
Branagh announced his intention to be his generation's premier interpreter of Shakespeare for cinematic audiences with this breathtaking adaptation of one of Shakespeare's greatest history plays, in which Prince Hal moves out of Falstaff's enormous (in every sense) shadow to become England's leader at Agincourt and in subsequent peace with France. While it is a bloody, muddy medieval battle epic, Henry V is also the climax of a multi-play coming-of-age story (which begins in Henry IV, Parts I & II), and the story ends, against all odds, as the tenderest of romances. Announcing the Branagh style he would revisit in all five of his subsequent Shakespearean productions, Henry V is lushly cinematic without sacrificing any of Shakespeare's original intentions for the stage. Dr. Peter Staffel of West Liberty University's English department will lead the conversation on May 24.
© Copyright 2026 Ohio County Public Library. All Rights Reserved. Website design by TSG. Powered by SmartSite.biz.