The use of flashback in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V In Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V, flashback is used at moments key to comment on the action and explain points from Henry's past and how that past influences his present judgment. To do this, some scenes and lines are borrowed from the first and second parts of Shakespeare's Henry IV. The result is an amalgam of scenes, jokes and characters that significantly chronicles Henry V and the man he was before becoming king of England. Flashback is used in this adaptation directly, to establish key points and players in Henry's life, as well as less directly, emerging in his current actions, to show his sovereignty, what it means to him and why. The opening flashback scene shows Pistol's memory of Sir John Falstaff (played by actor Robbie Coltrane). The flashback occurs while Falstaff is on his deathbed and his remaining friends lament his impending loss. Branagh gives Pistol a line from Falstaff, describing him in his own words as "A good and stout man, in faith" (1 Henry IV. II. iv. 421), apparently to establish Falstaff as the much-loved character he appears to be in Branagh's film. Falstaff is shown as the merry jester in this flashback, and not at all like the dangerous and mischievous deceiver that he is in the lyrics themselves. Branagh focuses on Falstaff's pathos, to show his rejection as an unhappy rejection. It is in this flashback that the audience sees the Machiavellian seeds sown in Prince Hal's personality as he shows his willingness to banish the "valiant Jack Falstaff", however it is not shown where these seeds came from. Falstaff advises his young friend not to banish him by... means of paper ......am Shakespeare's Henry V, Branagh uses flashback in more ways than one to tell the classic story of King Henry V. Both in The Branagh's real and implied flashback shows Henry's true character, along with what makes him the king he is and what brings him to this point in his life. The byproducts of the humanization of Falstaff and the defamation of Bardolph, along with Henry's unique look at his father's image, give the audience a very different look at this life story, but one that is still accurate and entertaining. Works Cited Henry V. Kenneth Branagh. The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989. Kliman, Bernice W. "Branagh's Henry V: Allusion and Illusion." Shakespeare Newsletter on Cinema. 14.1 (December 1989): 1+.Shaw, William P. "Textual Ambiguities and Cinematic Certainties in Henry V." Literary Film Quarterly. 22.2 (1994): 117-28.