Hamlet

Hamlet (1996) — Kenneth Branagh's full-text adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy — is available to watch online on iFILM. Four hours. Every word of the original play, nothing trimmed. Branagh both directed and took the title role, staging the action inside an ornate nineteenth-century Danish court photographed in 70mm widescreen by cinematographer Alex Thomson.

Prince Hamlet returns to find his father dead and his mother (Julie Christie) already remarried to his uncle Claudius (Derek Jacobi), who now holds the crown. A ghost delivers the truth no one else will say. Kate Winslet plays Ophelia caught between love and obedience; Timothy Spall, Rufus Sewell and Nicholas Farrell round out the court. Whether Hamlet's madness is real or performed is left deliberately unresolved — which is exactly the point.

The cast assembled here is genuinely unusual for a Shakespeare film: Robin Williams, Gerard Depardieu, and Jack Lemmon each appear in smaller roles. The production earned an Academy Award nomination for adapted screenplay. Stream Hamlet (1996) online on iFILM.