This is without a doubt the worst Shakespeare adaptation I've ever seen. That includes Baz Luhrmann's nauseating "Romeo + Juliet." I wasn't really sure what to expect going in-- no expectations whatsoever. Except that it would be a full-text adaptation of the play, something so unusual it was surrounded by a good deal of pomp and praise upon the film's initial release. Surely it was a brave thing to do, but was it in the best interests of the story? Absolutely not. In reality, "Hamlet" was probably never performed in its entirety even in Shakespeare's day.
I was never a big fan of Branagh, but he did a reasonably good job with "Much Ado About Nothing," both directing and starring. Sadly it's the only halfway decent thing he's ever done. His "Hamlet" is most foul. It takes a great actor and a great director to be able to police oneself well enough to take on both roles in one of the most famous stories of all time. Branagh fails miserably. The film is largely constructed on two gimmicks-- the first being the percentage of text used (100%, obviously) and the second being its jarring update from medieval to 19th-century Denmark. The first gimmick mortally wounds the film right off the bat. Characters either pompously expound for minutes on end or shout with breakneck speed just to fit it all in. As for the second gimmick, it doesn't serve the story at all. It merely serves to distract us. After all, the primary reason to update the setting of a Shakespearean play is to make some kind of statement. It worked in "Titus," and, in theory, even worked in "Romeo + Juliet." But all it says here is, "I'm Kenneth Branagh and I can do whatever I want." The performances are so-so at best (Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and Kate Winslet) and gut-wrenchingly awful on average (Branagh, Branagh, and more Branagh). It was nice to see Charlton Heston doing serious work again as the Player King, but crucial casting missteps were made virtually across the board, the worst being Robin Williams as Osric and Jack Lemmon as Marcellus. Indeed the film had almost as many irritatingly pointless "cameos" as "The Greatest Story Ever Told." Say what you will about Mel Gibson. But his performance as Hamlet, mediocre though it was, is leaps and bounds over Branagh's because Gibson had an amazing director, Franco Zeffirelli. Branagh merely thought his own director was great. His ridiculous arrogance bleeds through every frame. No movie in history has ever been so difficult to sit through, so gimmicky, so over-produced *and* so self-indulgent. Siskel and Ebert was right-- it does show Branagh's virtuosity. His virtuosity at making horrible decisions because he wanted to. The Bard would be disappointed to say the least.
I was never a big fan of Branagh, but he did a reasonably good job with "Much Ado About Nothing," both directing and starring. Sadly it's the only halfway decent thing he's ever done. His "Hamlet" is most foul. It takes a great actor and a great director to be able to police oneself well enough to take on both roles in one of the most famous stories of all time. Branagh fails miserably. The film is largely constructed on two gimmicks-- the first being the percentage of text used (100%, obviously) and the second being its jarring update from medieval to 19th-century Denmark. The first gimmick mortally wounds the film right off the bat. Characters either pompously expound for minutes on end or shout with breakneck speed just to fit it all in. As for the second gimmick, it doesn't serve the story at all. It merely serves to distract us. After all, the primary reason to update the setting of a Shakespearean play is to make some kind of statement. It worked in "Titus," and, in theory, even worked in "Romeo + Juliet." But all it says here is, "I'm Kenneth Branagh and I can do whatever I want." The performances are so-so at best (Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi and Kate Winslet) and gut-wrenchingly awful on average (Branagh, Branagh, and more Branagh). It was nice to see Charlton Heston doing serious work again as the Player King, but crucial casting missteps were made virtually across the board, the worst being Robin Williams as Osric and Jack Lemmon as Marcellus. Indeed the film had almost as many irritatingly pointless "cameos" as "The Greatest Story Ever Told." Say what you will about Mel Gibson. But his performance as Hamlet, mediocre though it was, is leaps and bounds over Branagh's because Gibson had an amazing director, Franco Zeffirelli. Branagh merely thought his own director was great. His ridiculous arrogance bleeds through every frame. No movie in history has ever been so difficult to sit through, so gimmicky, so over-produced *and* so self-indulgent. Siskel and Ebert was right-- it does show Branagh's virtuosity. His virtuosity at making horrible decisions because he wanted to. The Bard would be disappointed to say the least.