Customer Reviews

Hamlet: Screenplay, Introduction and Film Diary

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This book is useful to anyone interested in the film or theatre work of Kenneth Branagh, in Shakespeare on Screen, or film and theatre in general. As previous reviewers have mentioned, it comprises an introduction to the film/play by Kenneth Branagh, the full text of 'Hamlet' used during filming, production photographs and a 'film diary'.

The main purpose of my review is to correct the misapprehension of one previous reviewer about the writer of the 'film diary', in order to encourage interest in the film diary section of the book. A previous reviewer suggested that 'Russell Jackson' might be a filmographer. In fact, Russell Jackson is a Professor specialising in Shakespeare Studies and is the Director of The Shakespeare Institute, a prestigious school for Shakespeare studies in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK. This school has strong ties with the nearby Royal Shakespeare Company, and Professor Jackson himself is one of the leading scholars in the field of criticism of Shakespeare in Performance. He has published many articles in scholarly journals, and is the editor or co-editor of major books about Shakespeare in Performance such as 'The Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage'.

Most importantly, Prof. Jackson has acted as 'textual advisor' to Kenneth Branagh on the sets of many (if not all) of his Shakespearean films; this means he was often responsible for advising Branagh how to interpret a particular line or scene. No one is more well-qualified to write the film diary.

Prof. Jackson's film diary is not only anecdotal; it also describes many of the discussions actors had about how to play certain scenes and characters, and sometimes compares them to approaches that were made in other productions of 'Hamlet': it does become analytical at times. One cannot complain about the funny anecdotes Prof. Jackson relates about making this film, anyway. Amongst other things, he discusses the different viewpoints and acting styles brought to the film by the actors from varying countries, he discusses the difficulty of filming swordfights and snowstorms, and embellishing Blenheim Palace to make it look more fortress-like. Prof. Jackson also makes it clear that many of the people working on the film had been working with Branagh for years, and he captures a sense of this camaraderie.

Branagh's own introduction to the book could perhaps have been longer, but is of value, letting readers know how he first became interested in acting, who his earliest acting idols were, and why he finds 'Hamlet' particularly interesting to act.

I'm not sure why one previous reviewer expected the book text of the film's dialogue to be different from the film; the intention of the film was to make a filmed version using the 'full' (longest available, conflated) text of the play. The film uses every word from texts of 'Hamlet' that are seen as legitimate, and the text in the book transcribes exactly what is said in the film.

There are however some comments interposed within the text spoken in the film - I guess comments by Branagh. These could be a little disconcerting as they break up the text, but one can easily jump over them if necessary. They would probably be very useful to a high school student studying the play who does not understand the play's language; they will also interest anyone wondering about Branagh's motivation behind particular readings of lines or portrayals of scenes.

Lastly the photographs are great, and not really small - the book is somewhat larger than many hardback/softcover books.

I recommend this book. For anyone interested in Shakespeare on Screen, I also recommend the book relating to Richard Loncraine's film of 'Richard III', which has an interesting introduction by Ian McKellen. Those who like Branagh's 'Hamlet' film might wish to also watch Zefferelli's film version of 'Hamlet' to compare two recent and very different approaches to filming the play.

Relatively, the screenplay is 173 pages and the film diary by Russell Jackson (not Branagh) is 34 pages. Branagh does furnish a short introduction. In addition there are about 30 pages of absolutely beautiful stills from the film and the filming. There are certainly better reading versions of Hamlet available, the screenplay is the full Shakespeare play so there's not much to analyze as regards to editing, the diary is not from a prominent member of the cast or crew (a filmographer I think but I am not sure of his role in this specific film), the color photographs included are spectacular and leave me wanting more but they generally are on the small side. Maybe it is handy to mark lines or scenes that are of particular interest... Mostly, I like it more for the memory of the movie (spectacular!!!) than for the book itself so unless you are an equally avid fan the book may disappoint.

This screen play, introduction and film diary of Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh is like having several books in one. The screen play its self is based on the text of `Hamlet' as it appears in the `First Folio'.

You probably have several copies of Hamlet and maybe a few film versions. The advantage in this book is that it tells you what you are looking at. It goes beyond the inferences of Shakespeare's words and explains what they were trying to portray in the movie.

