Blyss's Movie Review for:

Main Cast of Characters:

Kenneth Branagh...........Hamlet

Jack Lemmon..........Marcellus

Kate Winslett..........Ophelia

Richard Attenborough.........English Ambassador

Brian Blessed.........Ghost

Richard Briers...............Polonius

Julie Christie...............Gertrude

Billy Crystal...............First Gravedigger

Judi Dench...............Hecuba

Gerard Depardieu...............Reynaldo

Reece Dinsdale...............Guildenstern

Ken Dodd..............Yorick

Nicholas Farrell...............Horatio

Derek Jacobi...............Claudius

Charlton Heston..............Player King

Ian McElhinney..............Barnardo

Michael Maloney..............Laertes

John Mills..............Old Norway

Rufus Sewell..............Fortinbras

Timothy Spall..............Rosencrantz

Robin Williams..............Osric

1996; Rated: PG-13. Genre: Drama/Suspense; 242 minutes

Something is rotten in Denmark....

This is the retelling of the classic Shakespeare play, Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is the best version ever produced in my opinion. But just in case, you are not familiar with Hamlet, I will give you a small crash course. It has not been very long since Old King Hamlet has died when two guards standing watch outside of the castle spot an apparition of the Old King night after night. They are so alarmed that they contact Horatio, a very good friend of young Hamlet's, so that he too may see what they see. Horatio tries to speak to the apparition and it goes away again. They think that young Hamlet may have an interest in this and they say they know where to find him. The scenes then switch to the marriage of Hamlet's uncle to his mother which sickens him that his father's brother would move in on his mother so quickly. He even thinks of their relationship as incestuous. The new King tells him that he should not still be mourning for his father after all, it has been two months and he should be over it. His grieving is unmanly. He asks that he stays at the castle with him and Hamlet's mother and not return to school and he says that he will stay. When Horatio finally finds Hamlet after the ceremony, Hamlet is glad to see him. He tells Hamlet about the apparition and Hamlet says he will go and see for himself that night with them. When he does go, the ghost beckons for Hamlet to follow him, Horatio begs him not to and says that he will no matter what he tells him. Hamlet goes after the ghost of his father and it reveals to him that his uncle poisoned his father as he slept and murdered him. He wants him to seek revenge on the uncle but not to hurt his mother. Can he keep this promise to his father or will he uncover more vile plans by his uncle?

If you need to watch a Hamlet movie for school or just for pure pleasure, this is the one. It goes most by the original Shakespeare play and Kenneth Branagh is such a joy to watch when he performs Shakespeare! What a talented actor.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this movie a 9.

Blyss