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Castle Rock Entertainment
Not part of a collection.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
badelf
Oct 19, 2026 · via TMDB
**Summary: 10/10: an uncut, impeccably spoken "Hamlet" with a cast so improbable it borders on the miraculous, proof that Shakespeare fails only when the people performing him don't understand what they're saying, and triumphs completely when they do.** Some people have a gift that pulls brilliant people into orbit around their project, and Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" is proof of how strong that gravity can be. Charlton Heston as the Player King. Robin Williams as Osric. Billy Crystal, of all people, as the gravedigger, cracking wise over Yorick's skull as though he'd been doing Shakespeare his whole career. John Gielgud, who had been playing Shakespeare since before most of these other actors were born, makes a cameo appearance as Priam. Even Richard Attenborough shows up in this film. On paper, this cast list reads like a fever dream, something a film school student might invent as a joke. But it makes perfect sense once you understand what Branagh represented in 1996: a director-actor who had already proven, with "Henry V," that he could make Shakespeare real and alive on screen. All those talented people were ready to join him. I totally get it. If I received a message saying Branagh needed a silent walk-on but I had to pay my own airfare to London, I'd be at the airport in an hour, no questions asked. What's easy to forget, amid the star power, is that this is the only film version of "Hamlet" ever made using the complete, unabridged text, nearly four hours long, conflated from the First Folio and Second Quarto. That's an act of faith in the material, and in the audience's capacity to sit with it. Most people say they hate Shakespeare, and I understand why, because most actors butcher him. They either shout the verse like it's an oration ("to split the ears of the groundlings") or whisper it like it's some kind of coffee-house beatnik poetry divorced of meaning. (No offense meant to Ginsberg.) Either way, the audience doesn't get it and ends up hating Shakespeare. I spent years doing Shakespeare on stage in Florida, which is not exactly known as a cultural capital, so take this with appropriate humility, but I had audience members tell me afterward that I was the only actor they'd understood all night. That's not a boast about talent; it's an indictment of how rarely the verse gets spoken with actual comprehension of what it means, line by line, thought by thought, rather than performed as decoration. Branagh understands this completely, and it's the single greatest achievement of this film. His own delivery of Hamlet's lines is immaculate, clear without being flattened, musical without losing sense. You can follow every turn of thought because he knows exactly what each line means and trusts the meaning to carry the music, not the other way around. That clarity extends to his direction and his screenplay choices throughout; actors who've never done Shakespeare on screen before suddenly sound "trippingly on the tongue", because Branagh has built a frame that lets meaning lead. Alex Thomson's cinematography, all 70mm grandeur and mirrored corridors, gives the production the scale it needs without ever upstaging the language, which is the hardest trick in adapting Shakespeare for film. I don't know that I need to say much more. Here is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, performed uncut, by a cast that reads like a miracle, directed by a man who loves the language enough to "beget a temperance that may give it smoothness". It's a brilliant production.
DocTerminus
Feb 7, 2022 · via TMDB
Without a doubt, Branagh's film of **HAMLET** is the most ambitious Shakespeare film to date. He goes all in on.. well, everything. He brings aboard a stellar all-star cast, too many to highlight all, but includes Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Jack Lemmon - none of which are known for their Shakespearian pedigree. Branagh takes on Hamlet, the largest role in all of Shakespeare - and most English language literature. His interpretation is - not surprisingly - brilliant and worthy of study. Kate Winslet plays his challenged love Ophelia, and Derek Jacobi is the fraudulent King. Rounding out the largest roles, Julie Christie is the doomed queen and Richard Briers is the fussy Polonius. All excellent in their handle of the language and expression of humanity. Much of the film takes place inside the castle of Elsinore, a gorgeous and regal stage set lined with mirrors to challenge each individual's intentions and a chess-board floor to accentuate the challenge in the royal battle for checkmate. The Elsinore grounds are widespread and scenes in the snow covered Danish mountains all shown in glorious 65mm film... an extremely detailed film stock that was rarely used because of the extreme expense and cumbersome camera size. With **HENRY V** and **MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING**, Branagh has proven he is a master of adapting Shakespeare's long form story into much more manageable American movie length. Well, here he goes all in and captures the 4 hour play in its uncut full length. The film was shown with a 15 minute intermission. **HAMLET** itself is doubtlessly one of the most intelligent character studies ever written by any author, and Branagh does a great job recording that. Even many other productions of the show do as good a job or even better job in relaying that story. Either way Branagh's film work is filled with many treasures and to this point, his Shakespeare films are close to flawless. For now...
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Kenneth Branagh
Prince Hamlet
Derek Jacobi
King Claudius
Kate Winslet
Ophelia
Julie Christie
Gertrude
Richard Briers
Polonius
Nicholas Farrell
Horatio
Rufus Sewell
Fortinbras
Reece Dinsdale
Guildenstern
Timothy Spall
Rosencrantz
Michael Maloney
Laertes
Robin Williams
Osric
Gérard Depardieu
Reynaldo
Jack Lemmon
Marcellus
Ian McElhinney
Barnardo
Ray Fearon
Francisco
Brian Blessed
Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Billy Crystal
First Gravedigger
Simon Russell Beale
Second Gravedigger
Don Warrington
Voltimand
Ravil Isyanov
Cornelius
Charlton Heston
Player King
Rosemary Harris
Player Queen
Richard Attenborough
English Ambassador
John Gielgud
Priam
Judi Dench
Hecuba
John Mills
Old King Norway
Ken Dodd
Yorick
Andrew Schofield
Young Lord
Perdita Weeks
Second Player
Angela Douglas
Attendant to Gertrude
Rowena King
Attendant to Gertrude
Jimi Mistry
Sailor Two
David Yip
Sailor One
Sarah Lam
Attendant to Gertrude
Michael Bryant
Priest
Charles Daish
stage manager
Jeffery Kissoon
Fortinbra's Captain
Mark Chapman
Courtier (uncredited)
Alex Thomson
Director of Photography
Alexandra Byrne
Costume Design
Peter Montagna
Makeup Artist
Siân Grigg
Makeup Artist
Kenneth Branagh
Director
Simone Pereira Hind
Casting
David Barron
Producer
Patrick Doyle
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Kenneth Branagh
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Refrain Blue: Chapter 2 - Beneath the Moon...
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East Is West
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Love You to Death
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The Secret Life of Bees
Hamlet
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'night, Mother
If I Stay
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Hamlet
Mask
Boy A
A Taste of Honey
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I Never Sang for My Father
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Hamlet
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Mrs Lowry & Son
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TalhotBlond
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The Critic
Dec 25, 1996
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1987 · 14 wins
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