A Midwinter's Tale (1995)
Out of work actor Joe volunteers to help try and save his sister's local church for the community by putting on a Christmas production of Hamlet, somewhat against the advice of his agent Margaretta. As the cast he assembles are still available even at Christmas and are prepared to do it on a 'profit sharing' basis (that is, they may not get paid anything) he cannot expect - and does not get - the cream of the cream. But although they all bring their own problems and foibles along, something bigger starts to emerge in the perhaps aptly named village of Hope.
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everything you have heard about this movie is true.
As Good As It Gets
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Am I the only person in the Universe who hated this grim clichefest of a movie? Full of gangrenous, decaying ham, tiresomely twee, this horror ends up celebrating the ghastliest form of luvviedom that it should be sending up. The real mystery is how come so many people liked it. Is it the case that there are a lots of Americans out there who are taken in by this poor-man's Ealing-comedy as something terribly, authentically, 'English'? Could it be that having Kenneth Branagh in it is enough? No idea why this should be - the man is a booming, ghastly luvvie who can't act and can't direct. It was billed I seem to remember as a 'gentle comedy', two of the most terrifying words in the English language. Terrible terrible terrible. No more needs to be said.
To see Hamlet, you can see Branagh's celebrated production starring himself, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, etc etc. And it is, in and of itself, a treat.Far better though to choose this unheralded gem, and see how Shakespeare really has an impact on people.The enthusiasm is palpable. "It changed my LIFE", Joe protests to his sister Molly in defending his decision to stage Hamlet, and indeed, you can't help but see his point. When the play cuts "too close to the bone" for Terry, for example, reminding him of his dysfunctional family situation. Or when the audience gasps in horror or delight during the actual production of the play.Branagh and the actors here really, truly believe that Hamlet is alive and relevant, even today; and watching this quite wonderful film, it is hard to disagree. Watch it to see Hamlet not for itself (Branagh's production, or Olivier, or numerous other spectacles will give you that), but for how it matters to us even today, and to understand why low-paid or unpaid actors are nevertheless willing to give 132% to present it all to us.
My parents bought this movie, we watched it with the extended family at christmas(we traditionally provide the obscure filmage) and since then i have watched it more times than i can remember. I thought it was brilliant the first time i saw it. Then I made a spoof film of hamlet with my friends and i got so much more of it. I felt like joe through most of production(there was a lot of screaming on my part. My actors kept throwing me new scheduling difficulties every day, it was impossible to keep them focused, and i thought we were going to run out of time). I loved this movie's interpretation of certain scenes in the play. Like the very first bit with the machine gun. hehehe Not to mention the fight between Hamlet and Laertes. (I actually took my cue from that one and made my version like a sporting event, with commentators and all.) Their actors put a lot of emotion into the performance. I loved the actors themselves, they were such a weird bunch thrown together and the development of their relationships was fun to watch. And it worked well in black and white. I just really like it.
When this film was televised in the UK as the US 'A Midwinters Tale' version, the very affecting scene in which Julia Sawalha explains why she does nothing about her shortsightedness, was cut.In case this was made by the producers rather than the broadcaster, and for anyone did not get to see this scene: Her reason was that living in a world where everything was blurred, made it easier to cope with the grief of losing her husband - when he was killed, she could not bear the starkness and clarity of the world she found herself in.