Sir Richard Burbage; Sir John Gielgud; Sir Laurence Olivier; Orson Welles; Sir Derek Jacobi; Mel Gibson; these famous actors all share a common role: Hamlet, melancholy Prince of Denmark, the creation of William Shakespeare, the English language's greatest writer. To those names we can Kenneth Branagh, the icon of filmic Shakespeare.
In 1996, fresh of the success of his own "Henry V" and "Much Ado About Nothing", Branagh set out to adapt what is generally thought to be Shakespeare's magnum opus, "Hamlet". "Hamlet" is Shakespeare's longest play, and Prince Hamlet his biggest role, and thus had never made it on screen fully intact. Every previous version, from Sir Laurence's to Mel's, had pared the story down to its essence, which could still be brilliant, but just wasn't the same. Branagh vowed not to sacrifice a word, while he brought the story out of Medieval times in the 19th century.
Branagh assembled a truly astonishing cast, especially considering that many of them play totally throwaway parts; Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench, for example, have no lines at all, while Robin Williams, Lord Richard Attenborough, Billy Crystal, and Gerard Depardieu all have only a handful of lines. The main roles in the film are handled by a pre-"Titanic" Kate Winslet (Ophelia), Julie Christie (Gertrude), Sir Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Richard Briers (Polonius), Nicholas Farrell (Horatio), and Branagh himself (as the title character). Farrell, in particular, is a standout. His Horatio attains a depth of character that is absent in the pared-down versions of this story; the same can be said for other characters, especially Claudius.
"Hamlet" is directed with real showmanship, and has first-rate art direction and scoring. That Kenneth is soon to return to the world of filmed Shakespeare with an adaptation of "As You Like It" pleases me to no end. A 10/10 for "Hamlet", and let's see more.
In 1996, fresh of the success of his own "Henry V" and "Much Ado About Nothing", Branagh set out to adapt what is generally thought to be Shakespeare's magnum opus, "Hamlet". "Hamlet" is Shakespeare's longest play, and Prince Hamlet his biggest role, and thus had never made it on screen fully intact. Every previous version, from Sir Laurence's to Mel's, had pared the story down to its essence, which could still be brilliant, but just wasn't the same. Branagh vowed not to sacrifice a word, while he brought the story out of Medieval times in the 19th century.
Branagh assembled a truly astonishing cast, especially considering that many of them play totally throwaway parts; Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench, for example, have no lines at all, while Robin Williams, Lord Richard Attenborough, Billy Crystal, and Gerard Depardieu all have only a handful of lines. The main roles in the film are handled by a pre-"Titanic" Kate Winslet (Ophelia), Julie Christie (Gertrude), Sir Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Richard Briers (Polonius), Nicholas Farrell (Horatio), and Branagh himself (as the title character). Farrell, in particular, is a standout. His Horatio attains a depth of character that is absent in the pared-down versions of this story; the same can be said for other characters, especially Claudius.
"Hamlet" is directed with real showmanship, and has first-rate art direction and scoring. That Kenneth is soon to return to the world of filmed Shakespeare with an adaptation of "As You Like It" pleases me to no end. A 10/10 for "Hamlet", and let's see more.