Hamlet poster

1996·242 min·Released

Hamlet

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

Drama

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.

7.3(513 votes)

Popularity2

Videos

Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh - Kate Winslet - Julie Christie - Derek Jacobi - 1996 - Trailer - 4K

Cast & Crew

Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh

Prince Hamlet

Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi

King Claudius

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet

Ophelia

Julie Christie

Julie Christie

Gertrude

Richard Briers

Richard Briers

Polonius

Nicholas Farrell

Nicholas Farrell

Horatio

Rufus Sewell

Rufus Sewell

Fortinbras

Reece Dinsdale

Reece Dinsdale

Guildenstern

Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall

Rosencrantz

Michael Maloney

Michael Maloney

Laertes

Robin Williams

Robin Williams

Osric

Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu

Reynaldo

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DocTerminus

Written on 2/7/2022

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...

Media

Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh - Kate Winslet - Julie Christie - Derek Jacobi - 1996 - Trailer - 4K

Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh - Kate Winslet - Julie Christie - Derek Jacobi - 1996 - Trailer - 4K

Kenneth Branagh interview on "Hamlet" (1996)

Kenneth Branagh interview on "Hamlet" (1996)

making of Branaghs' HAMLET

making of Branaghs' HAMLET