Why Henry V ?

Cant say fairer that that, tks

"this point is made by the very fact that they have to go all the way to canada to see a shakespeare play"

When you're in Detroit, where this movie was set, "all the way to Canada" is a 10-minute drive across the tunnel or bridge -- although Stratford, Ontario, where the Shakespeare Festival is held, is a couple hours drive. Still close enough to do a round trip in a day.

By the way, Detroit is the only place in the nation where Canada is SOUTH of the U.S. That's why Detroiters talk about going "downtown" while Canadians in Windsor talk about going "uptown".

"The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."
- Julius Caesar, act 2 sc 1

Yea youre right, its because of the military involvement. His students would be able to identify with it better than Hamlet.

It was explained in the film - Benitez bought the text and was reading it in the van on the way back - hence why he knew it. As others have said it was the nearest theatre to the camp again mentioned in the film

It was filmed at Fort Jackson, but the film takes place at a fictional training base in Michigan. Despite all the "Victory Start's Here" logos and Victory Tower (oh yeah)the name of the base shown at the entrance is something else. The bases appears to also only be about an hour or 2 from the base to the play.

Both ideas about why Henry V are valid. It IS hard to find Shakespear in the states AND any Shakespear is better than no Shakespear. About it being about soldiers is also an important theme, as the soldiers themselves are learning about their developing band of brotherhood. Benitez was especially moved by the performance, apparantly more so than the others, as shown by his enthrallment, and by his buying the play and reading it. Benitez recited that piece from Henry V not just because the DS might be able to identify with it, but because it was the piece that move him so much. So much so, that he was able to recite with emotion more than he would have been able to do with Hamlet.

However, whether across half the country or just 2 hours away, it sure is true that never would they be allowed to leave post, even, let alone Canada.

On a side note, I was at Jackson during basic when this movie was released on post. We got loaded into the cattle trucks one night, no idea where we were going, and unloaded at the post theater and got to watch the movie. If I remember we were in the final phase of training.

"But if this took place at Ft. Jackson, SC, there is no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that they would have been allowed to go all the way to Canada."

It didn't take place in SC, it took place in Detroit, where going to Canada is like going across the street. The tunnel takes 10 minutes. People go to Windsor for lunch all the time in the middle of a work day -- no big deal. However, they went to Stratford, Ontario, where the Shakespeare festival is held, which is a couple hours drive. Still no big deal.

"The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power."
- Julius Caesar, act 2 sc 1

I recall the play as being Henry V. After all, what soldier would appreciate seeing a play in which the central character/soldier LOSES?

"rsjoseph" has it just about right. The choice of this particular piece of Shakespeare had nothing however, to do with location, theater, "what's playing tonight," "Hamlet," or anything else. This particular piece of Shakespeare is one of the most beautiful speeches ever done in the English language and it is awe-inspiring, designed to bring the men together, to show that as a "band of brothers" they can overcome the most dire of circumstances. That's what the movie is about, bringing a group of misfits together, to be an effective part of a team, i.e., the army. Why do you think Stephen Ambrose chose the "band of brothers" line for his book, or the TV producers chose the it for their WWII/101st Airborne saga?

Here's a link: try it and listen to the power in this speech by King Henry (this is from the Kenneth Branagh movie made in 1989). Sit back, put your feet up, close your eyes, and just listen. It's the whole speech: http://misserinmarie.blogspot.com/2007/10/st-crispins-day.html

Best wishes,
Fred.

It makes sense that Henry V is chosen as the play they see onstage because of the theme of Shakespeare's play.

It's not just a war story. It is also about a young, completely untried English king who takes a small army to war against France, which outnumbers them by the thousands, and wins against all odds. That's why the line is about "we few, we happy few"-- because it was a small force of English. This is true historically, but Shakespeare emphasizes it even more in the play (and leaves out the fact that they win because the English have the longbow and the French do not; Shakespeare does this in many of his plays. He keeps or changes or leaves out historical details in order to make the play into the story and theme that he wants to show on stage).

This idea of the young and untried king and warriors who win against all odds matches what the double-Ds are facing in their lives.

They win the war (in Shakespeare's version) because of their bonds with one another, because of their love for England, and because their leader is a good man.

This all fits very well with what the movie is showing that the double-Ds are learning, and that their leader, played by DeVito, is learning (to be a better man even as they are all learning to love one another and hold together).

It's actually a lot more effective than having them see Hamlet, because that would just repeat what they have already discussed in the movie. This way, the movie extends the themes and allows the one character to learn another speech that he speaks in that great scene (the St Crispin's Day speech), showing the Drill Sgt that they have learned something worthwhile.

But the movie also asks its audience to learn something, or to draw upon our education, or at least to be curious enough to look up Henry V or to read it, in order to answer this obvious question, and not to be satisfied with an answer like "Shakespeare is rarely performed" (Shakespeare is in fact performed regularly across the country, and as someone pointed out, the Stratford Festival is not far from where this film is set). I kind of like that in a movie-- it asks something of us, as well as of its characters.

The choice of Henry V, I would venture, is made by the scriptwriters for dramatic effect. The 'Eve of Agincourt' speech by the King is probably the only speech which would get the desired reaction from the cynical drill sergeant. While we, as the audience, are moved by the speech, dramatically it is the drill sergeant who must be moved by it, else the whole point of the movie is lost. Whether the play takes place in Canada or somewhere else in the US is secondary to the dramatic necessity of it taking place at all - and it has to be this play that they see.