth Branagh undid all the damage that my school had done. That match literally ignited my love of Shakespeare, and I will be forever grateful!
This is the film (and play) that made me change my major to history and get an MA in Medieval history. Love it so much!
Sir Derek's narration as The Chorus brings illumination to the opening, literally transforming a Muse of Fire in the match into openly throwing light upon the stage, clearly showing us the power switch being thrown so we know he is backstage.
Look round carefully as Chorus proceeds through the opening narration. See the stage, the swords, the candles, scrolled lamp filters, set lamps and stage and scenery props. You are on the stage that he refers to. The set dressers even here have performed their craft so well.
In speaking to the audience, breaking the 4th wall, he places himself at the border of both worlds, that of 15th Century England and the court of King Henry V, and on the backstage showing the props and items outside of the court.
Listening, you can hear him speak carefully bringing you further and further into the scene, as he moves towards the doors, look to the left with HV (Henry V) on the set wall, and he lifts up his voice asking you to "judge our play !" as he shoves the doors open and moves off into the darkness.
This is a masterpiece of an opening.
It's a soundstage. @@birdmj
@@margaretgarside5617ah but "All the world's a stage" holds true.
Oh, definitely. @@birdmj
I was performing Shakespeare (MacBeth) in a small community theater when this came out. it altered the way we viewed the production we were working on in a fundamental way: shifting from a "presentational" style to a more personal "experiential" approach. I came to deeply love Shakespeare during the two hours of this movie, and I've never stopped. I believe it was the greatest cast ever assembled for a Shakespearian movie. Thank you to Mr. Branagh, Mr. Jacobi, Ms. Thompson, and all the other brilliant actors. This will always be one of my top two or three movies ever, and I still have several of the soliloquies memorized.
Still raises the hairs seeing it all these years later. But what brilliance from Shakespeare to basically say, "Look, we're going to put on a huge spectacle on this crummy little stage - we need you, our audience, to help out by using your imagination!"
1989 - freshman in college at Michigan State University. I walked into East Lansing’s art house Odeon Theater for the first time, never having heard of Kenneth Branagh. I sat captivated through the entire experience. Rewatching it still takes me back to those early days of an academic awakening, before I knew I would become an English major and a Professor of English Literature.
Derek Jacobi was my first, and honestly only, celebrity crush. I saw him in a BBC production on a crappy tv screen in my high school literature class in 1994. I was 16. This clip reminds me why I was right then, and right now. At the time of writing I am 43 and he is 83. And I'd still take a run at him. 😍🤩
One of the COOLEST opening scenes ever.
"OUR PLAY!"
- Door fails to open. *CUUUTTT!!* ... Let's go again.
You'll never hear that speech done better.
I think mine is better.
And all in one take, no cut at all… Just brilliant!
@@xred_ray8009 That’s how Kenneth Branagh works in all his Shakespeare projects, he feels the flow makes for a much better performance. You should read his diary about making Hamlet!
Derek Jacobi rocks! This speech helped me to ace my final, cause reciting it was my final. Well reciting a mix of this and then the entire Band of Brothers speech. Hail Shakespeare, greatest of writers of any century!
Such a great performance here by Jacobi. Think about the person who first performed this role -- likely William Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare had been a popular actor and writer for a decade or so by the time Henry V premiered, likely at the newly built Globe Theatre, of which he was a part owner. Imagine the audacity of the playwright himself beginning the production by apologizing that the play to come would have been better if he had a brighter muse, a cast of the highest nobility, and an audience of kings. And then they see one of the greatest plays ever written.
+Philip Buchan It's Shakespeare acknowledging that even the greatest writer is nothing without the audience bringing something to the experience.
Wasn't it, in part, an apology/deflection for not including Sir John Falstaff? It was promised at the end of Henry IV, Part 2, so in order to assuage the Falstaff-loving audience Shakespeare himself had to hype them up for the one character they'd love even more--King Henry.
Broreale It doesn't seem so much. If Shakespeare's intention with the prologue _was_ in part, in order to calm the Falstaff-fanboys, you'd think it would mention Falstaff, or at least the previous plays. Instead, the prologue for Henry V focuses on the limitations of theater & the Hundred Years War. Plus, Shakespeare didn't actually break the promise he made. The prologue to 2 Henry IV says that "our humble author will continue the story with Sir John in it... where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat". Falstaff dies in Henry V, so that promise is still fulfilled. There's also the consideration that Shakespeare wrote Merry Wives of Windsor the very next year.
Henry V was my Rosetta Stone to Shakespeare. Thank you Kenneth Branagh.
Yes, me too. My gateway drug.
@@Sokrabiades Shakespeare was another boring English assignment until I saw this exact monologue.
KB and DJ blew my mind that day. I've been addicted ever since.
Branagh is a very underrated actor/director, and Jacobi even more underrated actor. The way the chorus is not just "some guy reciting lines." Jacobi really gets into it, and the decision by Branagh to cut lines that in my mind would have ruined dramatic pacing, and the irony of having Jacobi in modern-day dress on a stage with electric lighting was directorial genius.
+tergygirl
"and DOOOOWNNN goes all before them!!!"
Two words: Brother Cadfael. No, seriously I love this movie, and you may well be right about the directing decisions here.
