It was he, for instance, that chose to shoot the movie in 70 mm, as apposed to the normal 35mm, making for sharper on-screen images. Branagh himself commented on his choice by saying he used it, "to celebrate the medium of cinema itself by creating a huge screen experience. 70 mm certainly gives a tremendous sweep to the story that accumulates its epic qualities." In fact, some of the shots Branagh directed would have been impossible to capture without the use of 70mm film. .
A scene in Branagh's Hamlet that is a prime example of Branagh as auteur is the last scene, scene 2 of act 5. This scene actually has two distinct spheres that compose it, Hamlet and Horatio's discussion and the fencing/death/Fortinbras section. Therefore, focus will be placed upon the second sphere, which is a more dramatic setting and example. This section begins in the text on line 226 of 5.2. .
The first issue of Branagh's authorship will be the adaptation of the text itself. He follows it almost to the word. There is an instance of addition in which a guard yells "Attack!" as Fortinbras" army is attacking the castle, and in deletion in which "O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt." (5.2.3250) is cut out. Branagh also chooses to use alternate words in some cases to replace the text's verbiage while retaining the original meaning. "She sounds to see them bleed." (5.2.308) is realized as "She swoons to see them bleed." In the text (5.2.300) reads, "I am sure you make a wanton of me." In the movie the line is changed to, "I am afraid you make a wanton of me." Branagh also chooses to sometimes switch the order of a couple lines in order to give the effect he as the director desires. In the text, "Then, venom, to they work." (5.2.323) comes directly before "Treason! Treason!" In the film, these two lines are switched in chronology. Each of these tiny digressions from the text is Branagh's way of rewriting the story through the words themselves; a way for him to get a select point across more effectively.
