Henry V

The film opens in London in 1600, at the Globe: the audience takes its places, the players come on, rain falls. As the play proceeds the stage gives way to painted sets and then, in the French passages, to real fields, so that by Agincourt the theatre has been left behind entirely. Laurence Olivier both directs and plays the king, his first work as a director. It was made in the middle of the Second World War with government backing and an openly stated morale purpose, and it is dedicated to the troops of the landings. The battle was shot in Ireland with local extras, because there were not that many men to spare in England at the time. The score is by William Walton. Who it is for: viewers who like Shakespeare adaptation and formal daring. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a sceptical view of war, since the film is deliberately doing propaganda work.