![\"\"](\"https:\/\/westkarana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/ham1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh\u2019s Hamlet <\/span>again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh\u2019s direction and vision for the film is powerful, dignified and beautiful to look at, and the cast of stars\u2013from Derek Jacobi and Julie Christie and Kate Winslet to Jack Lemmon and Charlton Heston to cameos by Judi Dench, Gielgud and even British comic Ken Dodd is fantastic.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
There seem to be two weak points. First is Branagh\u2019s insistence on performing the whole play. Almost every version of Hamlet is cut in some way or other, and to be honest, the cuts are usually a good idea. Hamlet is full of \u2018words my Lord\u2019, and my Lord what a lot of words. The modern viewer has to work hard anyway at Shakespeare, and I think the play would have been better cut.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The second weakness is Branagh\u2019s Hamlet. He plays Hamlet with lots of \u00a0outward rage and energy. Very often in the soliloquies he loses his temper, breaks things and rages furiously. It doesn\u2019t make sense. We know that Hamlet is melancholy. In the text he seems weak\u2013overly intellectual and hyper sensitive. This, indeed, is Hamlet\u2019s tragic flaw: he is unable to act decisively. He is racked with self doubt and self pity and self centeredness. His \u2018madness\u2019 is the stupid ploy of a weak and ineffectual boy. Hamlet is a weak and vacillating adolescent and Branagh portrays him as a decisive and strong character, full of rage. I think he missed the target totally.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The reason I think Hamlet is a self absorbed adolescent is because I believe Shakespeare wanted to show just why there was \u2018something rotten in the state of Denmark\u2019. Things were rotten because, in fact, the King and Queen and everybody else in the play is, in their own way, just as self absorbed as Hamlet, and Hamlet\u2019s tragic immaturity and selfishness should reveal the same flaw in the rest of the characters. \u00a0If Hamlet doesn\u2019t show this flaw, then the whole play is flawed.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I\u2019m planning to view the Olivier Hamlet again, but in my memory the best film Hamlet is Derek Jacobi in the old BBC series, and I think Mel Gibson didn\u2019t do that bad a job either. By the way\u2026have I ever told you about the time I had dinner with Mel?\u2026<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Branagh's Hamlet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Branagh's Hamlet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/westkarana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/ham1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html\",\"name\":\"Branagh's Hamlet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Branagh’s Hamlet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Branagh's Hamlet","description":"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Branagh's Hamlet","og_description":"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/westkarana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/ham1.jpg"}],"author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html","name":"Branagh's Hamlet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-09-28T07:24:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh's","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2008\/09\/branaghs-hamlet.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Branagh’s Hamlet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh\u2019s Hamlet again. The settings, costumes, direction and acting from the stellar cast are simply splendid. Branagh\u2019s direction and vision for the film is powerful, dignified and beautiful to look at, and the cast of stars\u2013from Derek Jacobi and Julie Christie and Kate Winslet to Jack Lemmon and Charlton Heston […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n