finluithiel | this is the most hamlet-y icon i have

I just finished watching Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet, aka "The Eternity" production, because it takes all of eternity to finish. (It runs at just under four hours, making it the longest film I've watched to date, and pushing The Ten Commandments to the background, hah.)

It's Hamlet as I've never imagined, especially since I've never imagined that Hamlet would have a moustache and an irritating goatee. (I've got a grudge against men with goatees because of Sir Velarde. xD)

But! But. I felt particularly vindicated that Mr. Branagh agreed with me re: Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia. I always felt he was taunting Polonius with the "fishmonger" references, as well as the warnings of his daughter conceiving under the sun and whatnot; not to mention Ophelia's little ditty after she'd gone mad.

ETA: I was just reading the play again when I realized that one possible interpretation of Ophelia's suicide is that she's pregnant with Hamlet's child, if you're going by the thesis that they got it on before the play's actions started. Which makes me wonder what would have happened if Polonius hadn't interfered with their relationship in the first place, or if Hamlet hadn't heard a sound in the Kenneth Branagh production before the "Get thee to a nunnery" scene...(I swear, I can tell that that film's going to eat up my brain for days; it's really annoying.) ETA 2: Re-watched the "Get thee to a nunnery" scene, and realized that Hamlet heard the sound after he told Ophelia to go to a nunnery. Whoops. Ah well.