Description
Book SynopsisCinematic Hamlet contains the first scene-by-scene analysis of four outstanding film adaptations by Laurence Olivier, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth Branagh, and Michael Almereyda of
Hamlet. Indispensable for anyone wishing to understand how these directors rework Shakespeare into the powerful medium of film.
Trade Review“Patrick Cook’s Cinematic Hamlet combines the anthropologist’s
thick description with the latest in film theory from Bordwell, Carroll, McGinn, Sharff, Thompson and Thomson to produce challenging and provocative assessments of four major Hamlet films by Laurence Olivier, Franco Zeffirelli, Kenneth
Branagh, and Michael Almereyda. Cook has new and interesting cinematic
ideas to share about all of these films, especially Almereyda’s Hamlet, where his chapter is impishly longer than his already exhaustive treatment of Branagh’s four-hour film of the play. Cook provides a fresh new voice in the ever expanding field of Shakespeare on Film.”
“A ramble through the notes (of
Cinematic Hamlet) leaves one with the impression that Cook has read
everything of relevance and can be trusted when correcting the wayward critic. His approach is generally thorough, fluent, and smart.
Summing Up: Highly recommended.” * Choice *
“Cook gives us a book which deftly leads the reader through the labyrinths of cinematic art and craft and also provides foundational lessons on how to see a film as a film.” * Film-Philosophy Journal *
“The text is precise, detailed (in relation to textual, visual, and aural decisions), and eminently readable.” * Years Work in English Studies *
“Patrick J. Cook’s
Cinematic Hamlet: The Films of Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh, and Almereyda will be invaluable both to those who want to teach Shakespeare on film and to those who simply want to understand these films, or film in general, better. His close readings are a model of how to pay attention, drawing on cognitive theories about how we respond and remember, and covering everything from the effect of 70 mm. film on Kenneth Branagh’s version to Michael Almereyda’s ambiguities.” * Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900 *
