Franco Zeffirelli's version of Shakespeare's much-filmed play chalks clearly the line between what attracts in the cinema and the theatre. Think of the cast here: Paul Scofield (as the ghost), Alan Bates (as Claudius), Ian Holm as Polonius, plus the casting coups of Glenn Close as the queen and Mel Gibson as Hamlet. Theatregoers would pay a fortune to see them. Yet cinemagoers, fed on a diet of special effects, might well pass by on the other side of the road. True, the film actually is a thing of rags and patches. There are too many boring bits in the first half, but Zeffirelli picks it up half-way through and keeps it galloping along to its corpse-strewn finale. Gibson's good, especially in the key speeches, but occasionally falters when trying to lend too much lightness to the role. Close is perfect casting as the double-dealing queen. Helena Bonham Carter is visually flawless as Ophelia but her reading of the dialogue leaves something to be desired. But it's got to be worth the price of admission, hasn't it, to hear Mad Mel recite To Be or Not to Be? You'd better believe it.


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