What is the best DVD/film version of Hamlet?

[Michelle in MO]

I've seen the one with Mel Gibson and Glenn Close in it. I'd really like to see the one with Kenneth Branagh in it, but I just ran up to our video story and they didn't carry it anymore! :( Which one is better? Isn't there one with Laurence Olivier?

Thanks in advance!

[MIch elle]

parts of it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCBVmiVkzTM

[Michelle in MO]

what it's like. The costumes are unusual, though---not what I'd imagine for Shakespeare, although I know Shakespeare has been performed in many different types of costumes!

Thanks!

[GothicGyrl]

ANY of the Shakespeares with Brannagh in it are fantabulous!!! You could find the original, which is awesome as well, but Brannagh cannot be beat.

And now I am off to waste my time on you tube thanks to Michelle. ;)

[Susan Wise Bauer]

Anything with Kenneth Branagh, aka He Who Shall Be Revered, is worth watching.

Except for Wild Wild West. Everyone working on that movie should have sought careers in other fields. Immediately.

[GothicGyrl]

Except for Wild Wild West. Everyone working on that movie should have sought careers in other fields. Immediately.


Now thems fightin' words missy.. Kevin Kline is THE GOD in this movie (and in Pirates of Penzance).. how dare you besmirch his name like that... ;)

[Susan Wise Bauer]

which had the most BRILLIANT performance of With Cat-Like Tread I've EVER seen. In fact, my husband and I sing it in just that style when we wake the kids up in the morning.

I'm a geek.

Wild Wild West...er, not so much.

[Jill, OK]

...(that's the one my kids watched and enjoyed) and I also like the one with Ethan Hawke. (Ducking the tomatoes.)

Actually, I haven't seen the Kenneth Branagh version, which surprises me. I'm thinking that there's some reason? Is it not out on DVD, could that be it? (Off to Google...I think that our library here has it, though, so I might have to remedy that.)

[Michelle in MO]

Anything with Kenneth Branagh, aka He Who Shall Be Revered, is worth watching.

Except for Wild Wild West. Everyone working on that movie should have sought careers in other fields. Immediately.

of the YouTube version, his hair is so-----whitish-blonde! And, he's dressed more as an Englishman (it appears), not as a prince of Denmark. Nevertheless, I can hardly resist Kenneth Branagh! Henry V can't be beat!

Did any of you see "Shackleton" with Branagh in it? It was amazing! Beforehand, I was on an "Endurance" kick and read everything I could get my hands on about the Endurance expedition.

[JFS in IL]

I got to see/hear him do a small snippet of his Hamlet at UCLA - for wahtever reason the Theater Arts Dept. had him there as part of the Olympics hoohah back in 1984. So I snuck in and saw my (then) crush :cool:

I mean it - no better Hamlet. Although Larry O. comes close.

[Michelle in MO]

I think I'll have to join! I'd like to see the one with Branagh, but I also love Derek Jacobi!

Really, you can't go wrong with any of the great actors and actresses that the Royal Shakespeare Company has produced: Kenneth Branagh, Ian McKellan, Derek Jacobi, Christian Bale, Sean Bean, oh---and what's the name of the actor that played Colonel Brandon in "Sense and Sensibility"? He's excellent, also! Dame Judi Dench! Really---they're wonderful!

Can you post a link to the one with Derek Jacobi? Thanks so much!

[GothicGyrl]

Beleive it or not--Marc Singer (Beastmaster, V) is also part of that list ;)... I forget the play, all I remember is "loin cloth, chain around neck". hehhhe

[ereks mom]

I loved Branagh in Hamlet! And I agree that the costumes are unusual. Horatio looks like he's in the late 19th century, and the guards (Jack Lemmon, et al) look like WWII German soldiers.

[Michelle in MO]

Beleive it or not--Marc Singer (Beastmaster, V) is also part of that list ;)... I forget the play, all I remember is "loin cloth, chain around neck". hehhhe

But, who is this Marc Singer that you speak of? Do you have a photo or clip of him? I've probably seen him around, but can't place him.

Nevertheless, I'm always impressed by the quality of actors that come out of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Top-notch! :D

[Michelle in MO]

I loved Branagh in Hamlet! And I agree that the costumes are unusual. Horatio looks like he's in the late 19th century, and the guards (Jack Lemmon, et al) look like WWII German soldiers.

past the unusual costumes and setting of this version of Hamlet? Does the acting "draw you in," so to speak, despite the costumes?

Thanks!

