Hamlet (1996)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Kenneth Branagh

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Kenneth Branagh (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare | Directed By Star | 19th Century | Actor | Betrayal

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Riz Abbasi	...	Attendant to Claudius
Richard Attenborough	...	English Ambassador
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
Charles Daish	...	Stage Manager
Judi Dench	...	Hecuba
Gérard Depardieu	...	Reynaldo
Reece Dinsdale	...	Guildenstern
Ken Dodd	...	Yorick

Also Known As:

William Shakespeare's Hamlet (USA) (complete title)
Hamlet, de Kenneth Branagh (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Amlet (Greece) [el]
Hamlet (Spain) [es]
Hamlet (Slovenia) [sl]
Hamlet (Italy) [it]
Hamlet (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Hamlet (France) [fr]

Runtime:

242 min | 150 min (cut version)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (35 mm prints) | SDDS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Netherlands:AL (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12/9 | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The first "full-length" film version of "Hamlet" ever made (using the Second Quarto (1604) text with additions from the First Folio (1623) to create an idealized "complete" Hamlet).

Goofs:

Continuity: Hamlet's arms switch places while he is lying dead on the ground.

Quotes:

Hamlet: Frailty, thy name is woman!

Movie Connections:

Featured in To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

In Pace

My favorite movie; at last a Hamlet that "CAN make his mind" :)

The actors play wonderfully, especially Kenneth Branagh himself. It's good that Robin Williams got the comedy role of Osiric, otherwise it could be a bit strange to see him in such a production. It is really great that Kenneth decided to use the fullest version of the text, this happens definitely not too often... Thanks to that the viewers can see the whole, not the chosen - by the director - parts. Also - thank God that the film is in a classical form; NO to surrealistic fanfaberies ! Although "Tytus Andronicus" was impressive nevertheless, but still Hamlet is a different story, at least that's my point of view.