Kenneth Branagh: With Utter Clarity. An Interview

Abstract

Kenneth Branagh's film version of Hamlet opened in the United States on Christmas Day 1996. Branagh also has directed Henry V (1989) and Much Ado About Nothing (1993) for the screen. He can justifiably be credited as the person most responsible for the rise of Shakespeare as a leading author for the contemporary cinema. In his casting, Branagh has pursued an international flavor, freely mixing Americans like Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves with veteran British Shakespearean actors like John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, and Richard Briers, as well as with actors from other European countries. This edited interview was recorded on 30 October 1995, at Branagh's office in Shepperton Studios, London, where he was about to begin shooting Hamlet.