Comparing the Presentation of War in the Oliver and...

Comparing the Presentation of War in the Oliver and Branagh Film Versions of Henry the Fifth Many films have been made of Shakespeare’s play, â€Å"Henry V†. The two I am analysing are by Laurence Olivier (1944) and Kenneth Branagh (1988). They are made for very different audiences with different aims. Although they seem very different, in some ways, Branagh’s version used many techniques of Olivier’s. Both productions were performed to communicate the director’s feelings on war to the audience and were performed when war had played a part in recent history. Olivier’s version is very pro-war in that he glorifies war but at the same time it lacks realism so that it was not too close to the reality that†¦show more content†¦The spirit of whose ancestors it has been humbly attempted to recapture.† This is intended to make the audience feel proud to be fighting for England as their ancestors did. Being produced during the Second World War, many of the viewers may have had relatives out in battle. They had no clear idea of the reality due to the lack of technology and communication. The light-hearted view of the battles reassured the audience. It is shown very patriotically and heroically so the audiences would feel good about the war and have felt proud to be English. The French in this film may have represented the Germans in the war as the enemy. In the battle the enemy is shown as evil to make the audience feel they’re doing the right thing fighting evil. Branagh’s film was set many years later when society was more immune to shocking films and television programmes. He presents a dynamic king duped into fighting a bloody, vicious war whose victory is undone within a generation. Olivier’s version is quite pro-war whereas Branagh’s version seems very anti-war. This film portrays his negative attitude to war by emphasising the realism of the battle. The gore and realistic fighting will have shocked the audience and may have allowed them to consider the conditions in Vietnam. For example in the battle of Agincourt, the close-up individual fighting will have made