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Title: Hamlet (1996)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
 |
Riz Abbasi | ... | Attendant to Claudius |
| Richard Attenborough | ... | English Ambassador | |
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David Blair | ... | Attendant to Claudius |
| Brian Blessed | ... | Ghost of Hamlet's Father | |
| Kenneth Branagh | ... | Hamlet | |
| Richard Briers | ... | Polonius | |
| Michael Bryant | ... | Priest | |
|
|
Peter Bygott | ... | Attendant to Claudius |
| Julie Christie | ... | Gertrude | |
| Billy Crystal | ... | First Gravedigger | |
|
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Charles Daish | ... | Stage Manager |
| Judi Dench | ... | Hecuba | |
| Gérard Depardieu | ... | Reynaldo | |
| Reece Dinsdale | ... | Guildenstern | |
| Ken Dodd | ... | Yorick | |
Hamlet (Sir Kenneth Branagh), son of the King of Denmark (Brian Blessed), is summoned home for his father's funeral and his mother Gertrude's (Julie Christie's) wedding to his uncle Claudius (Sir Derek Jacobi). In a supernatural episode, he discovers that his uncle, who he hates anyway, murdered his father. In an incredibly convoluted plot, the most complicated and most interesting in all literature, he manages to (impossible to put this in exact order) feign (or perhaps not to feign) madness, murder the "Prime Minister", love and then unlove an innocent who he drives to madness, plot and then unplot against the uncle, direct a play within a play, successfully conspire against the lives of two well-meaning friends, and finally take his revenge on the uncle, but only at the cost of almost every life on-stage, including his own and his mother's. Written by John Brosseau <brossj5683@aol.com>
Olivier, Kosentsev, Richardson, Coranado, Zefferelli, and Almerayeda have all directed Hamlet but Branagh's the only one who got it right.
This is the only film of "Hamlet" that contains the full four hours of William Shakespeare's masterpiece and gives a unique feel to the whole story.
Not many directors could pull this off without boring their audience but Branagh's skillful use of bravora film style and stunt casting allows people to see the importance of the scenes that are usually cut out.
Examples of this include Gerarde Depardue as Ranyaldo whos entire purpose in the film was to simply say "yes my lord" as Polonius asks him to spy on Leartes. This also included Billy Crystal as the grave digger, Robin Williams as Osric, Jack Lemmon as Marcellous, and Charlton Heston as the actor.
Branagh's performance of the Act 4 scene 4 soliloquy (Which again is usually cut out) is nothing short of c cinematic marvel as the camera slowly pulls back as the intensity grows. It is a scene that literally made me want to jump out of my chair and start applauding.
Branagh is the only film maker that understood the importance of every scene in this film and knew how to convey that importance to the general audience.
This is a must see for everyone who enjoy's good story telling, brilliant acting,and incredible direction. All of these part of William Shakespeares greatest triumph.