Review of Hamlet (1996) by Kenneth L — 12 Jun 2009

A magnificient production, and possibly the only adaptation of Hamlet you will ever need to see. This is the one and only movie to include the full text of the play, word for word. But beyond just its being the only 100% faithful adaptation, it also takes full advantage of the fact that it is a movie and not merely a filmed play.

As a director, Kenneth Branagh chose to shoot in 70mm film, to use a real giant castle for his set, to include clarifying flashbacks, to use lots of dramatic camera angles, and to use a solid musical score.

As an actor, Branagh in the role of Hamlet gives perhaps one of the top 10 best performances I have ever seen, period. Seriously. The rest of the cast all turn in very strong performances, whether in big roles like Derek Jacobi as Claudius or Kate Winslet as Ophelia, or even in smaller roles, with Charlton Heston as the Player King and Billy Crystal as the First Gravedigger.

It's a huge cast, with stars in even the tiniest of parts, and they all really get into their roles. Now, admittedly, the film is four hours long (it comes on two DVDs), and probably contains more spoken words than any other major Hollywood movie ever made, and I did often have trouble following the lines in some scenes, not because the actors misunderstand the lines or deliver them badly, but simply because I am not smart enough.

But I always understood generally what was going on, and think I would have even if I had never read the play before. It's a long movie, but a fantastic one, and if you ever need or want to see an adaptation of Hamlet, I believe you need look no further than this one.