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SM-65 Atlas

The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at an assembly plant located in Kearny Mesa, San Diego.

Development dates to 1946, but over the next few years the project underwent several cancellations and re-starts. The deepening of the Cold War and intelligence showing the Soviet Union was working on an ICBM design led to it becoming a crash project in late 1952, along with the creation of several other missile projects to ensure one would enter service as soon as possible. The first test launch was carried out in June 1957, which failed. The first success of the Soviet R-7 Semyorka in August gave the program new urgency, leading to the first successful Atlas A launch in December. Of the eight flights of the A model, only three were successful, but the later models demonstrated increasing reliability and the C model was cleared for use.

Atlas C was declared operational in September 1959. Even at that time it was considered less than ideal as it had to be fuelled immediately before launch and thus had very slow reaction times. The Air Force still saw its strategic bombers as its primary force and considered Atlas as a last-ditch weapon that would ensure a counterattack in the case the Soviets attempted a sneak attack on the US bomber bases. The initial versions were stored at ground level and thus subject to attack by Soviet bombers, which greatly reduced their suitability for this role. Starting with the F models they were stored in underground silos that offered some protection from air attack. New designs, especially the Minuteman, rendered Atlas obsolete and it was retired from the ICBM role by 1965.

These disadvantages had no bearing on its use for space launches, and Atlas-derived launch vehicles served a long history as launchers. Even before its ICBM use ended in 1965, Atlas had placed four Project Mercury astronauts in orbit and was becoming the foundation for a family of successful space launch vehicles, most notably Atlas Agena and Atlas Centaur. Mergers led to the acquisition of the Atlas Centaur line by the United Launch Alliance. Today ULA supports the larger Atlas V, which combines the Centaur upper stage with a new booster. Until 1995, many retired Atlas ICBMs were refurbished and combined with upper stages to launch satellites.

History
Atlas was the first US ICBM and one of the first large liquid-fueled rockets. As such, its early development was quite chaotic, with plans changing rapidly as flight tests revealed issues.

Atlas began in 1946 with the award of an Army Air Forces research contract to Convair for the study of a 1500 to 5000 mi range missile that might at some future date carry a nuclear warhead. This MX-774 project was named for the Atlas of Greek mythology and the contractor's parent Atlas Corporation. At the time, the smallest atomic warheads were all larger than the maximum theoretical payloads of the planned long range missiles, so the contract was canceled in 1947, but the Army Air Forces allowed Convair to launch the three almost-completed research vehicles using the remaining contract funds. The three flights were only partially successful, but did show that balloon tanks and gimbaled rocket engines were valid concepts.

A second development contract was awarded to Convair on 23 January 1951 for what was then called MX-1593, with a relatively low priority. The initial design completed by Convair in 1953 was larger than the missile that eventually entered service. Estimated warhead weight was lowered from 8000 lb to 3000 lb based on highly favorable U.S. nuclear warhead tests in early 1954. This, in addition to the Soviet Union's 1953 Joe 4 dry fuel thermonuclear weapon test and the CIA learning that the Soviet ICBM program was making progress, led to the project being dramatically accelerated. Project Atlas was assigned the highest Air Force development priority on 14 May 1954 by General Thomas D. White.

A major development and test contract was awarded to Convair on 14 January 1955 for a 10 ft diameter missile to weigh about 250000 lb. Atlas development was tightly controlled by the Air Force's Western Development Division, WDD, later part of the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division. Contracts for warhead, guidance and propulsion were handled separately by WDD. The first successful flight of a highly instrumented Atlas missile to full range occurred 28 November 1958. Atlas ICBMs were deployed operationally from 31 October 1959 to 12 April 1965.

The missile was originally designated as the XB-65 experimental bomber; in 1955 it was redesignated SM-65 ("Strategic Missile 65") and, from 1962, it became CGM-16. This letter "C" stood for "coffin" or "Container", the rocket being stored in a semi-hardened container; it was prepared for launch by being raised and fueled in the open. The Atlas-F (HGM-16) was stored vertically underground, but launched after being lifted to the surface.

By 1965, with the second-generation Titan II having reached operational status, the Atlas was obsolete as a missile system and had been phased out of military use. Many of the retired Atlas D, E, and F missiles were used for space launches into the 1990s.

The penetrating lubricant WD-40 found its first use as a corrosion-inhibiting coating for the outer skin of the Atlas missile.

Missile details
The Atlas's complicated, unconventional design proved difficult to debug compared with rocket families such as Thor and Titan which used conventional aircraft-style structures and two stage setups and there were dozens of failed launches during the early years. After watching Atlas Serial 7D explode shortly after its nighttime launch, Mercury astronaut Gus Grissom remarked "Are we really going to get on top of one of those things?" The numerous failures led to Atlas being dubbed an "Inter County Ballistic Missile" by missile technicians, but by 1965 most of the problems had been worked out and it was a reliable launch vehicle. Nearly every component in the Atlas managed to fail at some point during test flights, from the engine combustion chambers to the tank pressurization system to the flight control system, but Convair engineers noted with some pride that there had never been a repeat of the same failure more than three times, and every component malfunction on an Atlas flight was figured out and resolved. The last major design hurdle to overcome was unstable engine thrust, which caused three Atlas missiles (Serial 51D and 48D in 1960 and Serial 27E in 1961) to explode on their launching stands.

Pressure stabilized tanks
Atlas was unusual in its use of balloon tanks for the propellants, made of very thin stainless steel with minimal or no rigid support structures, as already pioneered by the Soviet R-5 first launched in 1953. Pressure in the tanks provides the structural rigidity required for flight. An Atlas rocket would collapse under its own weight if not kept pressurized, and had to have 5 psi nitrogen in the tank even when not fueled. The rocket had two small thrust chambers on the sides of the tank called vernier rockets. These provided fine adjustment of velocity and steering after the sustainer engine shut down.

'Stage-and-a-half'
Atlas was informally classified as a "stage-and-a-half" rocket, with a central sustainer engine and set of two booster engines that were all started at launch, each drawing from a single set of propellant tanks. Most multistage rockets drop both engines and fuel tanks simultaneously before firing the next stage's engines. However, when the Atlas missile was being developed, there was doubt as to whether a rocket engine could be air-started. Therefore, the decision was made to ignite all of the Atlas' engines at launch; the booster engines would be discarded, while the sustainer continued to burn. A stage of a liquid propellant rocket normally consists of both propellant tanks and engines, so jettisoning one or more engines only is equivalent to "half a stage". At staging, the booster engines would be shut off and a series of mechanical and hydraulic mechanisms would close the plumbing lines to them. The booster section would then be released by a series of hydraulic clamps (aside from the early test model Atlas B, which used explosive bolts) and slide off the missile on two tracks. From there on, the sustainer and verniers would operate by themselves. Booster staging took place at roughly two minutes into launch, although the exact timing could vary considerably depending on the model of Atlas as well as the particular mission being flown. This "stage-and-a-half" design was made possible by the extremely light weight balloon tanks. The tanks made up such a small percentage of the total booster weight that the mass penalty of lifting them to orbit was less than the technical and mass penalty required to throw half of them away mid-flight. However, technology advanced quickly and not long after design work on Atlas was completed, Convair rival Martin proposed a solution to the air-starting problem. Their Titan I missile, developed as an Atlas backup, had a conventional two stage design.

Engines
The booster engine consisted of two large thrust chambers. On the Atlas A/B/C, one turbopump assembly powered both booster engines. On the Atlas D, the booster engines had separate pump assemblies. On the Atlas E/F, each booster turbopump also got its own gas generator. Later space launcher variants of the Atlas used the MA-5 propulsion system with twin turbopumps on each booster engine, driven by a common gas generator. The boosters were more powerful than the sustainer engine and did most of the lifting for the first two minutes of flight. In addition to pitch and yaw control, they could also perform roll control in the event of a vernier failure. The sustainer engine on all Atlas variants consisted of a single thrust chamber with its own turbopump and gas generator, which also powered two small pressure-fed vernier engines. The verniers provided roll control and final velocity trim. The total sea level thrust of all five thrust chambers was 360,000 lbf (1,600 kN) for a standard Atlas D. Atlas E/F had 375,000 pounds of thrust. Total sea level thrust for these three-engine Atlas Es and Fs was 389,000 lbf (1,730 kN). Launcher variants of the Atlas often had performance enhancements to the engines.

Guidance
The Atlas missiles A through D used radio guidance: the missile sent information from its inertial system to a ground station by radio, and received course correction information in return. The Atlas E and F had completely autonomous inertial guidance systems.

The ground based guidance computer was a key part of the missile system, until guidance computers were miniaturized enough to be installed inside the missile. Isaac L. Auerbach designed the Burroughs guidance computer for the Atlas ICBM missiles. The Burroughs guidance computer was one of the first transistor computers. It processed 24-bit data using 18-bit instructions. A total of 17 of these ground computers were delivered. These same ground computers was later used for Atlas-Able, Project Mercury, and other early spacecraft.

