Hamlet

Hamlet can quite literally make you laugh and cry, hiss and cheer. It also contains a slew of famous lines, including, but not limited to the likes of "Frailty, thy name is woman!", "To thine own self be true", "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark", "Brevity is the soul of wit", "The play's the thing", "The lady doeth protest too much", and, of course, "To be, or not to be, that is the question." The acting, as is aboveforementioned, is the highlight of this version. You can see the emotions boiling over on Gibson's face, and Close gives Gertrude's nature a remarkable realism as both a worried mother and a lustful lover. Bates is the best Claudius I have ever seen, and Holm displays in Polonius what makes him such a great actor.

Briefly, I want to mention a few of the many scenes that arrested my attention. The first, which may be the most majestic moment in the entire film (and which is used for the theatrical poster), occurs during the departure of Gertrude and Claudius from Elsinore's audience chamber under a hail of flower petals while Hamlet, dressed in black, watches bleakly from behind them. Then there's the sequence where Hamlet encounters his father's ghost. The earth splits open, fire belches forth, mists coalesce, and the forest reverberates with the unearthly voice. Hamlet's "Get thee to a nunnery" confrontation with Ophelia is tense and emotionally wrenching. The graveyard scene, which opens the final act, is perfectly realized, especially as Hamlet recognizes the body in the coffin. Finally, the climax is handled with the right mix of drama and adventure, and includes a nice nod to Errol Flynn. This Hamlet has an extremely good set design that complements the mood of each scene perfectly. The castle has a great look to it, both inside and outside. Of course, one cannot escape comparing this to Branagh's masterpiece, though in its own right is is a great version of Shakespeare's play

One of the things that Branagh brings to his adaptation of the play is an amazing visual sense. From start to finish, this