The Bleak Midwinter

While watching one of the special feature interviews on the DVD of Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, the director mentioned one of his other works, entitled In the Bleak Midwinter.  It sounded interesting enough to warrant further investigation.  Searches of DVD copies of that title yielded nothing.  Then I discovered that the film was released under a different title.  Thus, it became A Midwinter's Tale.  Copies were available for purchase online, so I ordered one.  The title is produced on demand by Warner Archive.  Fortunately, the DVD-R edition plays just as a normal DVD would.

The film itself is a charming comedy about a troupe producing a version of Hamlet.  The director is an out-of-work actor.  His sister's church is closing, so the venture is intended to save it.  There is no money available, so the play becomes a profit-sharing venture among the principals.  It is set to open on Christmas Eve.  What could possibly go wrong?

The actors who are enlisted are the best of a bad lot.  An early scene shows the open auditions.  A ventriloquist and dummy, an actress with finger puppets, an actor unable to do anything but a badly humpbacked Scottish king--they are some who do not make the cut.  Those who do bring their own issues:  alcohol, family troubles, sexual identity issues, depression, myopia.  Add to that a slightly deranged designer named Faj.  (It might be spelled with a soft "g" at the end instead.)  It is a motley assortment.

During the auditions, the actor chosen to play Laertes (and numerous other roles) gives his ideas on Hamlet.

"Hamlet isn't just Hamlet....  Hamlet is me.  Hamlet is Bosnia.  Hamlet is this desk.  Hamlet is the air.  Hamlet is my grandmother.  Hamlet is everything you've ever thought about sex, about geology...in a very loose sense, of course."

Of course.

During the course of the rehearsals, the actors go from not knowing much of each other to becoming, as "Ophelia" puts it, a family.  They make it to opening night, although not without considerable difficulties and the loss of their star.  A recurring theme is Noel Coward's "Why Must the Show Go On?"  When the curtain rises, though, all is right with the world.  The audience, at least the ones who are not cardboard cutouts designed by Faj, cheer wildly.  In fact, it's the most raucous fencing scene I have seen.  It led me to wonder if original Globe productions might have elicited oohs and aahs.

It was not all that bleak of a winter in these parts.  The worst weather day was the one that found me holed up watching Branagh do Hamlet.  As spring seems about to burst through, this Christmas tale was a pleasant way to spend an evening and a welcome addition to the collection.  It may not be an easy title to find, but for a Hamlet fan, it's worth the time and effort.