This is the tragedy of a humane, modern man forced into bloody medieval intrigue.īranagh's casting of famous American actors in small roles either works surprisingly well - e.g. Scenes that usually get short shrift are given their rightful weight, and the story comes into greater focus. His filming of the entire play is more than a gimmick or selling point. This comes right before the intermission, and Branagh wants a big finish, even if he has to impose it.īut usually Branagh's instincts are right. He cranks up the soundtrack too high for the "How all occasions" soliloquy, which he delivers while standing in a snow field. In rare moments Branagh's showmanship gets in the way. If he is so reasonable, where does the impetus to be cruel to Ophelia come from? His angry encounter with Ophelia ("Get thee to a nunnery") is the one place where the limit of Branagh's nice-guy approach to Hamlet is felt. His anger in the "Oh, what a rogue" speech seems forced, and he almost dismisses the impossible "To be or not to be" speech. In a frenzy of enthusiasm, Hamlet stands onstage, introduces the players like a Danish Ed Sullivan and publicly taunts Claudius.īranagh's weakest moments come in the back-to-back soliloquies in the middle of the film. This is fol lowed by a dazzling staging of the play- within-a-play scene.
Hamlet's "speak the speech" rant to the Players is made for Branagh's mincing, quibbling playfulness. Pretending to be insane with Polonius (who is played both as shrewd and as a windbag by Richard Briers), he is often funny, sticking out his tongue and acting deranged, unable to contain his contempt. Flashbacks also show Claudius and Gertrude drinking and carousing - these are people of outward charm but low character.īranagh is at his best when bantering, not speechifying. When Ophelia, played as a spunky young lady by Kate Winslet, is told by her father, Polonius, to shun Hamlet's affections, we see Hamlet and Ophelia romping in bed. And in case you have any doubt of this, Branagh backs up the ghost's words with a flashback, showing the King's poisoning in his garden - a pretty gruesome murder, too.īranagh has fun with non-Shakespearean flashbacks in "Hamlet," and he uses them to good effect. Hamlet has to kill Claudius because Claudius killed Hamlet's father. Of course, nothing is more depressing than to be the sad one at a party, and so Hamlet is especially depressed - until the ghost of his father ( Brian Blessed), the murdered King, comes and tells him what to do. And when Claudius expresses concern about Hamlet's grief for his dead father, it seems genuine. Claudius (Derek Jacobi) and Gertrude (Julie Christie), the King and Queen, look radiant and confident. If something is rotten in Denmark you'd never know it from the opulent court, glowing like something out of a Shakespearean comedy. The world he creates for "Hamlet" - set in the 19th century - is not the usual film noir milieu of darkness and shadow. His most brazen moments never seem cynical, backed as they are by unmistakable enthusiasm. He sees nothing excessive, for example, in having Hamlet, at the climax, impale Claudius with a chandelier. Branagh is not a Shakespearean who has condescended to make movies. The four hours fly thanks to Branagh's combination of brilliance and vulgarity. But Branagh's four-hour "Hamlet" flies by. Most stage versions cut the play, and perhaps even Shakespeare's own company performed an abridged version. He takes Shakespeare's full text and makes it feel all of a piece - and makes it live, too. The result is a Hamlet unfettered by layers of interpretation - though one could miss, with Branagh's levelheaded approach, the sense of Hamlet's being a strange and fascinating man.īranagh's great achievement here is in his creating a "Hamlet" of clarity, vibrancy and directness.
He plays the Danish prince as an engaging, sociable fellow, not a dreamer or melancholic.
The triumph is more for Branagh as a filmmaker than as an actor, though he makes quite a good Hamlet.
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