Hamlet *** (1996, Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie) – Classic Movie Review 1295

Writer-director-star Kenneth Branagh’s long, lively, faithful and intelligent 1996 version of the Shakespeare play is lit up with rousing performances from a lovely array of memorable actors. It’s a respectful, rewarding experience with outstanding work from Branagh both as screenwriter and director, as well as star actor as the great Dane.

There’s more fine work in the performances of a pretty well near-ideal cast, headed by Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Richard Briers (an amusing Polonius), Derek Jacobi (a creepy King Claudius) and comic Ken Dodd, amusing as Yorick. Also Judi Dench is Hecuba, Michael Bryant is the Priest, Gérard Depardieu is Reynaldo,  Brian Blessed is the Ghost of Hamlet’s Father, Richard Attenborough is the English Ambassador, John Mills as Old Norway and John Gielgud is Priam, so it’s very notably cast.

Nicholas Farrell and Michael Maloney also appear as Horatio and Laertes, along with Rufus Sewell as Fortinbras, Simon Russell Beale as The Second Gravedigger, Ian McElhinney as Barnardo, and Timothy Spall and Reece Dinsdale as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Ah, but then there are Jack Lemmon (as Marcellus), Robin Williams (as Osric),  Billy Crystal (as First Gravedigger) and Charlton Heston (as the Player King): what are they doing here? Many purists dislike the casting of the Hollywood actors in a British Shakespeare, but here they are lively, generally welcome presences, and used well by Branagh.

The play’s setting is updated to the 19th century but of course Shakespeare’s Elizabethan English language remains the same. Blenheim Palace is the setting used for the exterior grounds of Elsinore Castle while the  interiors were all shot at Shepperton Studios.

Contrasting with the previous film version of the play, Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 movie with Mel Gibson using a much-cut text, Branagh’s four-hour version of Hamlet (242 minutes) is virtually the complete play. The longest previous screen version was the BBC’s 1980 made-for-TV version starring Derek Jacobi as Hamlet, which runs three and a half hours.

Branagh’s Hamlet is maybe not as exciting a movie visually and aurally as Zeffirelli’s film, but still Alex Thomson’s cinematography, Tim Harvey’s art direction, Alexandra Byrne’s costumes and Patrick Doyle’s music are very considerable assets.

It gathered good reviews, some acclaiming it one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations, but it was not a box office success, grossing just under $5million on a budget of $18million. Zeffirelli’s film earned more than $20million.

It got four Oscar nominations but no wins: Best Art Direction (Tim Harvey), Best Costume Design (Alexandra Byrne), Best Original Score (Patrick Doyle), and Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay (Kenneth Branagh). It was the last feature to be filmed entirely on 70 mm film until Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master in 2012.

Comic Ken Dodd is amusing as Yorick.

RIP beloved comic Ken Dodd, amusing as Yorick in his only film, Hamlet. He died on 11 March 2018, age 90, in Knotty Ash, Liverpool.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1295

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