Story of movie Hamlet 1996 Film :
Hamlet is a 1996 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Prince Hamlet. The film also features Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius, and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio. Other cast members include Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud and Ken Dodd.
| Hamlet | |
|---|---|
Film poster | |
| Directed by | Kenneth Branagh |
| Produced by | David Barron |
| Screenplay by | Kenneth Branagh |
| Based on | Hamlet by William Shakespeare |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Edited by | Neil Farrell |
Production company | Castle Rock Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 242 minutes |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $4.7 million |
The film is the first unabridged theatrical film version of Hamlet, running just over four hours. The setting is updated to the 19th century, but its Elizabethan English remains the same. Blenheim Palace is the setting used for the exterior grounds of Elsinore Castle and interiors were all photographed at Shepperton Studios, blended with the footage shot at Blenheim. Hamlet was also the last major dramatic motion picture to be filmed entirely on 70 mm film until 2012, with the release of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.
Hamlet has been regarded as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations. However, it was not a box office success, grossing just under $5 million on a budget of $18 million. The film received four Academy Award nominations for the 69th Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (Tim Harvey), Best Costume Design (Alexandra Byrne), Best Original Score (Patrick Doyle), and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Kenneth Branagh).
Screenplay
The film follows the plot of the original play, and is the first adaptation to have the complete original text.
Main characters
- Kenneth Branagh as Prince Hamlet, the story's protagonist and Prince of Denmark. He is the son of the late King Hamlet and heir to the throne of Denmark. At first, Hamlet is mournful of his father's death and dissatisfied with his mother's swift remarriage to Claudius. However, Hamlet is later told by the ghost of his father King Hamlet that Claudius murdered him, usurping his title. Upon knowing this crime, Hamlet is sworn to avenge his father's murder. Branagh's interpretation of the title role, by his own admission, was considerably less "neurotic" than others, removing the Oedipal fixation so prominently featured in Olivier's 1948 film among others. During the scenes in which Hamlet pretends to be insane, Branagh portrayed the Prince as manic.
- Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, the story's antagonist and brother of the late king. He murdered his brother Hamlet by pouring poison into his ear while he slept. He then quickly usurps his brother's title and quickly marries his widow. At first, believing Hamlet to be mad by the loss of his father and rejection from Ophelia, Claudius is persuaded by Polonius to spy on Hamlet. When Claudius later learns Hamlet knows of the murder, he tries to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet's schoolmates, to have his nephew murdered. Although Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are more than willing to serve Claudius, they have no idea that he wants Hamlet dead. Jacobi appeared in the title role in the BBC's 1980 made-for-television version of Hamlet.
- Julie Christie as Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and wife to both the late King Hamlet and King Claudius, whom she married swiftly following the former's passing—ignorant of the foul play that caused his death.
- Richard Briers as Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain. An impertinent busy-body, Polonius believes Hamlet to be mad and convinces Claudius to join him in spying on the prince. He is eventually murdered while eavesdropping by Hamlet, who mistakes him for Claudius.
- Kate Winslet as Ophelia, noblewoman of Denmark and daughter of Polonius. Ophelia was the romantic interest of Hamlet, until advised by her father Polonius and brother Laertes to end their relationship. She is eventually driven mad by both Hamlet's rejection and her father's murder and drowns herself.
- Nicholas Farrell as Horatio, a good friend of Hamlet whom he met while attending Wittenberg University.
- Michael Maloney as Laertes, the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. After instructing his sister to have no further relations with Hamlet, he departs for Paris. Upon news of his father's murder, Laertes returns to Denmark, leading a mob to storm the castle. Claudius explains to him who the real killer was and incites Laertes to kill Hamlet and avenge Polonius' death. He later conspires with Claudius to murder Hamlet during a fencing duel.
- Rufus Sewell as Fortinbras, the Norwegian crown prince. Played mostly in flashback and frequently referenced throughout the film, Fortinbras and his army storm Elsinore castle during the final scene, assuming the vacant throne of Denmark.
Supporting characters
- Robin Williams as Osric, the Elsinore courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes.
- Gérard Depardieu as Reynaldo, a servant to Polonius. He is sent by Polonius to Paris to check up on Laertes.
- Timothy Spall as Rosencrantz, a courtier friend of Hamlet who is sent by Claudius to spy on Hamlet.
