THE DRAMA. THE PASSION. THE INTRIGUE… AND REHEARSALS HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED.
Young stage director Joe Harper (Michael Maloney) attempts to produce ”Hamlet” in a church on the English countryside, but there is no shortage of problems. This is a comedy/drama both spoofing and celebrating the place where dreams come alive – the theater. We’re thrown into a motley mix of rehearsals and passionate quarrels; results are more fun than moving. The cast enthusiastically breathes life into these caricatures; there is a fighting spirit burning inside the stage players, lending color to a movie that otherwise runs the risk of becoming too black and white…
1995-Britain. 98 min. B/W. Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Cast: Michael Maloney (Joe Harper), Richard Briers (Henry Wakefield), Mark Hadfield (Vernon Spatch), Nicholas Farrell, Gerard Horan, John Sessions… Joan Collins, Jennifer Saunders.
Trivia: U.S. title: A Midwinter’s Tale.
