In the Bleak Midwinter (1995)

Director:

Kenneth Branagh

Writer:

Kenneth Branagh (written by)

Release Date:

16 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The drama. The passion. The intrigue... And the rehearsals haven't even started.

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Audition | Play | Shakespeare | Hamlet | William Shakespeare

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Richard Briers	...	Henry Wakefield (Claudius, the Ghost, and the Player King)
Hetta Charnley	...	Molly
Joan Collins	...	Margaretta D'Arcy
Nicholas Farrell	...	Tom Newman (Laertes, Fortinbras, and messengers)
Mark Hadfield	...	Vernon Spatch (Polonius, Marcellus, and First Gravedigger)
Gerard Horan	...	Carnforth Greville (Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Horatio, and Barnardo)
Celia Imrie	...	Fadge
Michael Maloney	...	Joe Harper (Hamlet)
Jennifer Saunders	...	Nancy Crawford
Julia Sawalha	...	Nina Raymond (Ophelia)
John Sessions	...	Terry Du Bois (Queen Gertrude)
Ann Davies	...	Mrs. Branch
James D. White	...	Tim
Robert Hines	...	Mortimer
Allie Byrne	...	Tap Dancer

Also Known As:

A Midwinter's Tale (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for some language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:12 | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Jimmy Yuill Was offered a key role but had to pass because of his commitments to Wycliffe.

Quotes:

Joe Harper: You know the way doctors say that nervous breakdowns can happen very fast and dramatically, sort of a big bang, or there are the other kind which happen very slowly over a period of time. I was thirty-three years old, and this one had started when I was seven months and had just begun to take hold.

Movie Connections:

Featured in To Be on Camera: A History with Hamlet (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

In The Bleak Midwinter

A great film to pick up your spirits

I selected this movie from the video shelf because the title seemed consonant with my mood. My girlfriend had just dumped me, my best friend had just broken off with me, and it was raining. The realisation that it was black and white throughout seemed to be perfect. Yet the story, of a struggling actor's frantic attempts to mount a benefit showing of Hamlet to save a church, along with Branagh's comedic editing, begins as a farce, sails along with Coward-like snippets of conversation (along with the use of Coward's song "The Show Must Go On") and develops facilely and elegantly into a moving portrait of the camaraderie of an acting company without one noticing. I didn't realise I wasn't unhappy and in love with all these people until the movie was over and I was beaming quite sunnily (who needs friends and girlfriends anyway when you've got movies?). Julie Sawalha's reading of the line "Let's face it, we're all depressed" may very well have saved my life.