Au beau milieu de l'hiver

It seems Director Kenneth Branagh has the immortal Dane on the brain. The video even comes with the trailer for Kenneth Branagh's bigscreen "Hamlet". This minor canon Bard is a tale of a motley troupe recruited by Joe (Michael Maloney subbing for Kenneth Branagh) to save an ancient church in obviously-named hamlet of Hope. Troupe features nice performances from Richard Briars (veteran of big budget "Hamlet"), Nick Farrell (same; and was Horatio to Kenneth Branagh's Laertes in 85) and mum & daughter Julia Sawalha and Jennifer Saunders (affecting a gawdawful Southern accent) to assure comic impact. The black and white lensing gives a nice indy feel, but the lovingly shot stained glass looks lacking. Joan Collins does a nice turn as Joe's agent.