The introduction, only a few pages long is packed with information on how the movie came about.

The Film Diary (Rehearsal to Wrap) is written by Russell Jackson. This section also contains monochrome pictures of the film being made.

The section designated as "The Film" has several breath taking pictures that you probably did not notice while watching the film. It starts with The Ghost and ends with Fortinbras.

Hamlet [Blu-ray] ~ Kenneth Branagh

kenneth branagh, genius. tragic flaw...same as greatest asset...the dual nature of innovation. when you cast mega stars is mini roles, some things dont exactly match up. fodder happens. in much ado...keanu reeves? ugh. hamlet...jack lemmon. oh well. an amazing film. if you can find "the heart of hamlet, the play shakespeare wrote" by professor bernard grebanier buy it. learn something...change the universe, at least your little portion of it by having an understanding of the greatest single literary achievement in the history of man. got something better to do?

This is a great supplment to go with the best and most complet hamlet ever made. Video is excellent

This version of "Hamlet", brought to the screen (and page) by Branagh, is great fun to read, owing to the humorous "inner monologues" inserted by the author into the text. Although they do sound "twentieth century-ish", they fit perfectly between the lines. In this case, "reading between the lines" was most enjoyable!

One of my favorite Shakespearean plays is Hamlet. While I enjoyed reading Kenneth Branagh's screenplay adaptation of Hamlet, at first, I found the script hard to read with the italicized "stage directions", I did not know if the italicized words were directions or additions to the dialogue for the characters in the movie. But then, I realized that the "stage directions" were put in to aid the reader in an understanding the play, Hamlet.

Bravo, Branagh!

This screenplay is a must for any Shakespeare buff whose favorite Shakespeare play is Hamlet!

I got a used copy off Amazon. It's great to have, and is very nice...but I keep reading about breathtaking pictures. Where? I think they were ripped out of my copy. At the very back there is evidence of at least one color page being ripped out...I don't know. But it is a wonderful film, play, and now a wonderful book to have. The film diary is very interesting.

Hamlet is a very intricate book that requires very in-depth reading or even a little help from essays written on Hamlet or something of that nature. It is a very good book with a nice blend of puns and paradoxes to foreshadowing. It is a story of a Danish prince caught in the middle of an uncle who recently became king at the death of Hamlet's father, a mother who married Hamlet's uncle after Hamlet's father's death, and a girlfriend who is a bit crazy. This all sets up a Shakespeare's classic. It is a reference of the monarchies of the late 1500's early 1600's when family members killed other family members for the monarchy. Their is the outside conflict Hamlet has with his mother and uncle but also their is the intricate inner conflict in Hamlet of what to do. This discussion leads to the question is Hamlet crazy. This all sets up one of the most famous speech in literature, "To be or not to be? That is the question."

Hamlet is arguably the best play that Shakespeare ever wrote. This play has intrigue and misery and death everything that makes it Shakespeare but not only that it is more interesting not only in plot but in language than all the other plays. If you are not use to reading Shakespeare then you may have trouble understanding everything that is going on in this play.

The character of Hamlet is so interesting because his misery can be interpreted in so many different forms. Hamlet's misery can be construed as his frustration over his father's death or his love for Ophelia, or just adolescent misery in general. The fact that it can be all of these things just makes it more interesting because in each way the play can be read in different ways.

Hamlet seems so noble in his efforts to expose his uncle as a murderer but he is also a murderer because he murders Polonias. This event in turn makes Ophelia mad and she then commits suicide and therefore her brother blames Hamlet so there is double guilt for Hamlet.

In the end of the play I believe that Hamlet is so tortured not only with his own guilt but also his misery of all of the other factors such as his mother that he actually wants to die. But he had to kill Claudius in order to feel ready to die because then he would have done his duty and avenged his father's death.
My favorite part in the play is where Hamlet devises the play to his own benefit to confirm that Claudius is really the killer and that the ghost was really his father and not the devil.

This play is great fun to read and play out in your mind. If you want to see a good video version of this play rent the version that stars Mel Gibson. This is my favorite Shakespeare play and always will be.