Ethan Hawke is a sort of Kurt Cobain Hamlet; Kyle MacLachlan the corporate Claudius; Bill Murray as Polonius; Sam Shepherd as Hamlet pere. Nobody else well known. Nobody is a standout actor here: it is really not about acting -- it is a director's film. The Ophelia in this one is pretty dreary too -- but a great concept (she is like all my "artistic" young women students). I agree with you about Helena B-C - totally irritating (she has been lots better). Ophelia is pretty tough to carry off -- Jean Simmons was, well, Jean Simmons. Kate Winslet wasn't too bad in Branagh's film, I thought. The best thing about the Branagh film was Derek Jacobi's Claudius (what an incredible actor he is).

Best scene in a Shakespeare film ever. The candidates are:
The wooing scene in Branagh's Henry V - Emma Thompson and Ken.

The moor scene in Peter Brook's King Lear.

The masked ball in Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet.

The temptation scenes in the BBC Othello between Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins

Laurence Olivier's Richard III (pick a scene)

yours, Peter T.