Pike Thomas

This was indeed engrossing & beautifully mounted & Conceived. Acting was uniformly superb, & Henry himself dominantly played by the young master-actor Chalamee. It is indeed a master character story of becoming a adult when a king as well, with all of its delusions. The fact of his youth led Henry to misplaced trust he later regrets, which simultaneously results in his greatness as a leader, but as well a needless carnage, a foolish war for territory & national pride, still often our own modern character flaws. I was struck, as have been other reviewers, at the relationship & even structure evoking Shakespeare’s own Henry V. I waited expectantly for the rousing call to battle, very similar in tone & sometimes ideas-vocabulary & even more the transformation of the final scene in contrast with the Bard’s punning delightful encounter with Henry’s new bride Marguerite de Valois. In this instance the same major characters evoke a solemnity & revelation which fulfill the film’s thesis as well. For whatever reasons, the film fails to even allude to Henry’s early death at 36, after only a 9 years rule! The lighting - perhaps my set - was the single drawback often too dim-dark to see faces well.