HAMLET
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Columbia)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Written by Kenneth Branagh, based on the play by William
Shakespeare
Cast Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Richard
Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Kate Winslet, Michael Maloney,
Brian Blessed, Rufus Sewell, Billy Crystal, Jack Lemmon,
Charlton Heston, Gerard Depardieu, Rosemary Harris,
Timothy Spall, Reece Dinsdale, Robin Williams
MPAA Rating "PG-13"
Running Time 238 minutes
Reviewed at The Carolina Theatre, Chapel Hill (24JAN97)
==
So, you have to see this one in Chapel Hill, at the Carolina, and they're conveniently charging $7.50 for all shows. Price gouging is what it's called and, if you arrive early, you'll have time to (a.) get incensed and (b.) deliver a monologue about it in the lobby. I just took my seat, as I was already spent from having an aside on Franklin Street, after a traffic ticket informed me that the Elvismobile was parked approximately one inch into a towing zone. Sigh. I can report that $32.50 buys a lot of movie. Four hours worth, actually, with the complete text, a zany international cast, Elsinore imagined as a bright and sunny palace, and Kenneth Branagh, Mr. Shakespeare himself, spitting spittle as the peroxide-blonde brooder. (His Hamlet is quite the shouter.) The twenty-minute intermission is helpful, though, by the end, I wanted even more movie. I wanted more action, more sprawl, and more visual space, especially in the flashbacks and exterior scenes. I wanted to witness Ophelia's final fate, for example, and see more of the Norwegians, who storm the castle at the end of the story. Mr. B. has made a big play at a big play, but, you know, it still doesn't feel like a big-enough movie.
Grade: B
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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