Cast: Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet), Kate Winslet (Ophelia), Julie Christie (Gertrude), Judi Dench (Hecuba)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Hamlet page.
There have been so many versions of Hamlet on screen that it's hard to count. This version is by far the most complete and, in my opinion, the best. It took a long time to finally be able to see it, since it wasn't very widely released. When we did get around to seeing it, we had to sit in the front row to see it (the next movie would be over 3 hours away due to the length of the movie and it only beeing shown in one theatre), but it was worth the minor torture.
Kenneth Branagh did a wonderful job adapting the play, directing, and starring as Hamlet. I'm not sure how he managed to keep everything straight while doing so many things on the set of Hamlet, but he did a wonderful job. The rest of the cast is also superb. It's nice to see such a complete version make it to film. Perhaps it would have been wise to have an intermission in this movie, since it is about the full length of the play and there is no intermission, but there have been long movies before and audiences have survived.
If you like Shakespeare, this is a must. If you don't, you should probably skip this version of Hamlet, since it is the most complete of the movies out there and that won't interest those who don't like Shakespeare.
Grade: B+
Labels: 1996, crime, drama, Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, movie, romance, Shakespeare
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:50 PM show | 0 screams