Kenneth Branagh ('Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,' 'The Road to El Dorado') writes, directs and stars in this four-time Oscar-nominated classic Shakespeare saga about the melancholy Dane. With an all-star cast, including Oscar-nominee Kate Winslet ('Iris,' 'Titanic') and Oscar-winner Julie Christie ('Dragonheart,' 'Dr. Zhivago'), as well as appearances by Charlton.
Director
Leading Actors/Actresses
Kenneth Branagh
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslett, Richard Briars
Genre
Language
English
Awards
4 Academy Award Nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay,
Date of Release
Producer
David Barron
Setting and Context
Denmark, during the reign of King Claudius, who has taken the throne by murdering King Hamlet
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is that of Prince Hamlet, as he tries to avenge his father's murder.
Tone and Mood
The tone is dark and combative; there is a mood of subterfuge and intrigue.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Prince Hamlet is the protagonist, King Claudius is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
There is constant conflict between Prince Hamlet and his mother Gertrude; he feels that she married Claudius too quickly after his father's murder. There is also conflict between Hamlet and Claudius.
Climax
Hamlet is murdered at the end of the film, killed with a sword with a poisoned tip.
Foreshadowing
Laertes learns that his father was killed by Hamlet, which foreshadows his murdering Hamlet by way of revenge.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
The staging of the film is based on the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of 'Hamlet' that Branagh starred in. This gives the film a play-like quality even though it is a big screen version.
Allusions
The film alludes to 'Dr Zhivago' in that it is shot in the style of an epic.
Paradox
Laertes forces Hamlet to end his relationship with Ophelia; he then blames Hamlet for Ophelia's distress that the end of the relationship caused.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which Hamlet and his father are murdered, both poisoned, and both murders a result of Claudius' manipulations.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hamlet | |
---|---|
Film poster for Hamlet | |
Directed by | Kenneth Branagh |
Produced by | David Barron |
Written by | William Shakespeare |
Starring | Kenneth Branagh Derek Jacobi Julie Christie Richard Briers Michael Maloney Kate Winslet Billy Crystal Gérard Depardieu Robin Williams Charlton Heston Jack Lemmon Rufus Sewell Timothy Spall Reece Dinsdale Brian Blessed Richard Attenborough Nicholas Farrell John Gielgud John Mills Judi Dench Ken Dodd |
Music by | Patrick Doyle |
Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
Editing by | Neil Farrell |
Studio | Castle Rock Entertainment |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date(s) | December 25, 1996 |
Running time | 242 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million |
Gross revenue | $4,708,156 |
Hamlet is a 1996film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet. It co-stars Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius, and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio.
The film is notable as the first unabridged theatrical film version of the play. The complete film runs just over four hours. The longest version of the play prior to the 1996 film was the 1980 BBCtelevision version starring Derek Jacobi, which runs three-and-a-half hours. A shorter edit of the Branagh film, approximately two-and-a-half hours long, was shown in some markets. Although unabridged in dialogue, its setting is slightly modernised with the inclusion of 19th-century architecture, clothing and weaponry. Blenheim Palace is the design for Elsinore Castle, and is used for exterior scenes.[1]
Hamlet also has the distinction of being the last major dramatic film to be filmed entirely in 70 mm film as of 2010.
Cast
The film features a large number of celebrity cameos. The servant Reynaldo, who appears only briefly in a single scene and is often left out of abridged versions of the play, is played by French star Gerard Depardieu, and other appearances by well-known actors include Charlton Heston as the First Player, Robin Williams as the courtier Osric, Richard Attenborough as the English Ambassador, Brian Blessed as the ghost of Hamlet's father, Jack Lemmon as Marcellus, the palace guard, and Billy Crystal as the gravedigger. The flashbacks and dream sequences even allow for celebrities appearing in non-speaking roles as characters who are only mentioned in the play: Sir John Gielgud and Dame Judi Dench play Priam and Hecuba (mentioned in the monologue performed by the First Player on his arrival at Elsinore), John Mills plays 'Old Norway', uncle of Fortinbras (mentioned by Claudius and Voltemand), and British comedian Ken Dodd plays Yorick.
The various celebrity cameos. Top row: Jack Lemmon, Gerard Depardieu, Brian Blessed, John Mills, Charlton Heston. Bottom row: John Gielgud, Judi Dench, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Richard Attenborough.
In addition to the film stars, the play also features British theatre stars in tiny roles: for example; Simon Russell Beale plays the second gravedigger, Ray Fearon plays the guard Francisco, Ian McElhinney is Barnardo (Bernardo), Rufus Sewell plays Fortinbras, and Jeffrey Kissoon plays Fortinbras's captain.
Production
The film's budget was $18 million. Hamlet was filmed in Panavision Super 70 by Alex Thomson. It was the last feature film shot entirely in the 70mm film format, at least as of 2010.[2]
Interpretation
Aspects of the film's staging are based on Adrian Noble's recent Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play, in which Branagh had played the title role.[3]
In a radical departure from previous Hamlet films, Branagh set the internal scenes in a vibrantly colourful setting, featuring a throne room dominated by mirrored doors; film scholar Samuel Crowl calls the setting 'film noir with all the lights on.'[4] Branagh chose Victorian era costuming and furnishings, using Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, as Elsinore Castle for the external scenes. Harry Keyishan has suggested that the film is structured as an epic, courting comparison with Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments and Doctor Zhivago.[5] As J. Lawrence Guntner points out, comparisons with the latter film are heightened by the presence of Julie Christie (Zhivago's Lara) as Gertrude.[6]
Despite using a full text, Branagh's film is also very visual; it makes frequent use of flashbacks to depict scenes that are either only described but not performed in Shakespeare's text, such as Hamlet's childhood friendship with Yorick, or scenes only arguably implied by the play's text, such as Hamlet's sexual relationship with Kate Winslet's Ophelia. [7] The film also uses very long single takes for numerous scenes.