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah "it's so good because it's not traditional" crap. D'you have any more of it? I'm sure you can give a longer expatiation
Branagh and Jacobi are "underrated"? Give me a break, Mr. Servo! They are both renowned, award-winning, respected, in demand, admired by their peers, and instantly recognizable. They are millionaires. What's this fanboy obsession with constantly labeling successful people "underrated"? Trying to reduce them to the level of obscure performers who only the cool kids are into degrades them. It makes them out to be losers who never caught on.
@@TheStockwell You know, a simple "I disagree" would suffice.
Oh he is magnificent!
To think this play started me on my decades-long Shakespeare journey only solidifies my sheer admiration for The Bard. This opening Chorus just…goosebumps…every time.
That was brilliant. Loved the exit.
Very powerful intro by Sir Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi was Kenneth Branagh's acting teacher, and the soul of Laurence Olivier flowed through them both in this movie, and in Branagh's later adaptation of "Hamlet".
This is one of my favorite Shakespeare monologues...after the Band of Brothers speech, Richard III's speech, and MacBeth's dagger scene
Best adaption of the play ever..........
Could this have begun any better than with Derek Jacobi welcoming us, the audience?
Equaled, maybe. But not bettered. Not then, not now, and not ever.
So you can see into the eons of future time? That must make you gosh.
It doesn't get much better than Jacobi reading Shakespeare
He kindly recorded some of my poetry for my WW1 centenary composition 'Valour' a few years ago. I agree with you, he is an amazingly talented actor. Best, Dom.
A courageous choice of concept - but it works. Sir Derek is superb in this.
Brilliant.
Did anyone else get goosebumps?
Yes! I do like every time I watch this movie. A flippin-Mazing. I purchased in HD on Amazon video last year. That should be an experience after watching the 'normal' version pretty much all my life.
oh he's good
Superb!
For when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner.
This opening nearly had a Spielberg-like magic to it.
My light on moment was judi dench in the mckellen Macbeth the had washing scene, Will these ne’er be clean. Utterly magical. Like a light switching on in my head
This is how one does Shakespeare 👍
“I am the Master, and you will obey me.”
He's not even the star... and yet, he is.
"A KINGDOM FOR A STAGE...!"
ME TOO!
I wonder how many times the match blew out going down those stairs.
Lights!
Best Shakespeare movie ever.
I think Olivier's "Richard III" and Branagh's unabridged "Hamlet" were just as good.
@Godzilla52 Thumbs up a thousand times and then some!!!!!!!!!!!I couldn't agree more!
This scene reminds me of Olivier's version. It was clever, but it was also brilliant!
This version is way better than Olivier.
Oliver didn't do this scene
I have to memorize this for my acting class
5 years has been , how did it go
Same here
I recite this whilst standing in queues. It doesn't get me to the front any quicker!
@@josefschiltz2192 I'm sure you'll do better than this blowhard.
His appearance is similar to Peter Brook
Jacobi does not always punch a whole through the screen, like he does here. His Claudius, Hamlet and Richard II are, IMO, just adequate. But in this movie... It's beyond perfection. Maybe the prologue of Henry V is the best character for him because, well, it is not a character in the ordinary sense. So all he has to do is use his amazing voice, truly a natural gift (I`ve never heard another voice as good, not even Gielgud) and perfect delivery (which thousands have mastered). I don`t know how much it was KB`s design or his own. I suspect the former, because it matches so well the serious, grave tone of all the performances in the movie (contrast with the prologue in Olivier`s film - if you keep the editing of lines and the setting, but switch the tone each actor uses, it sound ridiculous in both movies).
Knowing Jacobi he probably got this in one take.
Why is the DVD for this film out of production?
oh so that's what rocky quoted
Who's not in bed iggle piggle's not in bed
The NINE HAVE THIS INSPIRATION...TRADE PLAGUE FOR WAR..
What a CONFLAGRATION!
"TURNING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MANY YEARS INTO AN HOUR GLASS." Proceed with all units to the Northern border.
GOD
He doesn't sound at all like he did in that episode of Frasier
It all feels so wrong afeter knowing OP....
Fun fact: Shakespeare was actually NOT tripping balls when he wrote all this shit.
Good, but nothing on Toole or Burton.
Isn't this dude knighted
Yes
Thanks
jnc8999
You're welcome!
He was knighted in 1994, so he is now Sir Derek Jacobi.
Wow
That is a ma sing. 🤩🙊💖
I got lost in the pomposity of how he is performing it. A more real approach would be more effective to communicate the words. While it is grand and melodic, this is why no one understands what is going on. Bad acting.
No. Stillted and histrionic.
ugh. Nice diction... projected feeling... but no understanding of the meaning and intent of the words. None. Lucky for him there is dramatic music.
What, pray tell, doth thine expert opinion find wanting?
@@silverwriter6739 No human talketh thus, in my humble estimation. All choppy with no natural flow...with witless and arbitrary breath between words that belongeth together in a single phrase. No, no, my friend, this speech is altogether without natural momentum of a speaker... just individually articulated single words, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
@@newyorkslim2001, this criticism does not answer the question. You said he showed no understanding of the meaning or intent of the words. What meaning and intent did he miss?
@@silverwriter6739 I see the Chorus in Henry 5 as emcee for the event, a coach at halftime, an insightful commentator -- and yes, at times, a meditative historian, as in the night before the big battle. But he ain't Hamlet musing on death, as is the staging, diction, affectations here. Just my view.