Kenneth Branagh on DeBaser: reviews, highlights and works

The Profile

Kenneth Branagh is a Northern Irish-born British actor, director, and screenwriter known for his Shakespeare adaptations (Henry V, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing) and films like Belfast and Thor. He won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Belfast and has been nominated in seven different Oscar categories. He was knighted in 2012 for services to drama.

Won the 2022 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Belfast; first person nominated in seven different Academy Award categories; prominent Shakespeare adaptor on screen; knighted in 2012; active since 1981.

Three reviews circle around Branagh’s strengths and stumbles. Belfast earns praise for craft, pace, and its Van Morrison-laced soundtrack, though one reviewer found it dull at times. The film’s semi-autobiographical lens and black-and-white style are noted. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is criticized for departures from the novel but credits Branagh’s acting and De Niro’s performance. Publicly, Branagh won the 2022 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Belfast.

Notable Quotes

❝ It’s not my place to judge if it’s deserved or not, but it’s with this film that Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh, after eight nominations over the years, will take home an Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay.”

❝ I do not venture into technical judgments on cinematography and editing, but the film seems very well made, and the story unfolds at the right pace, without drops in tension and without excessive distress in the most dramatic moments.