Warhead
The warhead of the Atlas D was originally the G.E. Mk 2 "heat sink" re-entry vehicle (RV) with a W49 thermonuclear weapon, combined weight 3700 lb and yield of 1.44 megatons (Mt). The W49 was later placed in a Mk 3 ablative RV, combined weight 2420 lb. The Atlas E and F had an AVCO Mk 4 RV containing a W38 thermonuclear warhead with a yield of 3.75 Mt which was fuzed for either air burst or contact burst. The Mk 4 RV also deployed penetration aids in the form of mylar balloons which replicated the radar signature of the Mk 4 RV. The Mk 4 plus W-38 had a combined weight of 4050 lb. The Atlas missile's warhead was over 100 times more powerful than the bomb dropped over Nagasaki in 1945.

Comparison with R-7
The R-7 Semyorka was the first Soviet ICBM and similarly started all engines before launch to avoid igniting a large liquid fuel engine at high altitudes. However, the R-7 had a central sustainer section, with four boosters attached to its sides. The large side boosters required use of an expensive launch pad and prevented launching the rocket from a silo. Like the Atlas, the use of cryogenic liquid oxygen meant that the missile could not be kept in the state of flight readiness indefinitely and was largely useless for its intended purpose (military) and was similarly developed into a space launch vehicle, initially delivering Sputnik and Vostok into orbit. The Soyuz rocket is descended from the R-7 and remains in use today.

SM-65A Atlas
The Convair X-11/SM-65A Atlas/Atlas A was the first full-scale prototype of the Atlas missile, first flying on 11 June 1957. It was a test model designed to verify the structure and propulsion system, and had no sustainer engine or separable stages. The first three Atlas A launches used an early Rocketdyne engine design with conical thrust chambers and only 135,000 pounds of thrust. By the fourth Atlas test, they were replaced by an improved engine design that had bell-shaped thrust chambers and 150,000 pounds of thrust.

There were eight Atlas A test flights, conducted in 1957–1958, of which four were successful. All were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at either Launch Complex 12 or Launch Complex 14.

SM-65B Atlas

The Convair X-12/SM-65B was the second prototype version, introducing the stage and a half system that was a hallmark of the Atlas rocket program. This version was the first American rocket to achieve a flight distance that could be considered intercontinental when it flew 6325 mi.

The Atlas B was first flown on 19 July 1958. Of ten total flights, nine were sub-orbital test flights of the Atlas as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, with five successful missions and four failures; the other flight placed the SCORE satellite into orbit. All launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 13 and 14.

SM-65C Atlas
The SM-65C Atlas, or Atlas C was the third prototype Atlas version, a more refined model with improved, lighter-weight components. a bigger LOX tank, and a smaller fuel tank. First flown on 24 December 1958, it was the final development version. It was originally planned to be used as the first stage of the Atlas-Able rocket, but following an explosion during a static test on 24 September 1959, this was abandoned in favor of the Atlas D. Six flights were made, all sub-orbital ballistic test flights of the Atlas, with three tests succeeding, and three failing. All launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complex 12.

SM-65D Atlas
The SM-65D Atlas, or Atlas D, was the first operational version of the Atlas missile and the basis for all Atlas space launchers, debuting in 1959. Atlas D weighed 255950 lb (without payload) and had an empty weight of only 11894 lb; the other 95.35% was propellant. Dropping the 6720 lb booster engine and fairing reduced the dry weight to 5174 lb, a mere 2.02% of the initial gross weight of the vehicle (still excluding payload). This very low dry weight gave Atlas D a range of up to 9000 mi, or to orbit payloads without requiring an upper stage. It first flew on 14 April 1959.

To provide the United States with an interim or emergency ICBM capability, in September 1959 the Air Force deployed three SM-65D Atlas missiles on open launch pads at Vandenberg AFB, California, under the operational control of the 576th Strategic Missile Squadron, 704th Strategic Missile Wing. Completely exposed to the elements, the three missiles were serviced by a gantry crane. One missile was on operational alert at all times. They remained on alert until 1 May 1964.

SM-65E Atlas
The SM-65E Atlas, or Atlas-E, was the first 3-engine operational variant of the Atlas missile, the third engine resulting from splitting the two booster thrust chambers into separate engines with independent sets of turbopumps. It first flew on 11 October 1960, and was deployed as an operational ICBM from September 1961 until March 1965.

A major enhancement in the Atlas E was the new all-inertial system that obviated the need for ground control facilities. Since the missiles were no longer tied to a central guidance control facility, the launchers could be dispersed more widely in what was called a 1 × 9 configuration, with one missile silo located at one launch site each for the nine missiles assigned to the squadron.

Atlas-E launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11 and 13, and Vandenberg Air Force Base at Vandenberg AFB Operational Silo Test Facility, Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 576 and Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 3.

SM-65F Atlas
The SM-65F Atlas, or Atlas-F, was the final operational variant of the Atlas missile. It first flew on 8 August 1961, and was deployed as an operational ICBM between September 1962 and April 1965.

The Atlas F was essentially a quick-firing version of the Atlas E, modified to be stored in a vertical position inside underground concrete and steel silos. It was nearly identical to the E version except for interfaces associated with their different basing modes (underground silo for F) and the fuel management system. When stored, the missile sat atop an elevator. If placed on alert, it was fueled with RP-1 (kerosene) liquid fuel, which could be stored inside the missile for extended periods. If a decision was made to launch, it was fueled with liquid oxygen. Once the liquid oxygen fueling was complete, the elevator raised the missile to the surface for launching.

This method of storage allowed the Atlas F to be launched in about ten minutes, a saving of about five minutes over the Atlas D and Atlas E, both of which were stored horizontally and had to be raised to a vertical position before being fueled.

Atlas-F launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11 and 13, and Vandenberg Air Force Base at OSTF-2, Vandenberg AFB Launch Complex 576 and Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 3.

Operational deployment
Strategic Air Command deployed 13 operational Atlas ICBM squadrons between 1959 and 1962. Each of the three missile variants, the Atlas D, E, and F series, were deployed and based in progressively more secure launchers.

Service history
The number of Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles in service, at the end of each year:

Atlas-D deployment
In September 1959 the first operational Atlas ICBM squadron went on operational alert at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming equipped with six SM-65D Atlas missiles based in above-ground launchers. Three additional Atlas D squadrons, two near F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, and one at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, were based in above-ground launchers that provided blast protection against over-pressures of only 5 psi. These units were:
 * 389th Strategic Missile Wing
 * Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (2 September 1960 – 1 July 1964)
 * 564th Strategic Missile Squadron (6 missiles)
 * 565th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)

 * 385th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Offutt AFB, Nebraska (30 March 1961 – 1 October 1964)
 * 549th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)

The first site at Warren for the 564th SMS consisted of six launchers grouped together, controlled by two launch operations buildings, and clustered around a central guidance control facility. This was called the 3 × 2 configuration: two launch complexes of three missiles each constituted a squadron.

At the second Warren site for the 565th SMS and at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, for the 549th SMS, the missiles were based in a 3 x 3 configuration: three launchers and one combined guidance control/launch facility constituted a launch complex, and three complexes comprised a squadron. At these later sites the combined guidance and control facility measured 107 by with a partial basement. A dispersal technique of spreading the launch complexes were 20 to 30 mi apart was also employed to reduce the risk that one powerful nuclear warhead could destroy multiple launch sites.

Atlas-E deployment
The SM-65E Atlas were based in horizontal "semi-hard" or "coffin" facilities that protected the missile against over-pressures up to 25 psi. In this arrangement the missile, its support facilities, and the launch operations building were housed in reinforced concrete structures that were buried underground; only the roofs protruded above ground level. These units were:
 * 92nd Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington (28 September 1961 – 17 February 1965)
 * 567th Strategic Missile Squadron, (9 missiles)

 * 21st Strategic Aerospace Division
 * Forbes AFB, Kansas (10 October 1961 – 4 January 1965)
 * 548th Strategic Missile Squadron, (9 missiles)

 * 389th Strategic Missile Wing
 * Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (20 November 1961 – 4 January 1965)
 * 566th Strategic Missile Squadron (9 missiles)

Atlas-F deployment
The six SM-65F Atlas squadrons were the first ICBMs to be stored vertically in underground silos. Built of heavily reinforced concrete, the huge silos were designed to protect the missiles from over-pressures of up to 100 psi. These units were:

 * 310th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Schilling AFB, Kansas (9 September 1962 – 1 February 1965)
 * 550th Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

 * 98th Strategic Aerospace Wing
 * Lincoln AFB, Nebraska (15 September 1962 – 10 March 1965)
 * 551st Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

 * 11th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Altus AFB, Oklahoma (9 October 1962 – 30 December 1964)
 * 577th Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

 * 96th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Dyess AFB, Texas (15 November 1962 – 1 December 1964)
 * 578th Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

 * 6th Bombardment (later Strategic Aerospace) Wing
 * Walker AFB, New Mexico (30 November 1962 – 5 January 1965)
 * 579th Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

 * 820th Air (later Strategic Aerospace) Division
 * Plattsburgh AFB, New York (20 December 1962 – 12 March 1965)
 * 556th Strategic Missile Squadron (12 missiles)

The Atlas F's employment was dangerous due to the flammability of the stored liquid rocket fuels. Four sites and their missiles were destroyed during propellant loading exercises (known as PLXs) when liquid oxygen leaked and fires ensued. On 1 June 1963 Roswell's site 579-1 was destroyed by explosion and fire. On 13 February 1964 Roswell's site 579-5 was destroyed, and a month later on 9 March 1964 site 579-2 was also destroyed by explosion and fire. Finally, on 14 May 1964 an Altus AFB site, 577-6 in Frederick, Oklahoma, was also destroyed by explosion and fire during a PLX. Fortunately the crews all survived. None of the damaged sites were repaired or returned to service.

