1. THEME
1.1. Kenneth Branagh does a great job of keeping the main theme of the play "revenge" relevant. Even though at some points it is given very less attention to, it is never forgotten about. We are first introduced to the theme of revenge when Hamlet talks about his suspicion the his uncle killed his father which turns out to be true."GHOST Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. HAMLET Murder? GHOST Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. HAMLET Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge" (1.5.31-37).
2. Setting
2.1. The story of Hamlet is set in the late middle ages around the 14th and 15th centuries and mostly takes plays in the royal palace in Elsinore (a city in Denmark). This setting was well mimicked In the movie by Kenneth Branagh as most of the movie took place in the large canvace with exterior shots of the Blenheim palace, in Woodstock, England.
3. CHARACTERS
3.1. Hamlet
3.1.1. Kenneth Branagh does an amazing job in playing Hamlet as he is able to give him most of the characteristics that were given to him in the play. He is enigmatic, extremely philosophical and contemplative and is attracted to hard questions that cannot be answered with any certainty.
3.1.1.1. "QUEEN GERTRUDE Why seems it so particular with thee? HAMLET 'Seems,' madam? Nay it is. I know not 'seems.' 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed 'seem,' For they are actions that a man might play: But I have that within which passes show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (1.2.78-89)
3.2. Claudius
3.2.1. Claudius is also well portrayed in the movie just like he was in the play, as scheming, hypocritical, heartless and selfish as he killed his brother and married his brothers sister to gain power. His nasty schemes were also well portrayed for people who understand better visually. Even he admits that his "offence is rank [and] smells to heaven [because] / It hath the primal eldest curse upon't, / A brothers murder"(3.3.36-38).
3.3. Ophelia
3.3.1. Ophelia is shown pretty accurately in the film as very obedient. She is very obedient to everyone especially her father, because when he tells her to stop seeing Hamlet she replies with "I shall obey my Lord"(1.3.145).
3.4. Gertrude
3.4.1. Gertrude is a shadowy character with little substance on which to hang a characterization. We can examine her through what others say about her more than through what she says. Kenneth Branagh does a good job in portraying her as she is shown as someone who pretends to not know anything which suggests to the audience that she knows more than she shows everyone.