Out-Hamleting Hamlet

Courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment Arizona Daily Wildcat Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet in "William Shakespeare's Hamlet"

Even after centuries of scholarship and dozens of film incarnations William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" remains the Bard's most troubling play. Is it a brilliant, far-sighted exploration of human character, or an overlong play full of pretty but pointless poli tical speeches and grandstanding? Is Hamlet a nerveless wimp more fit for the "nunnery" than the throne, or is he a stealthy, cunning pretender biding his time until he gets the opportunity to strike?

Branagh's version of the Hamlet character falls somewhere in the middle. Pronouncing many of his lines with a gentle falsetto, this Hamlet skulks alone and jumps at shadows, but knows how to shout when the time comes. If you've seen Branagh in "Henry V" o r the excellent "Dead Again" you know that he's a ham actor at heart - no one can chew the scenery quite like he can. And truthfully, Shakespeare wrote for ham actors: spit-spraying, bodice-ripping, eye-popping bellowers sawing the air with their hands an d wrecking the furniture.

Hamlet warns the players against "out-Heroding Herod": does Branagh out-Hamlet Hamlet? Yes, to some degree, but he wasn't alone in the crime.

Branagh bragged in numerous interviews that he hadn't cut a single line of the play (he didn't) and that he was going to "de-Freudianize" Hamlet forever. These are noble goals, but they put a strain on the film.

Because of his desire to get every word of the play into the film, a lot of the earlier scenes are extremely rushed, and some conversations seem like a contest to see who can finish their lines first. Anyone not knowing the play before they enter the thea ter won't have time to catch their breath, let alone decipher the Elizabethan prose.

Earlier incarnations of "Hamlet" (especially the one with an aging Sir Lawrence Olivier in tights) played on the Freudian "Oedipus complex" theme of Hamlet's love for his mother and desire to kill the "father" (Hamlet's uncle, who has taken the real fathe r's place). This usually involved making the Queen a radiant and seductive figure and having Hamlet fawn over her incestuously.

Branagh chose a clumsy but effective way of defusing this sexual tension by turning Hamlet into a brute who tosses his mother around like a rag doll and screams accusations in her face. In fact Branagh's Hamlet is brutal with women in general: poor Opheli a gets roughed up as well, pinned against walls and smashed up against mirrors. It is tough to reconcile this misogynist monster with the quiet speaker of such lines as "Alas, poor Yorich - I knew him, Horatio."

While Branagh is busy out-thinking his role, the many supporting actors do a brilliant job on their own. Nicholas Farrell is a subtle and nuanced Horatio, whose love for Hamlet shines through his often wet eyes. Julie Christie plays Hamlet's mother with r egal charm and gasping horror at her own crimes. Kate Winslet is a heartbreakingly beautiful Ophelia, and does very well in spite of a role that requires her to spend nearly the entire film either crying, being roughed up by Hamlet, or spouting gibberish after going insane.

There are many cameos with big Hollywood names, which are (with the exception of a solemn Charlton Heston) utterly wasted and miscast. Jack Lemmon as a soldier? A note to future costume designers: don't give a man with a double chin a helmet with a chin-s trap! Robin Williams and Billy Crystal are cast predictably enough in comic roles, but they don't have the subtlety for Shakespeare's humor. Williams just looks pained and awkward, while Crystal (as the grave-digging clown) can't seem to escape his Brookl yn Jew routine in either accent or delivery. Gerard Depardieu makes an appearance, but sounds like a drunken country bumpkin attempting a BBC accent.

I'm focusing so intensely on the actors because the film does also - the camera is often close enough to the actors' faces that they could fog the lens with their breath. When the camera does pull back the scenery is stunning, from the snow-covered ground s of Elsinore to the opulent trappings of the royal apartments. The cast is dressed in 19th-century Victorian rather than Medieval costume, a definite updating from the Bard's time, but their clothes are still a sight to behold. I'd kill to have Hamlet's wardrobe and the guts to wear it.

While the scenery is well done, there are several technical disappointments. The lighting is awful - supposedly set in a time when oil lamps and candles were still the primary light sources, Hamlet's palace is lit like the starship Enterprise, with nary a shadow in sight. The camerawork is extremely self-conscious, moving abruptly from brutal close-ups to tracking shots and often spinning clockwise around the actors, as if we needed constant reminders that we are watching a film, not a play. Many of the o utdoor shots have no outdoor sounds (wind, birds, etc.) at all, including one very badly-handled soliloquy where Hamlet gives his speech in a snowy field, yet sounds like he's in a phone booth.

The soundtrack is also a disappointment, just bland 20th-century strings, voice choirs and kettle drums without any real character or presence. Branagh could have really caught our attention by attempting a true Elizabethan score. Kate Winslet sings an ol d folk tune from before Shakespeare's time which hints at what the soundtrack might have been.

Branagh does have some fun with the film in parts, especially the scenes where Hamlet's insanity reveals itself. There's a lot of secret door escaping and swashbuckling that really shows off the strength of film versus the limits of the stage, and many be autiful people to dazzle the eye. Branagh is as true to the play itself as any 20th-century interpreter has been, especially in preserving the Bard's language. For that's the secret of Shakespeare's lasting presence and power: his language, prophetically modern, brilliantly executed, full of breathtaking power and heart-breaking sorrow.

Branagh almost eclipsed "Hamlet" with his own ego, but the play's the thing, and his grandstanding can't throw a shadow over Shakespeare's brilliance. The four-hour film is an exhausting experience, even with an intermission, but this is as it should be - if this play doesn't leave the viewer humbled and trembling, then every word was wasted. Go see this "Hamlet" for the words alone, but stay for the pretty pictures, because this is the finest incarnation yet.

"William Shakespeare's Hamlet" is showing through February 28 (possibly longer) at the Loft Cinema on Speedway. Call 795-7777 for info.