If youve never heard ofIn The Bleak Midwinter,then youre not in the minority.
Its a real pity that its such a rarity too, as theres so much to recommend about it.
A fundraising production ofHamletisnt quite what his sister had in mind, but thats what she gets.
He succeeds in doing so.
In The Bleak Midwintercould in itself be a stage play, its that compact.
Chief amongst the actors, with arguably his best big screen performance to date, is Richard Briers.
Branaghs script loads the proverbial gun, Briers fires it.
Lets face it, youre lucky to have me, he says right near the start Too true.
Weve covered the play, Joe positively says mid-way through rehearsals.
In shit, Briers cuts in, without blinking.
I can always sleep with my arse in a bucket, he eventually concludes.
Theyre words that could fall flat, or worse, in other hands.
Briers pitches them perfectly.
Its not just his words, either.
The moment when he realises whos playing his queen in the play is exquisite.
Briers does well to emerge on top of a cast full of scene-stealers, though.
Not far behind him is the always-wonderful Celia Imrie, here playing a character named Fadge.
Not least because of Sawalhas caring, yet curt, riposte.
Its slightly harder to say than Fadge, but its beautiful, she sympathetically notes.
The gag surrounding Sawalhas character is that she can barely see, but wont admit it.
What underpinsIn The Bleak Midwinter,though, is a clear love of the text ofHamlet.
The setup is wonderful fun, and its superior to the eventual complications that threaten the eventual production ofHamlet.
Itd be terrific if he could find space, though, for a project like this again.
Its not the easiest Christmas film to find, and nor is it particularly festive in tone.
90s movies really dont come much funnier.
