Out-hamleting Hamlet

KENNETH Branagh suffers from the theatrical equivalent of a Napoleon complex: an Olivier complex. But where the old-time madmen were content to be Napoleon, Branagh must go one better: be a Roland for an Oliv(i)er. Now, though we know that the saying means tit for tat, we also know that Roland is really the bigger cheese. Of that most valiant of Charlemagne’s paladins we know his famous sword Durandal, his famous horn Olivant, his famous death at Roncesvalles. And Oliver (Olivier in French)? For all we know, he may have blown a pennywhistle and fought with a cudgel.

So Branagh made a Henry V meant to outdo Lord Olivier’s-and in fighting in the mud it certainly did. And now he gives us a Hamlet to out-hamlet Olivier, or out-herod Herod (Hamlet, III, ii, 14). Whereas Olivier cut his 1948 movie of Hamlet down to 144 minutes, Branagh inflates the customary First Folio text with enough of the Second Quarto to boost the running time (with a brief intermission) to four hours and two minutes. Like Olivier, he dyed his hair blond for the Prince, but has added a mustache and goatee. And whereas Olivier chose a semi-fluffy bob, Branagh opted for a more austere, military cut.

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John Simon

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KENNETH Branagh suffers from the theatrical equivalent of a Napoleon complex: an Olivier complex. But where the old-time madmen were content to be Napoleon, Branagh must go one better: be a Roland for an Oliv(i)er. Now, though we know that the saying means tit for tat, we also know that Roland is really the bigger cheese. Of that most valiant of Charlemagne’s paladins we know his famous sword Durandal, his famous horn Olivant, his famous death at Roncesvalles. And Oliver (Olivier in French)? For all we know, he may have blown a pennywhistle and fought with a cudgel.

So Branagh made a Henry V meant to outdo Lord Olivier’s-and in fighting in the mud it certainly did. And now he gives us a Hamlet to out-hamlet Olivier, or out-herod Herod (Hamlet, III, ii, 14). Whereas Olivier cut his 1948 movie of Hamlet down to 144 minutes, Branagh inflates the customary First Folio text with enough of the Second Quarto to boost the running time (with a brief intermission) to four hours and two minutes. Like Olivier, he dyed his hair blond for the Prince, but has added a mustache and goatee. And whereas Olivier chose a semi-fluffy bob, Branagh opted for a more austere, military cut.