'Hamlet' to 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein': Kenneth Branagh's best directorials
Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh has enjoyed a prolific career in movies, both as an actor and as a filmmaker. He directed his first full-length feature film in 1989, Henry V. Since then, Branagh has only looked forward, often drawing the origins of his stories from genre-defining books and towering literary-mythological characters. On his birthday, let's look at some of the British actor-filmmaker's directorials.
'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' (1994)
The science fiction horror film Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is based on Gothic fiction writer Shelley's first novel Frankenstein (1818). It starred Robert De Niro and Branagh in the lead, alongside Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, John Cleese, Ian Holm, and Aidan Quinn. The Branagh directorial premiered at the prestigious London Film Festival and is one of the many takes on Shelley's classic story.
'Hamlet' (1996)
Adapted from William Shakespeare's namesake tragedy play, Hamlet was directed and headlined by Brannagh, who played the titular role. Supporting him were Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Nicholas Farrell, and Robin Williams, among others. The Rotten Tomatoes critics' consensus says, "Branagh's sprawling, finely textured adaptation of Shakespeare's masterpiece lives up to its source material, using strong performances and a sharp cinematic focus."
'Thor' (2011)
Who doesn't love this one? The first film in the Thor franchise, it kickstarted a phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and Branagh deserves credit for establishing a world that we all readily fell in love with. Thor starred Chris Hemsworth in the eponymous role, along with Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Ray Stevenson, and Idris Elba. You can stream it on Disney+ Hotstar.
'Murder on the Orient Express' (2017)
Branagh's most recent project on this list is Murder on the Orient Express, a cinematic adaptation of "Queen of Crime" Agatha Christie's namesake 1934 mystery book. It featured a large ensemble cast comprising Tom Bateman, Johnny Depp, Olivia Colman, Daisy Ridley, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, and Branagh. It spawned two sequels—Death on the Nile (2022) and A Haunting in Venice (2023)—also directed by Branagh.
