![]() The latest instalment of The Hollow Crown – following on from the four plays, culminating in Henry V, which the BBC adapted in 2012 - has tidied the Henry VI plays into two two-hour films. In the theatre their contorted politics – featuring many characters named after counties and cathedrals – can have the feel of a marathon run in a maze. But this cycle also suggests Cooke has a future, should he want it, in the movies.The Henry VI trilogy comprises the least loved of Shakespeare’s histories. But I suspect Cooke has studied both Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight and Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V film when it comes to the final battle scenes: we get a welter of blood and mud leading to a stunning crane shot depicting a ghastly patchwork quilt of corpses. ![]() Once or twice, as in Clarence’s dream, the use of flashbacks to illustrate past action distracts from the words. Anyone who has seen the previous episodes will also understand – in a way that is tricky when the play is seen in isolation – just what the women are talking about when they catalogue Richard’s endless crimes.ĭominic Cooke’s direction makes this the most cinematic episode of the cycle. ![]() Keeley Hawes turns Queen Elizabeth into a helpless pawn in Richard’s power games. Sophie Okonedo’s Queen Margaret stalks the action, right up to the climactic battle, like a vengeful ghost. Judi Dench brings all her clarity of speech and matchless sincerity to Richard’s mother, who views her son with undisguised horror: when she asks “What comfortable hour canst thou name / That ever graced me in thy company?” you totally believe her. Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Carnival Film & Television LtdĪlthough Cumberbatch dominates the screen, this is far from a one-man show. ![]() Keeley Hawes as Elizabeth, Judi Dench as Cecily and Phoebe Fox as Anne. ![]()
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