IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER (1995) ** It must have felt like an original idea the first time someone had it, about a million years ago-doing a play about making a play. In the hands of experts that doesn't matter, and someone probably put Kenneth Branagh up to it based on his reputation. I think that part of the idea is to have a contrast between reality and representation, which doesn't work at all when all of the characters are this unrealistic (except for John Sessions--though I guess that none of the characters are real, come to think on it). The problem isn't confusing in the sense that you wonder which one is the director and which one is Hamlet so much as...it just doesn't snap anywhere. There are a bunch of lines that are meant to be endearing (with limited success), but none that back your brain up and make it do a double-pump (the cuts apparently, wisely maybe if you think on it, included everything famous about the play). I don't know if it's a complement when Jennifer Saunders, in a cameo, is the best part of a Shakespearean drama, even as you wonder what sort of accent it is that she's affecting. Branagh leaves you with plenty of room to contemplate how actors are part of humanity, suffering from the same afflictions and desires, but anyone who didn't already know that probably isn't going to get much out of the meditation. I do like the opening moments of their Hamlet, not least because it plays against the scripted limitations of the actor involved.
back to Brilliant Observations on 1776 Films home
go back home, or send me email
no more reviews! I want to buy your novel!