One of my all-time favorite movies. Anything Kenneth Branagh directs is magic, and this is one of his finest. Clearly based on his own experience as an avid Shakespearean actor and director (He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before forming Renaissance Films.), he too has often said "I saw Hamlet when I was fifteen, and it changed my life." As a group of misfit actors (including a male homosexual Gertrude)struggle to get their play, William Shakespeare's Hamlet, ready to perform for the children of a small town, they encounter many problems, but in the end find love and the true essence of Shakespeare. Magnificent!