Of course, nothing is more depressing than to be the sad one at a party, and so Hamlet is especially depressed - until the ghost of his father ( Brian Blessed), the murdered King, comes and tells him what to do. And when Claudius expresses concern about Hamlet's grief for his dead father, it seems genuine. Claudius (Derek Jacobi) and Gertrude (Julie Christie), the King and Queen, look radiant and confident. If something is rotten in Denmark you'd never know it from the opulent court, glowing like something out of a Shakespearean comedy. The world he creates for 'Hamlet' - set in the 19th century - is not the usual film noir milieu of darkness and shadow. His most brazen moments never seem cynical, backed as they are by unmistakable enthusiasm.

He sees nothing excessive, for example, in having Hamlet, at the climax, impale Claudius with a chandelier. Branagh is not a Shakespearean who has condescended to make movies. The four hours fly thanks to Branagh's combination of brilliance and vulgarity. But Branagh's four-hour 'Hamlet' flies by. Most stage versions cut the play, and perhaps even Shakespeare's own company performed an abridged version. He takes Shakespeare's full text and makes it feel all of a piece - and makes it live, too. The result is a Hamlet unfettered by layers of interpretation - though one could miss, with Branagh's levelheaded approach, the sense of Hamlet's being a strange and fascinating man.īranagh's great achievement here is in his creating a 'Hamlet' of clarity, vibrancy and directness. He plays the Danish prince as an engaging, sociable fellow, not a dreamer or melancholic.

The triumph is more for Branagh as a filmmaker than as an actor, though he makes quite a good Hamlet.

Kate winslet hamlet full movie