Retirement as an ICBM
After the solid-fuel LGM-30 Minuteman had become operational in early 1963, the Atlas became rapidly obsolete. By October 1964, all Atlas D missiles had been phased out, followed by the Atlas E/F in April 1965. About 350 Atlas ICBMs of all versions were built, with a peak deployment level of 129 (30 D, 27 E, 72 F). Despite its relatively short life span, Atlas served as the proving ground for many new missile technologies. Perhaps more importantly, its development spawned the organization, policies, and procedures that paved the way for all of the later ICBM programs.

After its retirement from operational ICBM service in 1965, the ICBMs were refurbished and used for close to forty years as space launch vehicle boosters.

SM-65A (Atlas A) variant launch history
Eight flights of Atlas A occurred during the history of this variant.

SM-65B (Atlas B) variant launch history
Ten flights of Atlas B occurred during the history of this variant.

SM-65C (Atlas C) variant launch history
Six flights of Atlas C occurred during the history of this variant.

Survivors

 * HGM-16F Atlas is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. For years the missile was displayed outside the museum. In 1998 it was removed from display. It was restored by the museum's restoration staff and returned to display in the museum's new Missile Silo Gallery in 2007. The stage is currently in storage at the museum. The white nose cone atop the museum's Atlas is an AVCO IV re-entry vehicle built to contain a nuclear warhead. This nose cone actually stood alert in defense of the United States, as it was initially installed on an Atlas on 2 October 1962 at a Denton Valley launch site near Clyde, Texas.
 * Atlas 8A is displayed in front of the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska; reconfigured as an Atlas D.
 * Atlas 2E is on display in front of the San Diego Air & Space Museum at Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California.
 * Atlas 2D mounted with a Mercury capsule is on display in the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida.
 * Atlas 10F is on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Former survivor:
 * Atlas 5A (56–6742) was formerly on display on the lawn in front of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but was removed in February 2015 and dismantled.

title: SM-65 Atlas


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Hamlet (1996 film)

Hamlet is a 1996 British epic historical drama film and an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Prince Hamlet. The film also features Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, Julie Christie as Queen Gertrude, Kate Winslet as Ophelia, Michael Maloney as Laertes, Richard Briers as Polonius, and Nicholas Farrell as Horatio. Other cast members include Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Rufus Sewell, Charlton Heston, Richard Attenborough, Judi Dench, John Gielgud and Ken Dodd.

The film is the first unabridged theatrical film version of Hamlet, running more than four hours. The setting is updated to the 19th century, but its Elizabethan English text remains the same. Blenheim Palace is the setting used for the exterior grounds of Elsinore Castle, and interiors were photographed at Shepperton Studios. Hamlet was the last major dramatic motion picture to be filmed entirely on 70 mm film until 2011, with the release of the documentary Samsara.

Branagh's Hamlet has been regarded as one of the best Shakespeare film adaptations ever made. However, it was a box-office bomb, mostly due to its limited release, grossing just under US$5 million on a budget of $18 million. The film received four Oscar nominations for the 69th Academy Awards for Best Art Direction (Tim Harvey), Best Costume Design (Alexandra Byrne), Best Original Score (Patrick Doyle) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Kenneth Branagh).

Plot
Prince Hamlet of Denmark is the son of the recently deceased King Hamlet and nephew of King Claudius, his father's brother and successor. Claudius hastily married King Hamlet's widow Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, and took the throne for himself. Denmark has a longstanding feud with neighbouring Norway, in which King Hamlet slew King Fortinbras of Norway in a battle some years ago. Although Denmark defeated Norway and the Norwegian throne fell to King Fortinbras's infirm brother, Denmark fears that an invasion led by the dead Norwegian king's son, Prince Fortinbras, is imminent.

On a cold night on the ramparts of Elsinore, the Danish royal castle, the sentries Bernardo and Marcellus discuss a ghost resembling the late King Hamlet that they have recently seen, and bring Prince Hamlet's friend Horatio as a witness. After the ghost appears again, the three vow to tell Prince Hamlet what they have witnessed.

As the court gathers the next day while King Claudius and Queen Gertrude discuss affairs of state with their elderly adviser, Polonius, Hamlet watches glumly. During the court, Claudius grants permission for Polonius's son, Laertes, to return to school in France and sends envoys to inform the King of Norway of Fortinbras. Claudius also scolds Hamlet for continuing to grieve over his father and forbids him to return to his schooling in Wittenberg. After the court exits, Hamlet despairs of his father's death and his mother's hasty remarriage. Learning of the ghost from Horatio, Hamlet resolves to see it himself.

As Laertes prepares to depart for a visit to France, Polonius offers him advice that culminates in the maxim, "to thine own self be true". Polonius's daughter, Ophelia, admits that she has interest in Hamlet, but Laertes warns her against seeking the prince's attention, and Polonius orders her to reject his advances. That night on the rampart, the ghost appears to Hamlet, telling the prince that he was murdered by Claudius and demanding that Hamlet avenge him. Hamlet agrees, and the ghost vanishes. The prince confides to Horatio and the sentries that he plans to "put an antic disposition on", or act like he has gone mad, and forces them to swear to keep secret his plans for revenge. However, he remains uncertain of the ghost's reliability.

Soon after, Ophelia rushes to her father, telling him that Hamlet arrived at her door the night before, half-dressed and behaving erratically. Polonius blames the love for Hamlet's madness and resolves to inform Claudius and Gertrude. As he enters to do so, the King and Queen finish welcoming Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two student acquaintances of Hamlet, to Elsinore. The royal couple has requested that the students investigate the cause of Hamlet's mood and behaviour. Additional news requires that Polonius waits to be heard: messengers from Norway inform Claudius that the King of Norway has rebuked Prince Fortinbras for attempting to re-fight his father's battles. The forces that Fortinbras had conscripted to march against Denmark will instead be sent against Poland, although they will pass through Danish territory to get there.

Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude of his theory regarding Hamlet's behaviour and speaks to Hamlet in a hall of the castle to try to uncover more information. Hamlet feigns madness and subtly insults Polonius all the while. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet warmly greets his "friends" but quickly discerns that they are spies. Hamlet admits that he is upset at his situation but refuses to give the true reason, instead commenting on "What a piece of work is a man". Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that they have brought with them a troupe of actors whom they met while travelling to Elsinore. Hamlet, after welcoming the actors and dismissing his friends-turned-spies, asks them to deliver a soliloquy about the death of King Priam and Queen Hecuba at the climax of the Trojan War. Impressed by their delivery of the speech, he plots to stage The Murder of Gonzago, a play featuring a death in the style of his father's murder, and to determine the truth of the ghost's story, as well as Claudius's guilt or innocence, by studying Claudius's reaction.

Polonius forces Ophelia to return Hamlet's love letters and tokens of affection to the prince while he and Claudius watch from afar to evaluate Hamlet's reaction. Hamlet is walking alone in the hall as the King and Polonius await Ophelia's entrance, musing whether "to be or not to be". When Ophelia enters and tries to return Hamlet's things, Hamlet accuses her of immodesty and cries "get thee to a nunnery", though it is unclear whether this, too, is a show of madness or genuine distress. His reaction convinces Claudius that Hamlet is not mad for love. Shortly thereafter, the court assembles to watch the play Hamlet has commissioned. After seeing the Player King murdered by his rival pouring poison in his ear, Claudius abruptly rises and runs from the room; for Hamlet, this is proof positive of his uncle's guilt.

Gertrude summons Hamlet to her chamber to demand an explanation. Meanwhile, Claudius talks to himself about the impossibility of repenting, since he still has possession of his ill-gotten goods: his brother's crown and wife. He sinks to his knees. On his way to visit his mother, Hamlet sneaks up behind Claudius but does not kill him, reasoning that killing Claudius while he is praying will send him straight to heaven while the ghost of Hamlet's father is stuck in purgatory. In the queen's bedchamber, Hamlet and Gertrude fight bitterly. Polonius, spying on the conversation from behind a tapestry, calls for help as Gertrude, believing Hamlet wants to kill her, calls out for help herself.

Hamlet, believing it is Claudius, stabs wildly, killing Polonius, but he pulls aside the curtain and sees his error. In a rage, Hamlet brutally insults his mother for her apparent ignorance of Claudius's villainy, but the ghost enters and reprimands Hamlet for his inaction and harsh words. Unable to see or hear the ghost herself, Gertrude takes Hamlet's conversation with it as further evidence of madness. After begging the queen to stop sleeping with Claudius, Hamlet leaves, dragging Polonius's corpse away.

Hamlet jokes with Claudius about where he has hidden Polonius's body, and the King, fearing for his life, sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to accompany Hamlet to England with a sealed letter to the King of England requesting that Hamlet be executed immediately.