Branagh's own interpretation of the title role, by his own admission, was considerably less 'neurotic' than others; gone completely was the Oedipal fixation so prominently featured in Olivier's 1948 film. However, some critics, such as Leonard Maltin, felt that Branagh's performance was at times too 'over-the top' (in the scenes in which Hamlet pretends to be insane, Branagh portrayed the Prince as manic; other members of the court are visibly exasperated by his behavior).
Reception
Hamlet was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[8]
Hamlet received largely positive reviews. It has 94% 'fresh' rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[9]Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars, comparing it to Laurence Olivier's lauded 1948 version while Janet Maslin praised both the film and Branagh's performance.[10][11]
Some critics, notably Stanley Kauffmann, declared the film to be the finest motion picture version of Hamlet yet made, and online film critic James Berardinelli has gone so far as to declare the Branagh Hamlet the finest Shakespeare film ever made, rating it as the fourth best film of the 90s and one of his top 101 favourite films of all time. [12] The New York Review of Books praised the attention given to Shakespeare's language, 'giving the meter of the verse a musician's respect,'[13]; Branagh himself says his aim is 'telling the story with utmost clarity and simplicity.'[14].
The film did have its detractors however, with Lloyd Rose of The Washington Post calling it 'the film equivalent of a lushly illustrated coffee-table book'[15] and Desson Howe writing of Branagh's performance '...the choices he makes are usually overextended. When it's time to be funny, he skitters over the top. When he's sad or touched, he makes a mechanical, catching noise in his throat.'[16]
Hamlet was not a success at the box office, playing on fewer than 100 screens in the U.S. and earning only $5 million in its limited American run.
Awards
Despite lacking commercial appeal, Branagh's Hamlet received four Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction and Best Original Score. The nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay raised some eyebrows, since Branagh had made little alteration to Shakespeare's text beyond transposing two or three speeches. However, Roger Ebert, in particular, defended the choice,[17] noting, 'A screenplay is something more than dialogue ... Screenplays also cover construction, scene choices, character treatments and, in the case of a writer-director like Branagh, the visual strategy.'
Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Art Direction | Tim Harvey | Nominated |
Best Costume Design | Alexandra Byrne | Nominated | |
Best Original Score | Patrick Doyle | Nominated | |
Best Adapted Screenplay | Kenneth Branagh | Nominated | |
Art Directors Guild | Excellence in Production Design Award | Tim Harvey & Desmond Crowe | Nominated |
BAFTA Awards | Best Costume Design | Alexandra Byrne | Nominated |
Best Production Design | Tim Harvey | Nominated | |
British Society of Cinematographers | Best Cinematography Award | Alex Thomson | Won |
GBCT Operators Award | Martin Kenzie | Won | |
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Picture | - | Nominated |
Camerimage | Golden Frog | Alex Thomson | Nominated |
Empire Awards | Best British Actress | Kate Winslet | Won |
Evening Standard British Film Awards | Special Jury Award | Kenneth Branagh | Won |
Nastro d'Argento | Best Dubbing, Male | Massimo Popolizio | Won |
Motion Picture Sound Editors | Music Editing | Gerard McCann | Nominated |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | Kenneth Branagh | Won |
Satellite Awards | Best Motion Picture Costume Design | Alex Byrne | Nominated |
Best Supprting Actress - Drama | Kate Winslet | Nominated | |
Best Art Direction and Production Design | Tim Harvey | Nominated | |
Best Cinematography | Alex Thomson | Nominated | |
Best Original Score | Patrick Doyle | Nominated |
DVD release
A 2-Disc DVD was released in the United States on the 14th of August, in 2007. It includes a full-length commentary by Branagh and Shakespeare scholar Russell Jackson.[18]
References
- ^Alternate versions
- ^http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/splist.htm
- ^ Crowl, Samuel 'Flamboyant Realist: Kenneth Branagh' in Jackson, Russell The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film (Cambridge University Press, 2000)
- ^ Crowl, p.227
- ^ Keyishian, p.78
- ^ Guntner, pp.122-123.
- ^ Keyishian, p.79
- ^'Festival de Cannes: Hamlet'. festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4801/year/1997.html. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^'Hamlet (1996)'. Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1075422-hamlet/. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^'Roger Ebert's Review'. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970124/REVIEWS/701240303/1023.
- ^'Janet Maslin's Review'. http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/hamlet.html.
- ^'James Berardinelli's Review'. http://www.reelviews.net/movies/h/hamlet.html.
- ^ O'Brien, Geoffrey New York Review of Books 6 February 1997, cited by Samuel Crowl, 'Framboyant Realist: Kenneth Branagh' in Jackson, Russell The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film (Cambridge University Press, 2000) p.228
- ^ Branagh, Kenneth Introduction and Notes to Much Ado About Nothing: Screenplay p.ix cited by Crowl, p.228
- ^WashingtonPost.com: 'Hamlet': Kenneth Branagh's Inaction Flick
- ^WashingtonPost.com: Branagh's 'Hamlet': Not to Be
- ^'Ebert on Oscar Nomination'. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970223/ANSWERMAN/702230303.
- ^Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet
External links
- Hamlet at the Internet Movie Database
- Hamlet at Allmovie
- Hamlet at Rotten Tomatoes
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