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Title: Banagh's Henry V: "Once more unto the breach"
Review: Excellent adaptation of Shakespeare's play, with greater emphasis on cinematic effects than on poetry. The script is not a literal translation to the screen; anything that would take away from what the audience could experience visually - long speeches and monologues, for example - have been reduced drastically or expunged altogether. The movie concentrates on the Agincourt campaign and subsequent battle; the battle itself is lavishly rendered while there is little on Henry as the developing conqueror or boy-king. This is what makes it different from Olivier's HENRY V, which was more about the man than the events. Banagh's version is more an epic than an inciteful character study. Banagh, who also directed, is excellent, however, as Henry. An excellent movie in its own way; well worth a watch.
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