Unhinged by grief at Polonius's death, Ophelia wanders Elsinore. Laertes arrives back from France, enraged by his father's death and his sister's madness. Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet is solely responsible, but a letter soon arrives indicating that Hamlet has returned to Denmark, foiling Claudius's plan. Claudius switches tactics, proposing a fencing match between Laertes and Hamlet to settle their differences. Laertes will be given a poison-tipped foil, and, if that fails, Claudius will offer Hamlet poisoned wine as a congratulation. Gertrude interrupts to report that Ophelia has drowned, though it is unclear whether it was suicide or an accident caused by her madness.

Horatio has received a letter from Hamlet, explaining that the prince escaped by negotiating with pirates who attempted to attack his England-bound ship, and the friends reunite offstage. Two gravediggers discuss Ophelia's apparent suicide while digging her grave. Hamlet arrives with Horatio and banters with one of the gravediggers, who unearths the skull of a jester from Hamlet's childhood, Yorick. Hamlet picks up the skull, saying, "alas, poor Yorick", as he contemplates mortality. Ophelia's funeral procession approaches, led by Laertes. Hamlet and Horatio initially hide, but when Hamlet realizes that Ophelia is the one being buried, he reveals himself, proclaiming his love for her. Laertes and Hamlet fight by Ophelia's graveside, but the brawl is broken up.

Back at Elsinore, Hamlet explains to Horatio that he had discovered Claudius's letter with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's belongings and replaced it with a forged copy indicating that his former friends should be killed instead of him. A foppish courtier, Osric, interrupts the conversation to deliver the fencing challenge to Hamlet, who, despite Horatio's pleas, accepts it. Hamlet does well at first, leading the match by two hits to none, and Gertrude raises a toast to him using the poisoned glass of wine Claudius had set aside for Hamlet. Claudius tries to stop her but is too late: she drinks, and Laertes realizes the plot will be revealed. Laertes slashes Hamlet with his poisoned blade. In the ensuing scuffle, they switch weapons, and Hamlet wounds Laertes with his own poisoned sword. Gertrude collapses and, claiming she has been poisoned, dies. In his dying moments, Laertes reconciles with Hamlet and reveals Claudius's plan. Hamlet rushes at Claudius and kills him. As the poison takes effect, Hamlet, hearing that Fortinbras is marching through the area, names the Norwegian prince as his successor.

Horatio, distraught at the thought of being the last survivor and living while Hamlet does not, says that he will perform suicide by drinking the dregs of Gertrude's poisoned wine, but Hamlet begs him to live and tell his story. Hamlet dies on the floor in front of Horatio, proclaiming "the rest is silence". Fortinbras, who was ostensibly marching toward Poland with his army, arrives at the palace, along with an English ambassador bringing news of Rosencrantz's and Guildenstern's deaths. Horatio promises to recount the full story of what happened, and Fortinbras, seeing the entire Danish royal family dead, takes the crown for himself and orders a military funeral to honour Prince Hamlet.

Main characters

 * Kenneth Branagh as Prince Hamlet, the story's protagonist and Prince of Denmark. He is the son of the late King Hamlet and heir to the throne of Denmark. At first, Hamlet is depressed about his father's death and is angered by his mother Gertrude's swift remarriage to his uncle Claudius. However, Hamlet is told by the ghost of his father that Claudius murdered him, usurping his throne. Hamlet swears to avenge his father's murder. Branagh described his interpretation of the title role as considerably less "neurotic" than others, removing the Oedipal fixation prominently featured in Laurence Olivier's 1948 film adaptation, among others. During the scenes in which Hamlet pretends to be insane, Branagh portrayed the Prince as manic.
 * Derek Jacobi as King Claudius, the play's antagonist and brother of the late king. He murders his brother by pouring poison into his ear while he sleeps. He usurps his brother's title and marries his widow. At first, believing Hamlet to have been driven mad by the loss of his father, Claudius tries to spy on Hamlet. When Claudius learns that Hamlet knows of the murder, he tries to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of Hamlet's schoolmates, to murder his nephew. Jacobi appeared in the title role in the BBC's 1980 made-for-television version of Hamlet.
 * Julie Christie as Gertrude, Queen of Denmark and wife to both the late King Hamlet and King Claudius, whom she swiftly married following the former's death — ignorant of the foul play that caused his death.
 * Richard Briers as Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain. An impertinent busybody, Polonius believes Hamlet to be mad and convinces Claudius to join him in spying on the prince. Hamlet eventually kills him, believing him to be Claudius.
 * Kate Winslet as Ophelia, noblewoman of Denmark and daughter of Polonius. Ophelia is in love with Hamlet until she is advised by her father Polonius and brother Laertes to end their relationship. She is eventually driven mad by both Hamlet's rejection and her father's murder and drowns herself.
 * Nicholas Farrell as Horatio, a good friend of Hamlet who he met while attending Wittenberg University.
 * Michael Maloney as Laertes, the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia. After instructing his sister to have no further relations with Hamlet, he departs for Paris. On news of his father's murder, Laertes returns to Denmark, leading a mob to storm the castle. Claudius incites Laertes to kill Hamlet and avenge Polonius's death. He later conspires with Claudius to murder Hamlet during a fencing duel.
 * Rufus Sewell as Fortinbras, the Norwegian crown prince. Played mostly in flashback and frequently referenced throughout the film, Fortinbras storms Elsinore castle with his army during the final scene, and assumes the vacant throne of Denmark.

Supporting characters

 * Robin Williams as Osric, the Elsinore courtier sent by Claudius to invite Hamlet to participate in the duel with Laertes.
 * Gérard Depardieu as Reynaldo, a servant to Polonius. He is sent by Polonius to Paris to spy on Laertes.
 * Timothy Spall as Rosencrantz and Reece Dinsdale as Guildenstern, courtier friends of Hamlet who are sent by Claudius to spy on Hamlet.
 * Jack Lemmon as Marcellus and Ian McElhinney as Bernardo, sentries at Elsinore who alert Horatio of the appearance of King Hamlet's Ghost.
 * Ray Fearon as Francisco, a sentry at Elsinore and the first character to appear on screen.
 * Brian Blessed as the Ghost of Hamlet's Father, an apparition in the form of the late King who informs Hamlet of his murder and Claudius's usurpation of the throne.
 * Billy Crystal as the First Gravedigger, a sexton digging Ophelia's grave who makes a case for why she should not receive a Christian burial before having a quick dialogue with Hamlet. Later, he presents the skull of Yorick to Hamlet, not knowing Hamlet's history with the jester.
 * Simon Russell Beale as the Second Gravedigger.
 * Don Warrington as Voltemand, an ambassador sent by King Claudius to Old King Norway.
 * Ravil Isyanov as Cornelius, an ambassador sent by King Claudius to Old King Norway.
 * Charlton Heston as the Player King.
 * Rosemary Harris as the Player Queen.
 * Richard Attenborough as the English Ambassador.
 * John Gielgud as Priam, the King of Troy, played in flashback during the Player King's speech.
 * Judi Dench as Hecuba, the Queen of Troy and wife of Priam, played in flashback during the Player King's speech.
 * John Mills as Old King Norway, uncle of Fortinbras, played in flashback, reprimanding his nephew for claims against Denmark.
 * Ken Dodd as Yorick, the King's Jester, played in flashback entertaining the royals of Elsinore during the gravediggers scene.
 * John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, appears in a cameo as the Norwegian captain.

Origins
Aspects of the film's staging were based on Adrian Noble's Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play, in which Branagh played the title role.

Text
The film uses a conflated text based on the 1623 First Folio, with additions from the Second Quarto and amendments from other sources. According to a note appended to the published screenplay:

"The screenplay is based on the text of Hamlet as it appears in the First Folio – the edition of Shakespeare's plays collected by his theatrical associates Heminges and Condell and published in 1623 by a syndicate of booksellers. Nothing has been cut from this text, and some passages absent from it (including the soliloquy 'How all occasions do inform against me ...') have been supplied from the Second Quarto (an edition of the play which exists in copies dated 1604 and 1605). We have also incorporated some readings of words and phrases from this source and from other early printed texts, and in a few cases emendations from modern editors of the play. Thus in I, 4, in the passage (from the Second Quarto) about the 'dram of eale', we use an emendation from the Oxford edition of the Complete Works (edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, 1988): 'doth all the noble substance over-daub' – rather than the original's 'of a doubt'."

Style
Despite using a full text, Branagh's film is also very visual; it makes frequent use of flashbacks to depict scenes that are described but not performed in Shakespeare's text, such as Hamlet's childhood friendship with Yorick, or scenes merely implied by the play's text, such as Hamlet's sexual relationship with Ophelia. The film also uses very long single takes for numerous scenes.

In a radical departure from previous Hamlet films, Branagh set the internal scenes in a vibrantly colourful setting, featuring a throne room dominated by mirrored doors. Film scholar Samuel Crowl called the setting "film noir with all the lights on". Branagh chose Victorian era costuming and furnishings, using Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, as Elsinore Castle for the external scenes. Harry Keyishan has suggested that the film is structured as an epic, courting comparison with Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments and Doctor Zhivago. As J. Lawrence Guntner pointed out, comparisons with the latter are heightened by the presence of Julie Christie (Zhivago Lara) as Gertrude.

