"There's something rotten in the state of Denmark": Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh, and Kenneth Branagh's Ego
Hamlet (USA, 1996, 237min59s), based on William Shakespeare's play, adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, filmed in 65mm on location at Blenheim Castle and at Shepperton Studios
with Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Richard Briers, Michael Maloney, Nicholas Farrell, Kate Winslet, Charlton Heston, Billy Crystal, Gerard Depardieu, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, John Mills and John Gielgud.
A long time ago, in another movie era, Laurence Olivier directed his version of the Bard's turn-of-the-seventeenth-century play, and the critics then blamed him for being too old for the part and, most of all, for restructuring (a polite word for "butchering") the play. What Branagh presents in 1996 is -- for the first time ever -- the play uncut, albeit transposed into Denmark's nineteenth century.
These four hours with Denmark's Royals are completely worthwhile. For the third time this year, adapting a 400 year-old play has led to fascinating results: Al Pacino's Looking For Richard was personnal and brilliant, and Baz Luhrman's Romeo And Juliet colorful and deeply energetic. Respecting the author (John Gielgud is part of the cast), Branagh gives this time a more epic grandeur to the play (he even hired Charlton Heston!).
This is probably the most famous story in the English language, I'm sure everyone has heard of it. It focuses on the young prince of Denmark, who, mourning the death of his father, encounters his ghost, who informs him he was poisoned by his brother Claudius, who's just married the widow Gertrude.
The film is technically breathtaking: Alex Thompson's cinematography masterfully exploits the depth of the 65mm format, and the production design is one of the most beautiful in years. Yet the strength of Branagh's cinema resides in its actors: filming in long unbroken takes, he gives them the opportunity to deliver great performances. Lucky boy! Who could possibly dream of a more suitable cast? Mixing old Shakespearian pros with relative newcomers and Hollywood stars provides a terrific result. I was particularly impressed by Julie Christie (a natural born actress) and Derek Jacobi (who directed a younger Branagh as Hamlet on the stage). Her Gertrude rejects her premature remarriage, and his Claudius is not the villain into which other adaptations turned him -- we feel he might do as well as King as his predecessor. Branagh's performance as Hamlet is very good, though monotonous. The long-awaited "To be or not to be" monologue being filmed in a mirror, the character hesitating to act: that's an easy trick to show the duality of the man! This is however little, when compared with other manifestations of Branagh's ego. In Much Ado About Nothing, he showed himself walking on water; in the current film, the end has him being carried away after the duel with his arms outstretched in a not oversubtle allusion to Jesus being taken from the cross. I can think of only one person whose ego is possibly as big as his: the other half of Britain's most celebrated ex--movie-couple, Ms. Emma Thompson herself...(see Sense And Sensibility)
Vincent Merlaud
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