The problem with anything done by Kenneth Branagh where he is both director and star is that he doesn’t cut any scene that includes himself, as he might if he were directing someone else. For instance, the soliloquy is too long and makes you so bored that you want to stop the movie and watch a different one. For entertainment, the soliloquy is bad, however, if you’re a Shakespeare scholar or want to see the scene acted in it’s entirety(few do), it’s fine.
Kate Winslet is marvelous as the demented Ophelia. And Robin Williams is inspired as a gay version of Osric. But let’s get to something I do not understand about some of the other casting. Why would Branagh choose Julie Christie for the role of Gertrude? She is dreadful in every sense of the word since I was dreading every one of her appearances onscreen. She had a terrible habit of taking in huge gulps of air that gave her a strange “heaving breast ” kind of thing. The only consolation in watching her scenes is the fast forward button. Sadly, you can only do this in the VHS version, since DVD’s skip through the scenes rather than scrolling through them. But if you get the chance to do this, the scenes are hilarious.
Overall this film is terrible but there are some highlights. If you are really bored and can find a VHS version of it, by all means, watch it. Fast forward through the bad stuff. You’ll get alot of enjoyment out of it this way. But probably not in the way Branagh intended.
HAMLET (1996)
Written by William Shakespeare, Screenplay by Kenneth Branagh
Somewhere Between Boring and Stinky