- Reece Dinsdale as Guildenstern, a courtier friend of Hamlet who is sent by Claudius to spy on Hamlet.
- Jack Lemmon as Marcellus, a sentry at Elsinore who, with Barnardo, alerts Horatio of the appearance of King Hamlet's Ghost.
- Ian McElhinney as Barnardo, a sentry at Elsinore who, with Marcellus, alerts Horatio of the appearance of King Hamlet's Ghost.
- Ray Fearon as Francisco, a sentry at Elsinore and the first character to appear on screen.
- Brian Blessed as the Ghost of Hamlet's Father, an apparition in the form of the late King who informs Hamlet of his murder and Claudius's usurpation of the throne.
- Billy Crystal as the First Gravedigger, a sexton digging Ophelia's grave who makes a case as to why she should not receive Christian burial before making quick dialogue with Hamlet. He later presents the skull of Yorick to Hamlet, not knowing of Hamlet's history with the jester.
- Simon Russell Beale as the Second Gravedigger
- Don Warrington as Voltimand, an ambassador sent by King Claudius to Old King Norway.
- Ravil Isyanov as Cornelius, an ambassador sent by King Claudius to Old King Norway.
- Charlton Heston as the Player King
- Rosemary Harris as the Player Queen
- Richard Attenborough as the English Ambassador
- John Gielgud as Priam, the King of Troy, played in flashback during the Player King's speech.
- Judi Dench as Hecuba, the Queen of Troy and wife of Priam, played in flashback during the Player King's speech.
- John Mills as Old King Norway, uncle of Fortinbras, played in flashback reprimanding his nephew for claims against Denmark.
- Ken Dodd as Yorick, the King's Jester, played in flashback entertaining the royals of Elsinore during the gravediggers scene.
- John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, appears in a small cameo scene as the Norwegian Captain.
Origins
Aspects of the film's staging are based on Adrian Noble's recent Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play, in which Branagh had played the title role.
Text
The film uses a conflated text based on the 1623 First Folio, with additions from the Second Quarto and amendments from other sources. According to a note appended to the published screenplay:
The screenplay is based on the text of Hamlet as it appears in the First Folio – the edition of Shakespeare’s plays collected by his theatrical associates Heminges and Condell and published in 1623 by a syndicate of booksellers. Nothing has been cut from this text, and some passages absent from it (including the soliloquy "How all occasions do inform against me ...") have been supplied from the Second Quarto (an edition of the play which exists in copies dated 1604 and 1605). We have also incorporated some readings of words and phrases from this source and from other early printed texts, and in a few cases emendations from modern editors of the play. Thus in I, 4, in the passage (from the Second Quarto) about the "dram of eale", we use an emendation from the Oxford edition of the Complete Works (edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, 1988): "doth all the noble substance over-daub" – rather than the original's "of a doubt".
Style
Despite using a full text, Branagh's film is also very visual; it makes frequent use of flashbacks to depict scenes that are either only described but not performed in Shakespeare's text, such as Hamlet's childhood friendship with Yorick, or scenes only implied by the play's text, such as Hamlet's sexual relationship with Kate Winslet's Ophelia. The film also uses very long single takes for numerous scenes.
In a radical departure from previous Hamlet films, Branagh set the internal scenes in a vibrantly colourful setting, featuring a throne room dominated by mirrored doors; film scholar Samuel Crowl calls the setting "film noir with all the lights on". Branagh chose Victorian era costuming and furnishings, using Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, as Elsinore Castle for the external scenes. Harry Keyishan has suggested that the film is structured as an epic, courting comparison with Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments and Doctor Zhivago. As J. Lawrence Guntner points out, comparisons with the latter film are heightened by the presence of Julie Christie (Zhivago's Lara) as Gertrude.
Filming
Hamlet was shot in Panavision Super 70 by Alex Thomson. It was the last feature film to be shot in 70 mm until production of The Master in 2012. Branagh was among the very few to use 65mm film cameras after that, on his 2017 film Murder on the Orient Express.
Music
| William Shakespeare's Hamlet: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Patrick Doyle | |
| Released | 10 December 1996 |
| Recorded | 1996 |
| Genre | Soundtrack |
| Length | 76:25 |
| Label | Sony Classical Records |
| Producer | Patrick Doyle Maggie Rodford |
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