I've seen a lot of Shakespeare, and I've performed in a few Shakespearean productions myself, but the Bard has always seemed elusive and difficult to master. Sure it makes sense when you pore over the words, the phrases, the soliloquies... but try to deliver it, and it usually comes out like a bad auctioneer trying to get through everything he has to say as quickly as possible.
There is little doubt left in my mind that the best interpreter of Shakespeare's works is Kenneth Branagh. His adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing was graciously easy to access and absorb. True, part of the charm was his ability to present the play in a visually stimulating manner, but where Branagh really excelled was in the performances -- and more importantly the delivery. He had an ability to punch up key phrases, include well-placed pauses, and create a rhythmic flow for the dialogue that made it almost conversational in tone. Ask any director the hardest thing to accomplish when guiding their Shakespearean actors and they'll say, "making it conversational".
In 1996, Branagh took a mere mortal stab at the behemoth Hamlet, and his aim was true. Assembling a large cast, he decided to present the project in its entirety, complete and uncut. From a dramatic and critical perspective, this could potentially have spelled disaster, but this was not the case. Thanks to its 242 minute running time, Hamlet is a feast for the eyes, the mind, and the soul. And yes, it is better than the Oscar-winning Olivier version and the Mel Gibson adaptation (which is much better than one might initially suspect).
Branagh plays the title character, the prince who discovers his mother (Julie Christie) has been knocking boots with his uncle (Derek Jacobi) barely two months after his father's death (Brian Blessed). Hamlet's main squeeze Ophelia (Kate Winslet) isn't sure what to make of all it, especially after Hamlet inadvertently kills her father Polonius (Richard Briers), who was hiding behind a curtain, and her brother (Michael Maloney) returns to avenge his father's death. All of the subplots and rising action build towards an involving conclusion that makes the journey up to that point all the more rewarding.
In creating the castle in Denmark, the production team has made a set of particular note. With checkered floors (alternating black and white, there is no gray) and dozens of secret doors and hidden entries and alcoves, the set implies a lack of privacy. There are several smaller roles that are filled in by bigger name actors too. Robin Williams is Osric, Billy Crystal is the Gravedigger, Charlton Heston is a performer in the castle's play, John Gielgud is Priam, Judi Dench is Hecuba, Richard Attenborough makes an 11th hour appearance as a representative from England, Gérard Depardieu is Reynaldo, Jack Lemmon is Marcellus, and Rufus Sewell is the ever-approaching Fortinbras. All of the performances from all of the actors are uniformly outstanding (especially Branagh's tour de force offering), with Lemmon as a possible exception as he only fits into the passable category.
O, how this play comes to life though! Even the most familiar of lines and phrases become fresh again. I'd suggest this would be a perfect, educational companion piece to the text, but no class is four hours long and this adaptation doesn't deserve to gather dust somewhere in a school library waiting to be rented out once every couple of years. As director, adaptor, lead actor and master-minder of Hamlet, in my esteem Kenneth Branagh can now be grouped into the Orson Welles and Woody Allen categories of filmmakers who wear many different hats yet still manage to produce high quality material. Even if you don't like Shakespeare, this film has something of interest for all ages and all types of interest, making it a groundbreaking and innovative event like no other.
