How Netflix Grapples With Henry V In The King
National Portrait Gallery/Wikimedia CommonsKing Henry V of England, late 16th or early 17th century.
David Michôd’s The King isn’t the first time a Shakespearian tale has been thoroughly altered. The Bard’s writing has seen a whole range of conversions, from page to stage and then to screen, with results as equally varied.
One of the latest efforts is a Netflix-produced adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henriad plays. These works, comprised of Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 and II, and Henry V, are loosely based on events of the 15th century and chronicle the rise of the Lancaster branch of England’s House of Plantagenet.
These particular plays are largely political works of Shakespeare’s, which include familial intrigue and betrayal and are thus ripe for the silver screen.
The film covers the perennial maxim that the more power one acquires, the more corruption they must then traverse. But how faithful is The King to these Shakespearian texts?
NetflixTimothée Chalamet plays King Henry V of England in The King.
The King traces the life of young Prince Hal from his days of recklessness to his ascent onto the English crown following his father’s death by leprosy. The prince both encounters and overlooks schemes against him as he acquires more power.
According to Time, the filmmakers certainly retained the rocky relationship Prince Hal had with his father, King Henry IV. Played by Ben Mendelsohn, King Henry VI becomes exhausted by the “riot and dishonor” wrought by his youthful son and envious of the reliable bond Lord Northumberland shares with his honorable son, Percy.
In the book, Prince Hal steals his father’s crown thinking the king died when he was merely sleeping. As a result, the king feels betrayed by his son, but the two later reconcile when Prince Hal professes his love for his father. King Henry IV then voluntarily bestows Prince Hal with his crown before he dies.
In the film, however, Prince Hal’s younger brother is crowned in his place. His brother is then killed in battle and Prince Hal leaves his ailing father to die. Prince Hal doesn’t tell his father that he loves him, let alone comfort him as he dies, and the king is left regretting his actions as he passes.
Arguably, the most egregious deviation is The King‘s portrayal of Prince Hal’s friend Falstaff, played by co-writer Joel Edgerton. In the play, Prince Hal becomes ruthless and paranoid as a result of his power and he bans Falstaff from seeing him after his coronation. But in the movie, Prince Hal and Falstaff experience only a brief period of embitterment before reconciling.
To be fair, the film does convey just how difficult it was for the friends to be separated by killing Falstaff in the real-life Battle of Agincourt shortly after they settled their differences.
Nonetheless, changes like these were reportedly made not for the easy digestion of audiences, but to package the sheer volume of a Shakespearian work into a two-hour and 20-minute film.