Filming
Hamlet was shot in Panavision Super 70 by Alex Thomson. It was the last feature film to be entirely shot in 70 mm until production of Samsara in 2011. Branagh was among the few to use 65mm film cameras after that, on his 2017 film Murder on the Orient Express. The filming was done from 25 January to 12 April 1996.

Music
The score of Hamlet was composed and co-produced by frequent-Kenneth-Branagh-collaborator Patrick Doyle, and conducted by Robert Ziegler. Doyle composed three primary themes for the film to accompany the characters of Ophelia, Claudius and Hamlet, which are varied throughout the score. The "simple, childlike" theme for Ophelia is mostly string-dominant, often performed by a string quartet yet occasionally accompanied by a full string ensemble or mixed chorus. For Claudius, Doyle composed a theme in the form of a demented canon, using more 20th-century harmonies. The theme for Hamlet was considered by Doyle to be "the most daunting and elusive" to conceive, before settling on a more "simple" motif to accompany the contemplative character.

The soundtrack album was released on 10 December 1996 through Sony Classical Records and features 26 tracks, with a running time of more than 76 minutes. For his work on the film, Doyle received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score.

 * 1) In Pace (3:07) – performed by Plácido Domingo (heard in the film during the closing credits)
 * 2) Fanfare (0:48)
 * 3) "All that lives must die" (2:40)
 * 4) "To thine own self be true" (3:04)
 * 5) The Ghost (9:55)
 * 6) "Give me up the truth" (1:05)
 * 7) "What a piece of work is a man" (1:50)
 * 8) "What players are they" (1:33)
 * 9) "Out out thou strumpet fortune" (3:11)
 * 10) "To be, or not to be" (1:53)
 * 11) "I loved you once" (3:27)
 * 12) "Oh, what a noble mind" (2:41)
 * 13) "If once a widow" (3:36)
 * 14) "Now could I drink hot blood" (6:57)
 * 15) "A foolish prating nave" (1:05)
 * 16) "Oh heavy deed" (0:56)
 * 17) "Oh here they come" (4:39)
 * 18) "My thoughts be bloody" (2:52)
 * 19) "The doors are broke" (1:20)
 * 20) "And will 'a not come again?" (1:59)
 * 21) "Alas poor Yorick" (2:49)
 * 22) "Sweets to the sweet – farewell" (4:39)
 * 23) "Give me your pardon sir" (1:24)
 * 24) "Part them they are incensed" (1:47)
 * 25) "Goodnight, sweet prince" (3:36)
 * 26) "Go bid the soldiers shoot" (2:52)

Release
Hamlet was screened out of competition at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. A shorter edit of the Branagh film, at approximately two and a half hours in length, was also shown in some markets.

Home media
A two-disc DVD set was released in the United States and Canada on 14 August 2007. It includes a full-length commentary by Branagh and Shakespeare scholar Russell Jackson. A Blu-ray was released on 17 August 2010 in the United States and Canada with similar additional features, including an introduction by Kenneth Branagh, the featurette "To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet", the 1996 Cannes Film Festival Promo, and a Shakespeare Movies Trailer Gallery.

Box office
Hamlet was not a success at the box office, mostly due to its limited release. The film earned more than $90,000 in its opening weekend playing on three screens. It made more than $30,000 in the Czech Republic, and more than $545,000 in Spain. It ultimately played on fewer than 100 screens in the United States, bringing its total gross to less than $5 million on a budget of $18 million.

Critical response
Hamlet received positive reviews. It currently holds a 95% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 57 reviews. The consensus reads: "Kenneth Branagh's sprawling, finely textured adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece lives up to its source material, using strong performances and a sharp cinematic focus to create a powerfully resonant film that wastes none of its 246 minutes."

Roger Ebert, film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, awarded the film four stars out of four, comparing it to Laurence Olivier's lauded 1948 version, stating, "Branagh's Hamlet lacks the narcissistic intensity of Laurence Olivier's (in the 1948 Academy Award winner), but the film as a whole is better, placing Hamlet in the larger context of royal politics, and making him less a subject for pity."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times also praised both Branagh's direction and performance, writing, "This Hamlet, like Branagh's version of Much Ado About Nothing, takes a frank, try-anything approach to sustaining its entertainment value, but its gambits are most often evidence of Branagh's solid showmanship. His own performance is the best evidence of all."

The New York Review of Books praised the attention given to Shakespeare's language, "giving the meter of the verse a musician's respect"; Branagh said that his aim was "telling the story with utmost clarity and simplicity".

Some critics, notably Stanley Kauffmann, declared the film to be the finest motion picture version of Hamlet. Online film critic James Berardinelli gave the film a four-star review and declared that the Branagh Hamlet is the finest Shakespeare adaptation, rating it as the best film of 1996, the fourth best film of the 1990s, and one of his top 101 favourite films of all time, saying, "From the moment it was first announced that Branagh would attempt an unabridged Hamlet, I never doubted that it would be a worthy effort... I have seen dozens of versions of this play, and none has ever held me in such a grip of awe."

The film did have its detractors, however. Lloyd Rose of The Washington Post called it "the film equivalent of a lushly illustrated coffee-table book". Desson Thomson wrote of Branagh's performance that "the choices he makes are usually overextended. When it's time to be funny, he skitters over the top. When he's sad or touched, he makes a mechanical, catching noise in his throat."

John Simon called Branagh's performance "brawny" and "not easy to like" and said that Branagh's direction used "explicitness where Shakespeare... settled for subtlety or mere suggestion".

Leonard Maltin, who gave the film a positive three stars in his Movie and Video Guide (and gave the Olivier version of Hamlet four stars), praised the cinematography by Alex Thomson, but stated that "Branagh essentially gives a stage performance that is nearly as over-the-top as some of his directorial touches".

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet ranks number 3 on the Rotten Tomatoes list of Greatest Shakespeare Movies, behind Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985, based on King Lear), which ranks in second place, and Branagh's Henry V (1989), which ranks in first place.

Game
A spin-off game titled Hamlet: A Murder Mystery, directed by historian Jean-Pierre Isbouts, was a co-production by Pantheon and Castle Rock Entertainment. Also produced in 1996, this was arguably the first video game based on a Shakespeare work. The CD-ROM is divided into two parts titled: "To be" (in which players can play Hamlet in the narrative) and "Not to be" (in which players can read the texts). In gameplay, players wander through the castle trying to locate the killer. The game combines material from the film with original footage, animation, and games and puzzles.

GalleyCat deemed it "The Hamlet Video Game That Time Forgot". Shakespeare Studies, Volume 38, thought that the game shows the film's potential as a middle ground for digital works by offering a sound narrative that can be manipulated by player choices. "Shakespeare's Hamlet In An Era of Textual Exhaustion" felt that the game offers a reworking of the plot that gives the player agency and a sense of immersion. Quandary praised the game for its multi-layered nature and its packaging.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hamlet (1996 film)


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Gandiaye

The town and urban commune of Gandiaye in the Department of Kaolack, central Senegal, lies along National Route 1 about 24 kilometers from Kaolack. It had a population of 18,239 (2023 census) consisting of the Serer, Wolof, Fula, Bambara and Jola) ethnic groups.

The rural towns of Thiomby, le Dya, and Ndiebel are located in the surrounding rural commune of Thiomby. The economy is mainly agricultural, marketing to highway traffic. Outsiders come to fish in the Saloum River tributaries.

the Mayor of Gandiaye was Dr. El Hadji Gueye. The area is Muslim, Catholic and adherents to Serer religion. The town has a Muslim and a Catholic cemetery.

title: Gandiaye


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Hamlet (1990 film)

Hamlet is a 1990 drama film based on the Shakespearean tragedy of the same name, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson as the eponymous character. The film also features Glenn Close, Alan Bates, Paul Scofield, Ian Holm, Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Dillane, and Nathaniel Parker. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy, the film was the first produced by Icon Productions, a company co-founded by Gibson.

Plot
The film largely follows the plot of the original play, albeit omitting certain dialogue and minor characters to fit the average length of a feature film. This version also makes no modern adaptations.

Production
Zeffirelli announced production of the film in April 1989 at a press conference in Los Angeles. Mel Gibson was at that same press conference, where it was announced that he would play Hamlet. Zeffirelli had set out to make a Shakespearian adaptation that would be accessible and appealing to younger viewers, and casting Gibson was considered an intent to lure said audience into seeing it. Glenn Close was another obvious choice, having had recent box-office success with such Hollywood thrillers as Jagged Edge and Fatal Attraction.

Financing was provided on loan from a Dutch bank by Carolco Pictures, Barry Spikings' Nelson Entertainment, and Sovereign Pictures for approximately $16 million. Filming was set to begin on 23 April 1990, with an 11-week shooting schedule.

Gibson, who had grown up idolizing one of his costars, legendary Shakespearean actor Paul Scofield, compared the experience of performing Shakespeare alongside him to being, "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".

Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven and Blackness Castle were used as locations in the film. Dover Castle provided the main location for Elsinore Castle, the home of Hamlet and his family. Interiors were filmed at Shepperton Studios in London.

