Guide to Hamlet

Hamlet Movies: Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh and Other Films

From Olivier's foggy castle to a corporate tower in Manhattan

By Tori BooksUpdated November 20266 min read

William Shakespeare

Laurence Olivier, 1948

Olivier's black-and-white film is all shadows, fog and winding stairs, more like a psychological thriller than a costume drama. He cut the play almost in half, dropped Fortinbras and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern entirely, and opened with a line describing Hamlet as a man who could not make up his mind. It won four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and it is still the only Shakespeare film to win the top prize.

Franco Zeffirelli, 1990

Zeffirelli cast Mel Gibson, then famous for action films, to bring in a new audience, and played the story as a fast, physical drama in a real medieval castle. The text is heavily cut. Glenn Close plays Gertrude, Alan Bates is Claudius, Ian Holm is Polonius and Helena Bonham Carter gives one of the most admired screen performances as Ophelia. It is a good first Hamlet for students who want the story clearly told in two hours.

Kenneth Branagh, 1996

Branagh filmed every line of the play, combining the early printed versions, and the result runs a little over four hours. He set it in the nineteenth century in a glittering palace of mirrors, using Blenheim Palace in England for the exterior of Elsinore. Kate Winslet plays Ophelia, Julie Christie is Gertrude, Derek Jacobi is Claudius and the cast is full of famous cameos. If you want the whole play on screen, this is the one.

Ethan Hawke, David Tennant and other modern takes

Michael Almereyda's 2000 film turns Denmark into a corporation in New York. Hawke plays a young filmmaker who makes a video instead of staging a play, Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius, Bill Murray as Polonius and Julia Stiles as Ophelia. It keeps Shakespeare's language in a world of fax machines and security cameras.

The Royal Shakespeare Company production with David Tennant was filmed for BBC television in 2009, with Patrick Stewart as both Claudius and the Ghost. Its surveillance cameras and modern dress make it one of the most watched versions in schools.

Grigori Kozintsev, 1964

Many critics rank the Soviet Hamlet among the very best. Kozintsev used Boris Pasternak's Russian translation and a score by Dmitri Shostakovich, and he filmed the court as a prison of stone and iron, with the sea always roaring outside. Innokenty Smoktunovsky's Hamlet is quiet and intelligent rather than wild. It is easy to find with English subtitles.

Which Hamlet film should you watch?

For a clear, fast introduction, Zeffirelli. For the complete play, Branagh. For classic cinema, Olivier. For something modern and surprising, Almereyda or Tennant. Watching the scene in which Hamlet speaks about to be or not to be in two or three versions is one of the best ways to see how much freedom the play gives actors.

The main Hamlet films

More about Hamlet

Books Like Hamlet

The PearlJohn SteinbeckThe Scarlet LetterNathaniel HawthorneRomeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareA Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespeareWuthering HeightsEmily BrontëAll Quiet on the Western FrontErich Maria RemarqueMuch Ado About NothingWilliam ShakespeareAnimal FarmGeorge Orwell

Written by Tori Books for readers and students.