It does definitely reflect the madness of the Danish aristocracy as they grapple for anything that makes them appear noble and worthy.īut what about the way the story is treated. Alexandra Byrne blends period-accurate trends with a modern sensibility, and her eye for intricacies and elegance makes everyone seem as proper, dignified and aloof as possible. The appearance of Hamlet shows viewers how Tim Harvey appropriates a certain time in the Victorian era, but in a slightly Revisionist manner. In one scene, the winter snow seems like something that would add to a winter holiday mood, but in other moments, there is a ghostly, undead atmosphere besmirching everything.
The exterior scenes taking place in the harsh winter are also put to great use. This sense of isolation can be best seen in the attire of our protagonist, who mostly wears black amidst the more colorful festivity surrounding him, signifying the dark secrets he knows between him and Claudius, that of which he’s keeping to himself. When there’s a crowd of other people surrounding and having a ball, it feels comforting but when one is on their own within lonely, barren halls full of mirrors, it is easy to feel a sense of existential dread. The sheer detail, beauty, and color makes it easy to get sucked in, but at a distance. Depicting the Elsinore Castle is a daunting task contrasting the dark, gloomy, almost noir-ish look that other iterations draped the castle in, this palace at once it feels like a place one would love to live in, but at the same time be terrified of. So what happens when one take perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous play and adapts it completely unabridged, treating it like an epic in the vein of David Lean at his grandest, including changing the setting to the 19th century? The result is a true visual marvel. After all, Shakespeare’s name is so ubiquitous and widely interpreted by so many people on both the stage and film. The big challenge with adapting Shakespeare for the big screen is how to put a distinctive spin on it.
Hamlet is drawn mad by this news and deliberates over revenge, upending his friends and family’s lives in the process. For those who don’t already know the basic premise of the play, Hamlet (Branagh), Prince of Denmark, learns that his uncle, King Claudius (Jacobi), killed his father as a conspiracy to get with his mother Gertrude (Christie) and usurp his brother’s title. It stars Branagh, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Gerard Depardieu, Charlton Heston, Derek Jacobi, Jack Lemmon, Rufus Sewell, Robin Williams and Kate Winslet. Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh, sees Branagh also adapt the classic William Shakespeare play in its entirety.
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