A Personal Response for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet

Kenneth Branagh’s version of Hamlet was, to place it simply, one of the greatest movies let alone version of any hamlet play I have ever seen. Horatio was my most favourite character to watch, Nick Farrel‘s performance was not only believable, but also highly exuberant and most characteristic to how I perceived the character to have acted in “All” situations. Mark you, that Kenneth Branaghs’ performance was as well, unlike any other, however I found it more melodramatic than how it should have been performed. Derek Jacobi who played Claudius performed quite well as did Julie Christie (Gertrude) his spouse within the play. I especially enjoyed Ophelia’s ravings and ranting, but what I did not enjoy at all was Jack Lemmon who played Marcellus. He committed a most heinous crime against the very being of acting by taking that part. However, not all the blame can be placed entirely on him, much must be placed on Kenneth Branagh for allowing him to act in the movie in the first

place. Polonius, played by Rufus Sewell fared quite well but my most major complaint would be his scene with Roberto, His pronunciation of speech seemed a little skewed, in the sense, not very believable t

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An extremely good example is eye colour, as I perceived it everyone in Hamlets Family had a peculiar shade of blue. What I found to be very clever was the use of editing to display visually concepts and assumptions, which were being made within the play. Unlike some movies where the father may have green eyes, and the mother black but the child winds up getting blue yes. Furthermore, the man who truly deserves commendation for his performance is Nick Farrel (Horatio), his riveting enthusiasm, and carefully calibrated speech with bodily movements made him the marvel of the movie. Also appreciated were the little point, and features of the movie that were concentrated on. The array of military like uniforms and more modern costumes compared to those used in Shakespeare’s time, or that of Hamlet allows us to relate with the movie better. For example, the love affair between Ophelia and Hamlet was sexual, and Kenneth Bring immediately notified us of this to indicate the path he would be taking when displaying the play.

All in all the movie was excellent, especially the directing, and one key shot I liked a lot was the ending, where the statute of Hamlet Sr. , representing the old order, was destroyed and from the ashes a new order will rise represented by Fortinbras. Furthermore, hair colour was also a minute feature followed, all Blonds, which may be quite historically correct because of the Norwegian origins of the original tale as well as being a country very close to Sweden and Norway, noted for that particular characteristic. Another small feature, lighting, makes a big difference and Kenneth used it very effectively. The Dark long corridors and secret passages always appeared gloomy white on the other hand the ballroom and theatre appeared cheerful and pleasant. It was dark when it was supposed to be and light or bright when it was required. The most melodramatic special effect would most likely be the point where Hamlets asks Bernardo and Horatio to swear never to reveal what they have seen to anyone else, with the help of Hamlet Sr.

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Approximate Word count = 964
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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