Hamlet: Screenplay, Introduction and Film Diary

By William Shakespeare and Kenneth Branagh

Book Overview

Often credited with creating a popular movie audience for Shakespeare, Kenneth Branagh has wanted for many years to bring to the screen the complete, full-length version of Hamlet, Shakespeare's greatest play.

The film, like the play, will have something for everyone, he says. Its a ghost story, a thriller, an action-packed murder mystery, and a great tragedy that is profoundly moving. With an outstanding cast of international actors--including Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Julie Christie as Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Charlton Heston as the Player King, Robin Williams as Osric, and Gerard Depardieu as Reynaldo--Branagh's version, in which he will play the title role as well as direct, is sure to go down in film history.

This beautiful volume includes Branagh's introduction and screenplay adaptation of Shakespeare's text, color and black-and-white stills, and a production diary that takes us behind the scenes for a day-to-day look at the shooting of his film.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393315053
• ISBN13: 9780393315059
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Pictures are worth it alone

ISBN-13: 978-0393315059 This screenplay, introduction, and film diary of Hamlet, by Kenneth Branagh, is like having several books in one. The screenplay itself 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 of 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 “breathtaking” pictures that you probably did not notice while watching the film. It starts with The Ghost and ends with Fortinbras.

Loads of fun to read!

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!

Hamlet is a very difficult but excellent book

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."

branagh's hamartia: "Hamlet" version

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?