Norma Moriceau was the project's initial costume designer, but quit for unknown reasons, to be replaced by Maurizio Millenotti. Tailors from Shepperton assembled the costumes.

The film attracted little attention from major Hollywood studios, until post-production, when companies such as Warner Bros., Paramount, and Orion expressed interest in purchasing the film. Nelson Entertainment, which held the North American distribution rights, licensed theatrical exhibition to Warner Bros. as part of an incentive to lure Gibson into making Lethal Weapon 3. Despite Nelson owning a home video arm, they sold the video rights to Warner Bros. as well. Warner Bros. attempted to attract high schools with study guides and vouchers for students. An hour-long educational video titled Mel Gibson Goes Back to School was released in conjunction with the film, showing the actor lecturing Hamlet to a group of high-school students in Los Angeles.

Adaptation and interpretation
Film scholar Deborah Cartmell has suggested that Zeffirelli's Shakespeare films are appealing because they are "sensual rather than cerebral", an approach by which he aims to make Shakespeare "even more popular". To this end, he cast Gibson – then famous for the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films – in the title role. Cartmell also notes that the text is drastically cut, but with the effect of enhancing the roles of the women.

J. Lawrence Guntner has suggested that Zeffirelli's cinematography borrows heavily from the action film genre that made Gibson famous, noting that its average shot length is less than six seconds. In casting Gibson, the director has been said to have made the star's reputation part of the performance, encouraging the audience "to see the Gibson that they have come to expect from his other films". Indeed, Zeffirelli cast Gibson after watching the scene in Lethal Weapon in which Gibson's character, Martin Riggs, contemplates suicide. The fight between Hamlet and Laertes is an example of using Gibson's experience in action movies; Gibson depicts Hamlet as an experienced swordsman.

Critical response
Initial reviews for Zeffirelli's Hamlet were mixed. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling Mel Gibson's portrayal of the Danish Prince "a strong, intelligent performance." Caryn James of The New York Times praised Zeffirelli's "naturalistic, emotionally-charged" direction and also commended Gibson's "visceral" performance, describing it as "strong, intelligent and safely beyond ridicule." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a negative review, calling Gibson's performance "an earnest but pedestrian reading." Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times called Gibson's Hamlet an "Oedipal wreck" and stated that either Kenneth Branagh or Daniel Day-Lewis would have been preferable to play Hamlet than Gibson. A later editorial in the same paper would refer to Gibson's performance as "the most unaffected and lucid Hamlet in memory."

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 37 critics. The site's consensus was, "It may lack some of the depth and complexity of the play, but Mel Gibson and Franco Zeffirelli make a surprisingly successful team." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.

Box office
The film grossed $20.7 million in the United States and Canada and $1.6 million in the United Kingdom.

Accolades
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo) and Best Costume Design (Maurizio Millenotti). Sir Alan Bates received a BAFTA nomination as Best Supporting Actor for playing Claudius.

title: Hamlet (1990 film)


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Västmanland County

Västmanland County (Västmanlands län) is a county or län in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland, Örebro, Gävleborg, Dalarna and Uppsala. The county also has a stretch of shoreline towards Mälaren (Sweden's third largest lake).

Province
For history, geography and culture, see: Västmanland (Westmannia)

Administration
The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, to coordinate the interests of the county, to promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a Governor. See List of Västmanland Governors.

Politics
The County Council of Västmanland or Landstinget Västmanland.

Riksdag elections
The table details all Riksdag election results of Västmanland County since the unicameral era began in 1970. The blocs denote which party would support the Prime Minister or the lead opposition party towards the end of the elected parliament.

Municipalities
The lake at the lower right is Mälaren; at the lower left is Hjälmaren.

 * Arboga
 * Fagersta
 * Hallstahammar
 * Kungsör
 * Köping
 * Norberg
 * Sala
 * Skinnskatteberg
 * Surahammar
 * Västerås

Foreign background
SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone. Heby Municipality was included in the 2002 overall statistics, since it was part of the county at the time.

Heraldry
The County of Västmanland inherited its coat of arms from the province of Västmanland. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.

Sports
Football in the county is administered by Västmanlands Fotbollförbund. Bandy is also popular, with the most successful Swedish team Västerås SK. Several Bandy World Championship finals have been played in Västerås.

title: Västmanland County


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Kenneth Branagh

Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

He has directed and starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, including Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Othello (1995), Hamlet (1996), and As You Like It (2006). He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director for Henry V, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet. He directed Swan Song (1992), which earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. He also directed Peter's Friends (1992), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Thor (2011), and Cinderella (2015). For his semi-autobiographical film Belfast (2021), he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Original Screenplay.

Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Death on the Nile (2022), and A Haunting in Venice (2023). He has also acted in Celebrity (1998), Wild Wild West (1999), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), and Valkyrie (2008). His portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played supporting roles in Christopher Nolan's films Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), and Oppenheimer (2023).

Branagh has starred in the BBC1 series Fortunes of War (1987), the Channel 4 series Shackleton (2002), and BBC One series Wallander (2008–2016). He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich in the HBO film Conspiracy (2001). He also received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Franklin D. Roosevelt in the television film Warm Springs (2005).

Early life and education
Kenneth Charles Branagh was born in Belfast on 10 December 1960, the son of working-class Protestant parents Frances ( Harper) and William Branagh. His father was a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting partitions and suspended ceilings. He is the middle of three children, with an older brother and a younger sister, and lived in the Tigers Bay area of Belfast. He was educated at Grove Primary School. In early 1970, at the age of nine, Branagh moved with his family to England to escape the Troubles; they settled in Berkshire, where Branagh grew up in Reading and attended Whiteknights Primary School and Meadway School in Tilehurst. He appeared in school productions such as Toad of Toad Hall and Oh, What a Lovely War!

At school, Branagh learned to speak with an RP accent to avoid bullying. Discussing his identity, he later said, "I feel Irish. I don't think you can take Belfast out of the boy." He also attributes his "love of words" to his Irish heritage. He attended the amateur Reading Cine & Video Society (now called Reading Film & Video Makers) and was a keen member of Progress Theatre, of which he is now the patron. After disappointing A-level results in English, history, and sociology, he went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1980, RADA's principal Hugh Cruttwell asked Branagh to perform a soliloquy from Hamlet for Queen Elizabeth II during one of her visits to the academy.

1980–1988: Rise to prominence
Branagh's first film appearance was as an uncredited role as a Cambridge student in the sports drama Chariots of Fire (1981). Branagh achieved early success in his native Northern Ireland for his role as Billy, the title character in the BBC's Play for Today trilogy known as the Billy Plays (1982–84), written by Graham Reid and set in Belfast. He received acclaim in the UK for his stage performances, first winning the 1982 SWET Award for Best Newcomer, for his role as Judd in Julian Mitchell's Another Country, after leaving RADA. Branagh was part of the new wave of actors to emerge from the academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne and Fiona Shaw. In 1984, he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to sold-out audiences, especially at the Barbican in the City of London. It was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. He and David Parfitt founded the Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987, following success with several productions on the London Fringe, including Branagh's full-scale production of Romeo and Juliet at the Lyric Studio, co-starring with Samantha Bond.

The first major Renaissance production was Branagh's Christmas 1987 staging of Twelfth Night at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, starring Richard Briers as Malvolio and Frances Barber as Viola, and with an original score by actor, musician, and composer Patrick Doyle, who two years later was to compose the music for Branagh's film adaptation of Henry V. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television. The company's debut season also included Public Enemy, a play written by Branagh set in his native Belfast. Also in 1987, Branagh found his first leading film role as James Moon in the British film adaptation of J.L. Carr's book A Month in The Country. Here he plays a homosexual ex-army officer who following the war, has taken on a job to excavate a burial in the churchyard, instead he spends most of his time looking for Saxon treasures. Its set in a 1920s rural Yorkshire village where he meets Colin Firth, also in his first major role.

Branagh became a major presence in the media and on the British stage when Renaissance collaborated with Birmingham Rep for a 1988 touring season of three Shakespeare plays under the umbrella title of Renaissance Shakespeare on the Road, which also played a repertory season at the Phoenix Theatre in London. It featured directorial debuts for Judi Dench with Much Ado About Nothing (starring Branagh and Samantha Bond as Benedick and Beatrice), Geraldine McEwan with As You Like It, and Derek Jacobi directing Branagh in the title role in Hamlet, with Sophie Thompson as Ophelia. Critic Milton Shulman of the London Evening Standard wrote: "On the positive side Branagh has the vitality of Olivier, the passion of Gielgud, the assurance of Guinness, to mention but three famous actors who have essayed the role. On the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness."

1989–1999: Breakthrough
A year later, in 1989, Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson in the Renaissance company's stage revival of Look Back in Anger. Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre. In 1990, he wrote his autobiography Beginning, recounting his life and acting career up to that point. In the book's introduction, he admits that the main reason for producing the book was "money" and that "The deal was made, and a handsome advance was paid out. The advance provided the funds to buy accommodation for the Company's offices, this moving Renaissance out of my flat and bringing me a little closer to sanity."

