"To be or not to be..."      

HAMLET - 1996 (PG-13) 

To see or not to see...

At a running time of 238 minutes (not including intermission), Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet offers up the first "complete and uncut" film version of Shakespeare's famous play.  It also offers a real test of moviegoers' fortitude--could you sit in a movie theater for four and a half hours?

It'd be one thing if I recommended this film just to hear people's answer to that question, but fortunately this latest version of Hamlet is much more than a long-winded endurance test.  This is very simply a grand, ambitious, and strikingly beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare's play, and it is most definitely worth seeing.  Branagh, who is no stranger to Shakespeare on film (Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing were prior efforts of his), succeeds once again in transporting us into Shakespeare's world.  Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Julie Christie (Gertrude), Kate Winslet (Ophelia), and Branagh (Hamlet) all bring wonderful performances to this show, with the "unedited" nature of the film allowing characterizations of greater depth than previously possible.  This Hamlet is a movie experience and a learning experience, with Branagh skillfully guiding us through the whole way.  The world he creates is so powerful, in fact, that blatantly familiar faces like Billy Crystal and Robin Williams (in minor roles late in the film) are almost distracting.  (It's a good thing Branagh didn't allow any ad libbing.)  :-)

Overall, this film stands as a wonderful adaptation of a great play, and credit goes to all who had the courage to pursue this project.  We need more films like this...films where new worlds magically come to life and time doesn't matter.  238 minutes...get comfortable...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

Linda_Mei_Sharp@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "One of the best performed movies EVER!!! The soundtrack was excellent, it was obvious the Braugauh was passionate about he play. The ghost scene (beginning with the "Angels and Ministers of Grace" speech) was intense and extremely well done. The only thing I would object to is the graphic sex scene which flashes for about a quarter of a second, once during Ophilia's conversation with her father, and once during her insanity. It's so short that you can't really find and fast forward it, and both scenes are essential to the plot. There are scenes from the Mel Gibson version which are better, for instance, the scene in the library when Polonius remarks of "the method to the madness." Also, I think I do like Glen Close better as the queen. Her poisioning at the end was much more dramatic. However, this version shows all the essentials of the plotting of Fortinbras, and him bursting into the castle at the end, to find that his enemies had already killed each other, and he really didn't have to do much to conquer Denmark. It clarified everything! This movie is a must see!" (6/6/00)

epoltrack@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This adaptation was so incredibly beautiful, I would recommend it to anyone. In my senior english class we watched all different versions and this one was the best acted, best translated (word for word), and best filmed. "Hamlet" is by far, my favorite play of all time." (11/2/99)

josb1@webtv.net gives this movie  stars: "i would like to purchase this on vhs where can i do this?" (10/22/99)

nicolecliffe@home.com gives this movie  stars: "Stunning, accurate, breathtaking adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece. I have only seen one movie that could beat it. Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V." (4/19/99)

ambst88+@pitt.edu gives this movie  stars: "Although Hamlet's imperfection was not perfectly portrayed by Branaugh, who can boast to have played a perfect Hamlet? He may have been pressured after Gibson to do a film in which the calculating side of Hamlet is all but forgotten. He adds the strength of the intellect back to him, and makes his droll remarks stand out in a way no one else has been able to do. I think, like always, Branaugh succeeded in giving us the Shakespeare first, his character, which can't help but be filtered in, a close second. THis is the way it should be played, without so much melodrama on the psychosis as Olivier, but with all of the clear-cut divisions between will and wit. " (3/27/99)

lmystal@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "I think that these actors and actresses really captured the tagic ending and the happy moments. I also believe that they did a good job on casting; I thought that the characters looked as if they really belonged to the same family. It is a great introduction to Shakespere and hope that more people see it.(It was a hack of a lot better than the "modern" Romero and Juliet.)" (3/5/99)

jrhaske@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "The guy playing Hamlet was cute. I liked his little suspender outfit during the famous duel. He seemed to be the kind of guy to out-smart everyone with his cleverness. Those around him held a higher respect and wanted to be around him. He was a little on the wild/crazy side; never afraid of speaking his mind; and oh so ever cute. I'd love for someone as deep & darling as that to fall for me. Maybe one day...." (1/6/99)

kmb2e@frank.mtsu.edu gives this movie  stars: "While I agree that Jack Lemon's Marcellus was an insult to Shakespearean prose, I found this uncut version of the play enthralling. Robin Williams and Billy Crystal held their own, but the real magic is with Branagh. His Hamlet is deep, as Polonius says, the truth is deep down at the center for those who have the persistence and attention span to search it out. It's a shame Americans have such short attention spans that we cannot even attend to probably the greatest plays ever written. So get a grip. Pop some corn and sit back and let Hamlet flow all over you." (10/22/98)

samtgoldberg@pol.net gives this movie  stars: "I thought this version, though usefully complete, was inferior in execution to the abridged version which starred Mel Gibson and Glenn CLose. Branaugh seems pressured, rushed, and hardly authentic. His mother, the queen, here seemd quite nasty, cold, and brittle. Gibson and CLose, by contrast, struck me as true to life nad believable; they were characters you could meet in real life. Shakespeare's drama and language glows with a more entrancing beauty when rendered, as it were, living and breathing as ourselves." (9/22/98)

sfl5254@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "It was hard to understand sometimes, but when is Shakespeare not? I would like to know the song that Kate Winslet sang. Its around the time she was talking about the flowers." (9/5/98)

msbritlit@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "One of the most magical experiences I have ever had was showing this film to a room full of teenagers - who sat there for 4 hours as though spell bound. They didn't even eat all the pizza! Moments like these were why I became a teacher - it was heavenly. The glory and majesty of this film swept everyone away to Elsinore, and held us there, reveling in Shakespeare's language, and Branaugh and Co.'s untrammeled genius. Sigh." (8/31/98)

metprojc@cityline.ru gives this movie  stars: "Hamlet is one of the best film which i have ever seen. I like it very much." (7/30/98)

jesseljk@aol.com gives this movie  stars: "The movie was hard to follow during some parts but the acting was great. The setting was brilliant and although 4 hours long it was a ver good movie." (5/20/98)

s1151908@cedarville.cedarnet.edu gives this movie  stars: "Best production of Hamlet ever. Sir Lawrence Olivie's had the intellect a cartoon comparitively." (11/10/97)