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Its face, barely visible beneath a large visor, is that of a cadaver – pale, with gaping holes for eyes, and its head is never still, rolling constantly on its neck. In contrast, Olivier’s Ghost is a terrifying creature whose armoured form dissolves into dark fog. Gone is the armour and dark fog instead we see a frail old man in robes, leaning against the wall for support, who sheds a tear as he tries and fails to hug his son. Played by Paul Scofield, the Ghost is presented as an idealised paternal archetype rather than a terrifying spectre in order to provide Gibson’s gung-ho Hamlet with sufficient emotional motivation for vengeance. Zeffirelli’s Ghost is better suited to the style of contemporary Hollywood action blockbuster that inspired the casting of Mel Gibson as the prince.
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Zeffirelli’s interpretation places the Ghost in the former category, and Olivier’s in the latter. Hamlet is not merely “a man who could not make up his mind”, as Olivier’s opening credits famously claim, but a prince whose inner turmoil threatens an entire country.Īs well as signifying “king”, however, the Ghost of Shakespeare’s tragedy also represents fears of the demonic, and raises the question of whether the ghost stands for good or for evil. By giving the Ghost a distinct political identity, Branagh ensures that, before his audience are drawn into the prince’s personal tragedy, Hamlet’s story is located in the context of a much larger political landscape. For Branagh’s adaptation of the tragedy, however, in which he conflates all of the extant texts in order to produce an super-duper-full-length play, the political content of the tragedy needs to be integrated as comfortably as the psychological and emotional drama for the film to work as a cohesive whole. These edits, while influenced as much by time constraints as artistic direction, indicate that the politically-weighty elements of Hamlet have in the past been seen as extraneous to the main story. The war with Norway tends to get shoved to one side in cinematic Hamlet s: directors Franco Zeffirelli (1990) and Richardson both omitted entirely the Norwegian invasion from their cinematic versions of the play, while Olivier went a step further and cut the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as well. In the likeness of the statue on which the camera has lingered, the apparition is no mere spectre: it represents a king.īranagh’s immediate emphasis on the Ghost as king does not altogether alter our understanding of the plot, but it does prepare his viewers for the ways in which the intimate tragedies unfolding within Elsinore reflect the turbulent political climate on the periphery of the plot. The image thus attaches to the Ghost the designation of “monarch” in a way that several other significant filmed and televised adaptations of Hamlet have not, with the result that, when the Ghost eventually appears to the palace guards, its presence is loaded with significance even before Barnardo announces its identity. The monument stands in the foreground, ominously on the edge of the palace grounds, with Elsinore visible in the background, pale in the moonlight. Although brief, the mise-en-scène here is a powerful indicator of royalty: in the space of a single shot, Branagh gives us with the impression of a Danish kingdom rather than a castle. Branagh’s refreshing change of direction from his predecessors is evident in film’s establishing shot, a slow pan in mid-shot from right to left across a colossal statue of Old Hamlet. Instead, he presents Denmark’s political turmoil in a way that complements the deeply emotional drama that unfolds in and around the figure of prince Hamlet.
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Unlike the acclaimed cinematic versions of Hamlet directed by Laurence Olivier (1948) and Tony Richardson (1969), Branagh’s does not shy away from the political world of Shakespeare’s tragedy. In other words, this production puts flesh on the bones of a role that most motion picture adaptations have, for various reasons, portrayed less comprehensively.
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Over the course of the film Branagh presents the Ghost, played by Brian Blessed, from a range of different perspectives: we see him as a king we fear him as a demon pity him as a man, and mourn him as a father. Moreover, this film offers the most complete and nuanced take on Old Hamlet and his Ghost that I’ve ever seen. It’s exquisite to look at, the central roles are perfectly-cast (Kate Winslet is forever my Ophelia), and it features Ken Branagh bellowing verse while straddling an actual mountain. Yes, it’s unabridged and four hours long (although it absolutely breezes by), yes it’s a tad narcissistic (directed by AND adapted by AND starring…), and yes, some of the stunt casting sticks out like a sore thumb (Robin Williams as Osric springs to mind), but my goodness Branagh directs the absolute heck out of this sprawling vainglorious masterpiece. I have a pure and complete love for Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet.
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