Notable non-Shakespeare films in which Branagh has acted in and directed include the neo-noir romantic thriller Dead Again (1991) starring Branagh, Emma Thompson, Andy Garcia, and Derek Jacobi. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival where it competed for the Golden Bear and received critical acclaim. The following year he directed the British comedy-drama film Peter's Friends, with a cast including former student friends Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery, and Stephen Fry, as well as Imelda Staunton and Rita Rudner. The film received positive reviews with critics comparing it favorably as the British version of The Big Chill (1982). The film earned two Evening Standard British Film Awards for Branagh and Thompson.

Branagh is known for his film adaptations of William Shakespeare, beginning with Henry V (1989), returned with Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing (1993). The film premiered at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival where it competed for the Palme d'Or. The film starred Branagh, Thompson, Denzel Washington, Kate Beckinsale, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton. Vincent Canby film critic of The New York Times praised Branagh's direction writing, "Now he has accomplished something equally difficult. He has taken a Shakespearean romantic comedy, the sort of thing that usually turns to mush on the screen, and made a movie that is triumphantly romantic, comic and, most surprising of all, emotionally alive."

However Branagh had a career misstep with his adaptation of the horror film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994). The film starred Branagh, Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hulce, and Ian Holm. It premiered at the London Film Festival where it received negative reviews. The New York Times film critic Janet Maslin wrote of Branagh's failure, "[He] is in over his head. He displays neither the technical finesse to handle a big, visually ambitious film nor the insight to develop a stirring new version of this story. Instead, this is a bland, no-fault Frankenstein for the '90s, short on villainy but loaded with the tragically misunderstood". He then directed the minor British romantic comedy In the Bleak Midwinter (1995) to positive reviews. Also in 1995, Branagh portrayed Iago in Oliver Parker's Othello (1995) acting opposite Laurence Fishburne as Othello. The film received largely positive reviews, particularly for Branagh's performance which earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role nomination. Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised his acting writing, "Mr Branagh's superb performance, as the man whose Machiavellian scheming guides the story of Othello's downfall, guarantees this film an immediacy that any audience will understand."

Branagh returned to directing, in the acclaimed adaptation of Hamlet (1996). Critics have theorised it might be the greatest film adaptation of Hamlet of all time. The film is noted for its epic scale and cast. The film ran four hours and was shot completely in 70 mm film. The cast includes Branagh, Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie and Rufus Sewell. Critic Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times praised Branagh's direction and acting, declaring, "One of the tasks of a lifetime is to become familiar with the great plays of Shakespeare. 'Hamlet' is the most opaque. Branagh's version moved me, entertained me and made me feel for the first time at home in that doomed royal court." The film received four Academy Award nominations including for Best Adapted Screenplay for Branagh.

Post-Hamlet, Branagh took a break from directing choosing to act in films directed by auteur directors. He starred in Robert Altman's legal thriller The Gingerbread Man (1998), Paul Greengrass' dramedy The Theory of Flight (1998) and Woody Allen's celebrity satire Celebrity (1998). The following year he starred in the Western film Wild Wild West opposite Will Smith, Kevin Kline, and Salma Hayek, which received negative reviews. During this time Branagh took on voice roles playing the title role in BBC radio broadcasts of Hamlet and Cyrano de Bergerac, and the role of Edmund in King Lear. Branagh has narrated several audiobooks, such as The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. In 1998, he narrated the 24-episode documentary series Cold War. Branagh also narrated the BBC documentaries Walking with Dinosaurs, World War I in Colour, Walking with Beasts and Walking with Monsters, and the BBC miniseries Great Composers.

2000–2010: Established director
Branagh found commercial and critical failure with Love's Labour's Lost, which paused his directorial career. That same year he voiced Miguel in the DreamWorks Animated film The Road to El Dorado (2000) alongside Kevin Kline. The film received mixed reviews but has since gained a cult following. The following year he acted in the HBO film Conspiracy (2001) portraying SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. The film is a depiction of the Wannsee Conference, where Nazi officials decided on the Final Solution. Branagh acted alongside Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci. He earned critical acclaim for his performance as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

In 2002, Branagh played A. O. Neville in the drama film Rabbit-Proof Fence and portrayed a humorous role as Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He also portrayed Sir Ernest Shackleton in the Channel 4 television film Shackleton (2002). The film is a dramatization of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition's battle for survival, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award and an Emmy. That same year Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III. In 2003, he starred in the Royal National Theatre's production of David Mamet's Edmond. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001 and directed a Broadway production in 2003. Branagh has been involved in several made-for-TV films. Among his most acclaimed portrayals is that of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the film Warm Springs (2005), for which he received an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie nomination. The film received 16 Emmy nominations, winning five (including Outstanding Made for Television Movie); Branagh did not win the award for his portrayal. In 2006, Branagh directed the film version of As You Like It starring Romola Garai, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Kevin Kline. That same year he also directed a film version of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Branagh has also directed the thriller Sleuth (2007), a remake of the 1972 film starring Jude Law and Michael Caine. The film received mixed reviews with critics praising the performances and noting Branagh's darker interpretation of the material. Branagh then took the role of Major General Henning von Tresckow in Valkyrie (2008) and played the Minister, Dormandy (a parody of PMG Tony Benn), in the film The Boat That Rocked (2009).

Branagh is the star of the English-language Wallander television series, adaptations of Henning Mankell's best-selling Wallander crime novels. Branagh plays the eponymous Inspector Kurt Wallander and also serves as the executive producer of the series. The first series of three episodes was broadcast on BBC One in November and December 2008. Branagh won the award for best actor at the 35th Broadcasting Press Guild Television and Radio Awards (2009). It was his first major television award win in the UK. He received his first BAFTA TV on 26 April 2009 for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. For his performance in the episode One Step Behind, he was nominated in the Outstanding Actor, Miniseries, or Movie category of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. The role also gained him a nomination for Best Actor at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. The second Wallander series of three episodes aired initially in January 2010 on the BBC, and the third season aired in July 2012. The fourth and final series was shot from October 2014 to January 2015 and premiered on German TV, dubbed into German, in December 2015; it aired in the UK, with its original English soundtrack, in May and June 2016.

From September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndham's Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhov's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the "performance of the year" by several critics. It won him the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics.

2011–2020: Career expansion
In 2011, Branagh directed Thor, a film based on the Marvel superhero. Thor, Branagh's return to big-budget directing, was released on 6 May 2011. The film was a part of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It starred Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins. The film was a financial and critical success. That same year he portrayed Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn (2011). Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised Branagh's performance writing, "It is a complete joy to see Branagh's Olivier erupt in queeny frustration at Marilyn's lateness, space-cadet vagueness, and preposterous Method acting indulgence...[He] revives Olivier with wit, intelligence and charm". Branagh received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 84th Academy Awards losing to Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2011).

Branagh participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony portraying Isambard Kingdom Brunel during the Industrial Revolution segment "Pandemonium" where he performed one of Caliban's speeches from Shakespeare's The Tempest. In July 2013, he co-directed Macbeth at Manchester International Festival with Rob Ashford. With Branagh in the title role, Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth and Ray Fearon featured as Macduff. The final performance of the completely sold-out run was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. He repeated his performance and directorial duties opposite Ashford and Kingston when the production moved to New York City's Park Avenue Armory in June 2014.

In April 2015, Branagh announced his formation of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in which he would appear as actor-manager. With the company, he announced he would present a season of five shows at London's Garrick Theatre from October 2015 – November 2016. The shows were The Winter's Tale, a double bill of Harlequinade and All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer. Branagh directed all but The Entertainer, in which he starred. Branagh also starred in The Winter's Tale, Harlequinade and The Painkiller. Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company also includes Judi Dench (The Winter's Tale), Zoë Wanamaker (Harlequinade/All On Her Own), Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden (Romeo and Juliet) and Rob Brydon (The Painkiller). In September 2015, it was announced that The Winter's Tale, Romeo and Juliet, and The Entertainer would be broadcast in cinemas, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment.

In 2014 Branagh directed and acted in the action thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) starring Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, and Kevin Costner. The film was a box office hit but received mixed reviews from critics. The following year, Branagh directed Disney's live-action adaptation of Cinderella (2015) starring Lily James. The film was a financial and critical success. Peter Debruge of Variety praised his direction writing, "the underlying property emerges untarnished, as director Kenneth Branagh reverently reimagines Charles Perrault’s fairy tale for a new generation the world over, spelling countless opportunities to exploit fresh interest in the story throughout the Disney universe."

Branagh started his first collaboration with Christopher Nolan portraying a Royal Navy Commander in the World War II action-thriller Dunkirk (2017), based on the British military evacuation of the French city of Dunkirk in 1940. Branagh starred alongside Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy. The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture. That same year Branagh directed and starred in a film adaptation of Agatha Christie's detective novel Murder on the Orient Express (2017) as Hercule Poirot. Production began in London in November 2016. Like Branagh's Hamlet in 1996, it is among the very few to use 65mm film cameras since 1970.

In 2018, he directed the film All Is True, in which he starred as William Shakespeare. Branagh also directed the fantasy adventure film Artemis Fowl, which was released on Disney+ in June 2020. In May 2019, Branagh was cast in Christopher Nolan's Tenet (2020) in which he portrayed the villain Andrei Sator and was praised for his performance. Branagh acted alongside Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, and Elizabeth Debicki.

