The Shakespeare records Kenneth Branagh described as “wake-up calls”
The timeless works of William Shakespeare have been tackled by countless filmmakers since the conception of the cinematic medium, dating back to the silent era. However, within the modern landscape, there are few directors who are as heavily associated with adaptations of the legendary Bard’s output as Kenneth Branagh.
Since the very beginning of his journey as an artist, Branagh’s fate has been inextricably linked with Shakespeare. Ranging from extensive studies of the writer’s work during his time at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to appearances in productions put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Branagh is extremely well-versed with Shakespeare’s entire oeuvre, which has turned him into a respected contemporary authority on the subject.
From Henry V to Hamlet, Branagh has used the cinematic medium to translate his favourite Shakespeare plays throughout his filmmaking career, in addition to portraying some of the most famous characters. The origin of this intense fascination with the immortal creations of Shakespeare actually began in his teenage years, when he accidentally stumbled onto recordings of interpretations by renowned artists.
During a conversation with BBC Radio 4, Branagh revealed that it was in his secondary school library that he found a key to a completely different world. “I saw two long-playing records,” he says. “One was The Ages of Man, by Sir John Gielgud… and the other was Laurence Olivier’s Extracts from Shakespeare Films, with Music by Sir William Walton.”
Both Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud were among the trio of acting talents alongside Ralph Richardson, who existed at the very top of the theatrical world in the 20th century. Their individual takes on Shakespeare’s characters garnered widespread critical acclaim and endless admiration from fans who were mesmerised by their approach. Although Branagh was separated from them by multiple generations, their work had the same intense impact on him.
While describing the aftermath of listening to the records for the first time, Branagh revealed: “I was bowled over… They were wake-up calls for me, for what the human voice could do and, more profoundly than that, what great writing could do… What they made me really understand was that I didn’t have to understand all of [Shakespeare]… but the emotional shape of it.”
Branagh’s love for the records reached such an extent that he never ended up returning them to the library. “I suppose ‘borrowing’ is not exactly precise at all,” he later clarified. While his recent adaptations have been of Agatha Christie’s work, such as A Haunting in Venice, fans will definitely be hoping for his return to the cinematic realm of Shakespeare soon enough.
