Kenneth Branagh's epic Hamlet which was a full adaptation of the whole text and clocks in at 4 hours. It is not for the faint hearted and it took me 17 years to finally unwrap my video of Hamlet and put in on the solitary video player I still have in the house.
As a viewer you need stamina for one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedy. Branagh as director and adapter has brought the play forward to the 19th century and got a cast of American and British actors with cameos from Jack Lemmon, Charlton Heston, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.
He brings together the cream of British acting with Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and some Branagh regulars.
Branagh himself gives a muscular performance in the background of a baroque set design. He imbues a sense of rawness but maybe overdo's the moments when he is humorous when he should had a nifty lightness of touch.
Kate Winslet as Ophelia brings a moving portrayal as a young woman in love with the brooding Hamlet and who has engaged in a full physical relationship with him.
The text can be fast and furious and as your hear it those many familiar lines zip by but that is how Shakespeare is. Language that is natural of its time and has to be natural to the actors reciting it now.
The film has flaws. There are stylistic clashes from its cosmopolitan cast. The full play is not always easy to follow and the great fortitude is required to watch the whole film.
As a viewer you need stamina for one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedy. Branagh as director and adapter has brought the play forward to the 19th century and got a cast of American and British actors with cameos from Jack Lemmon, Charlton Heston, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.
He brings together the cream of British acting with Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and some Branagh regulars.
Branagh himself gives a muscular performance in the background of a baroque set design. He imbues a sense of rawness but maybe overdo's the moments when he is humorous when he should had a nifty lightness of touch.
Kate Winslet as Ophelia brings a moving portrayal as a young woman in love with the brooding Hamlet and who has engaged in a full physical relationship with him.
The text can be fast and furious and as your hear it those many familiar lines zip by but that is how Shakespeare is. Language that is natural of its time and has to be natural to the actors reciting it now.
The film has flaws. There are stylistic clashes from its cosmopolitan cast. The full play is not always easy to follow and the great fortitude is required to watch the whole film.