2021–present
In 2021, Branagh directed the semi-autobiographical film Belfast starring Jude Hill, Catriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, and Judi Dench. In the film, Branagh explores his childhood in Northern Ireland during a period of intense religious and political conflict. The film was shot in black-and-white with flickers of colour images. The film was shown both at the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival where it won the People's Choice Award for the latter. The film was acclaimed by critics with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian writing, "There is a terrific warmth and tenderness to Branagh’s elegiac, autobiographical movie about the Belfast of his childhood: spryly written, beautifully acted and shot in a lustrous monochrome, with set pieces, madeleines and epiphanies that feel like a more emollient version of Terence Davies." Stephen Farber of The Hollywood Reporter noted, "[While] Branagh’s most personal film is imperfect, the emotion that it builds in the final section, as the family plays out a wrenching universal drama of emigration, is searing". The film earned seven Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture and Best Director. Branagh won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He also won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film.

He reprised his role as Hercule Poirot in 2022's Death on the Nile, a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express which he also directed. In March 2021, Branagh signed on to direct a biopic of music group the Bee Gees. In March 2022, it was revealed that Branagh left the project due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by John Carney. In October 2022, it was announced that Branagh would direct and star in a third Poirot film titled A Haunting in Venice, based on Christie's Hallowe'en Party. Branagh reunited with Christopher Nolan, portraying the Danish physicist Niels Bohr in the war epic Oppenheimer (2023). That same year Branagh returned to the West End stage directing and acting in the title role in a stage adaptation of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the Wyndham's Theatre in London. Arifa Akbar of The Guardian wrote of the production, "Although Branagh delivers his Lear with slick, almost playful efficiency, it is not his towering achievement". The production is set to have an Off-Broadway transfer at The Shed in the Fall of 2024. In May 2024, it was announced Branagh would write and direct the psychological thriller film The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde, starring Jodie Comer; the film is expected to enter production in August 2024.

Personal life
From 1989 to 1995, Branagh was married to English actress Emma Thompson, who appeared with him in Fortunes of War, Look Back in Anger, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Again, and Peter's Friends. During their marriage, while directing and starring in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), he began an affair with his co-star Helena Bonham Carter. After Thompson divorced him, he and Bonham Carter were in a well-publicised relationship until 1999. In 2003, he married film art director Lindsay Brunnock, whom he met during the shooting of Shackleton in 2002.

Branagh has said that he considers himself Irish. He has said that he became "much more religious" after listening to Laurence Olivier's dramatic reading of the Bible every morning in preparation for his role as Olivier in My Week with Marilyn.

Awards and honours
Branagh has been nominated for eight Academy Awards and is the first individual to be nominated in seven different categories. His first two nominations were for Henry V (one each for directing and acting). He also received similar BAFTA Award nominations for his film work, winning one for his direction. His first BAFTA TV award came in April 2009, for Best Drama Series (Wallander). Branagh received two other Academy Award nominations for the 1992 film short subject Swan Song and for his work on the screenplay of Hamlet in 1996. His 5th nomination came for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn in 2012. This was followed by three nominations in 2022 for Belfast – his first nominations for Original Screenplay and Best Picture, winning for Original Screenplay. He thereby became the first person to have been nominated in seven different categories of the Academy Awards, surpassing Walt Disney, George Clooney, and Alfonso Cuarón, each of whom have received nominations in six categories (the latest equalled Branagh the year after).

He is Honorary President of NICVA (the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action). He received an honorary Doctorate in Literature from Queen's University of Belfast in 1990. He is also a patron for the charity Over The Wall. Branagh was the youngest actor to receive the Golden Quill (also known as the Gielgud Award) in 2000. In 2001, he was appointed an honorary Doctor of Literature at the Shakespeare Institute of The University of Birmingham; the Shakespeare Institute Library keeps the archive of his Renaissance Theatre Company and Renaissance Films.

On 10 July 2009, Branagh was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the RomaFictionFest. He was also listed on the Radio Times's TV 100 power list in 2023.

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama and to the community in Northern Ireland. He received the accolade at Buckingham Palace on 9 November 2012; afterwards, Branagh told a BBC reporter that he felt "humble, elated, and incredibly lucky" to be knighted.

In October 2015, it was announced that Branagh would be the new President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), succeeding the late Richard, Lord Attenborough. As the President of RADA and one of the highest profile actors and filmmakers in contemporary British popular culture, Branagh appeared on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK. In October 2017, it was announced that Branagh would be conferred with the Freedom of the City of Belfast. The honour was officially conferred on him by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nuala McAllister, at a ceremony in the Ulster Hall in Belfast on 30 January 2018. He was awarded the Freedom of the Town of Stratford-upon-Avon on 22 April 2022. Branagh stepped down as president of RADA in February 2024 and was succeeded by David Harewood.

Discography

 * Shakespeare's Richard III (complete) for Naxos Audiobooks
 * In the Ravine & Other Short Stories by Anton Chekhov (unabridged) for Naxos Audiobooks
 * Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream (speaker) live recording for Sony Classical, conducted by Claudio Abbado
 * The Diary of Samuel Pepys 1660–1669 (abridged) for Hodder Headline Audio Classics
 * The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis for Harper Books
 * Shakespeare's "Sonnet 30" for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks (EMI Classics)
 * Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [Abridged]
 * Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for Audible.com.
 * "The Duck and the Kangaroo", read for Fairy Tales, an album of poems and music for children (orchidclassics.com)

title: Kenneth Branagh


text:
Hamlet (2000 film)

Hamlet, also known as Hamlet 2000, is a 2000 American drama film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, set in contemporary New York City, and based on the Shakespeare play of the same name. Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet as a film student, Kyle MacLachlan co-stars as Uncle Claudius, with Diane Venora as Gertrude, Liev Schreiber as Laertes, Julia Stiles as Ophelia, Steve Zahn as Rosencrantz, Bill Murray as Polonius, and Sam Shepard as Hamlet's father.

In this version of Hamlet, Claudius is "king" of the Denmark Corporation, having taken over the firm by killing his brother, Hamlet's father.

This adaptation keeps the Shakespearean dialogue but presents a modern setting, with technology such as video cameras, Polaroid cameras, and surveillance bugs. For example, the ghost of Hamlet's murdered father first appears on closed-circuit TV.

Adaptations

 * Elsinore Castle, the seat of power of Denmark's crown in the play, is re-imagined as Hotel Elsinore, the headquarters of Denmark Corporation.
 * Prior to delivering the "To be, or not to be" monologue, Hamlet is seen watching a video of famed Buddhist teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh explaining the principle "To be is to be with others; to be is to inter-be" a basic teaching of Hanh's "Order of Interbeing".
 * The "Mousetrap" play takes the form of a video art montage, edited by Hamlet himself.
 * Instead of a Tapestry, Polonius hides in Gertrude's closet, then Hamlet shoots him through the door.
 * The character of Marcellus, one of the soldiers, is re-imagined as Marcella, Horatio's girlfriend.
 * The Captain in Fortinbras' army is replaced by a flight attendant on Hamlet's flight to England.
 * Instead of carrying around actual flowers, Ophelia carries polaroid photographs of various flowers. In the film, Ophelia is an amateur photographer.
 * Fortinbras' conquests are not military but corporate takeovers with the aid of his "armies" of lawyers.
 * As opposed to drowning in a brook, Ophelia is found to have drowned in a fountain in front of the Hotel Elsinore, surrounded by mementos of her relationship with Hamlet.
 * The Ghost of King Hamlet appears in Horatio's apartment, sitting in his bedroom as Marcella sleeps before Hamlet and Horatio enter it.
 * The first intervention of Osric is re-imagined as a fax machine in Hamlet and Horatio's apartment, delivering Laertes' message right before the duel. However, Osric does appear during the duel between Hamlet and Laertes.
 * Laertes does not kill Hamlet with a poisoned rapier. Instead, he shoots Hamlet with a pistol, then is shot himself. Hamlet then uses the same pistol to shoot and kill Claudius.

Cast

 * Ethan Hawke as Hamlet
 * Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius
 * Diane Venora as Gertrude
 * Sam Shepard as Ghost
 * Liev Schreiber as Laertes
 * Julia Stiles as Ophelia
 * Bill Murray as Polonius
 * Karl Geary as Horatio
 * Paula Malcomson as Marcella
 * Steve Zahn as Rosencrantz
 * Dechen Thurman as Guildenstern
 * Rome Neal as Barnardo
 * Jeffrey Wright as Gravedigger
 * Paul Bartel as Osric
 * Casey Affleck as Fortinbras
 * Robert Thurman as Priest
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Flight captain
 * Larry Fessenden as Kissing Man

Reception
Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70/100, based on 32 reviews from mainstream critics.

Film critic Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times lauded it as a "vital and sharply intelligent film," while The Washington Post reviewer deemed it as a "darkly interesting distraction but not much more." The reaction to Hawke's performance as the title role is also mixed. The Los Angeles Times described him as a "superb Prince of Denmark - youthful, sensitive, passionate but with a mature grasp of the workings of human nature." New York magazine, however, thought Hawke's performance was only "middling."

title: Hamlet (2000 film)