This was one of the things I liked about the film I was able to connect with characters that normally are little more that plot points. I found the added scenes gave an added depth to the film because we see Fortinbras. For those unfamiliar with Hamlet these scenes may have been aids to understanding the action being described by the use of long dialog. We see Fortinbras’ war preparations and his uncle’s chiding him for them. This allows us to understand Hamlet’s wonder at the First Player’s ability to move his audience to tears.īranagh peppers the film with flashes of scenes that originally are just spoken words. Bonus points to Branagh for including some flashes of action we see and feel Hecuba’s pain. His recital of the poem about Pyrrhus’ was a joy to watch. Charlton Heston is a wonderful First Player. While most adaptations show little interaction between Hamlet and the players, this Hamlet focuses on them as people, making them appear to be more than mere plot devices.
The scene between Polonius and his servant Reynaldo is here, as are the players and their play within a play. Branagh does little editing and restores long forgotten characters that many modern audiences have never seen. This is Shakespeare’s H amlet, all four long hours of it. There are few movies that are so bad as to not contain some moments of entertainment or some moments that absolutely shine anyone who tells you differently is not paying close attention. Now, before you start groaning or thinking I’ve lost all of my mirth, let me start with what I did like. By the time Branagh got to Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech, I found myself thinking, “ Not to be sounds like a really good plan”. The results? Four hours of my life I won’t get back. Not only watch it, but take notes and hopefully come up with a review worthy of your consideration.
As part of my Shakespeare weekend I decide to finally sit down and watch Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Hamlet.
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