[ereks mom]

past the unusual costumes and setting of this version of Hamlet? Does the acting "draw you in," so to speak, despite the costumes?

Thanks!

At first I was taken aback, but after we got into the story, the costumes and set didn't get in the way at all. ER & I both thought the movie flowed very well. There was a scene or two done "out of order" (as compared to the published versions we've seen), but they seemed to make more sense that way.

[Eliana]

I haven't seen a film version that worked for me, but I haven't tried the Derek Jacobi one yet. (I just placed a hold at our library, so we'll see!)


I have to go on record disagreeing with the praise of Branagh - Henry V and Much Ado were okay (minus the horrid Margaret in the window scene in Much Ado), but neither had, imnsho, the right flavor. (The Merchant of Venice w/ Jeremy Irons, otoh, is incredible - uhm, minus the brief view of topless courtesans. :mad:) His Love's Labor's Lost is *horrible* and As You Like It (directed by Branagh) manages, despite the gorgeous visuals, to make a fabulous play almost boring... I haven't seen his Othello, but I haven't been in a rush...

Good Shakespeare on film is really, really hard to achieve - there's the version of Merchant mentioned above, the Dench-McKellan Macbeth (almost *too* well done - I don't care for the interp on the witches, but the production, despite an almost bare-stage setting is very powerful, and I remember it as capturing the spirit of the play, or at least one interpretation thereof!)
Kirosawa's Ran is amazing; it is what convinced me that film is a viable, powerful art form in its own right - and I've only seen one stage version of Lear which surpassed it in conveying the heart of Lear.

When I was much younger I appreciated the BBC versions - through they aren't film version, more like the filming of a stage version, but I think the things I really loved all happened in my head, b/c I can't stand the ones I've seen more recently.

What we do appreciate are the full-cast audio recordings (Caedmon is a favorite, we also have some Arkangel, and a few others).

I know that I am a bit spoiled; I have spend most of my life watching absolutely first-rate stage productions. Perhaps I would be more appreciative of the films available if I weren't accustomed to much higher standards... (I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival at least twice a year from when I was 6 to when I was 21. Now we live in Seattle and have access to an even better company - the Seattle Shakespeare Company.)


Eliana

[danielle]

I'm going to join the faction that doesn't like the Branagh Hamlet. Absolutely interminable and so bright it was hard on the eyes. I didn't expect to like the Mel Gibson one, but it ended up being our favorite of the two--atmospheric, great costumes of the period, and Glenn Close is also terrific.
Danielle

[RebeccaC]

My 15 yo ds son says this is a no brainier and y'all are off your rockers because it is the version with Sir Laurence Olivier. I prefer the Gibson version myself but I am not a fanatic although I do live with a Hamlet fanatic. Ds saw the Olivier version when he was 12 and tries to watch it at least once a year. He thinks all the other versions are weak although he thinks Branagh's Henry the V is passable. I and he think the Olivier version is the longest.

Fun thread

[GothicGyrl]

But, who is this Marc Singer that you speak of? Do you have a photo or clip of him? I've probably seen him around, but can't place him.

Nevertheless, I'm always impressed by the quality of actors that come out of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Top-notch! :D
Google him ;) Marc Singer is all you need to type in. Here is his IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001743/

And blasphemers to all those who shun Brannagh!!!!!!! How dareth thou.. uhhh... anyway..

Hussey/Whiting in Zeferelli's version of Romeo and Juliet--mmmmrowr!!

[WTMindy]

Did I mention I adore him?!? I liked him way better them Mel Gibson.:D

[Eliana]

And blasphemers to all those who shun Brannagh!!!!!!! How dareth thou.. uhhh... anyway..


*Giggle* ...but I saw Mark Murphy play Hamlet when I was young and impressionable and nothing ever since has been able to compare.

I think I must have been about 10 or 11... and *somewhere* I even have a small poster to commemorate it, though my catalogs seem to have disappeared. :(


I knew it was dangerous to publicly admit to not being a Branagh fan, but be careful about charges of blasphemy lest I level some of my own. ;)

Eliana

[Shari]

Love love love the Kenneth Branagh version, but beware of some nudity and suggestive hip movements by Kate Winslet. :eek:

[Dooley]

The play with Marc Singer in it is Taming of the Shrew. That is the first Shakespeare play I ever saw (in high school) and I am telling you, Marc as Petrucio (spelling) is STUNNING. Made me sit up and clap. He has a fine bod....and the play was done as a choral, sort of in the round - wonderfully funny....