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Kenneth Branagh
On 10th December 1960, a Shakespearean legend was born. Kenneth Branagh grew up in the city of Belfast. However he and his family fled to England (Berkshire) to escape 'the troubles'. It was here, in Britain, that he decided to go into theatre; thus an actor was born. He attended the prestigious RADA, located in London, and learnt the true values of being an actor. He appeared in many stage performances such as 'Another Country' which won him his 1982 SWET award. He then progressed into film work. His film debut was ' A Month In the Country' with his co-star being the future Mr. Darcy, Colin Firth. Shortly after this a film named ' Henry V' was made, cementing Branagh's name in the Shakespearean world. Let alone from acting in it, this film also was the beginning of Branagh's exceptional directing career. This being merely his third film, he received two academy award nominations. During the 1990's, Branagh ploughed his way through many Shakespeare orientated films such as ' Othello' and the classic ' Much Ado About Nothing' in which he acted along side his then wife, Emma Thompson. There is a film, released in 1997, that will always be associated with Branagh's name; Hamlet. This beast of a film, lasting approximately 3 hours with hardly any of the dialogue from Shakespeare's original play tampered with, is probably Branagh's most remembered film. Including an amazing cast, ( Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi), this film earned Branagh another Academy award nomination. In the 2000's (after his relationship with Helena Bonham Carter had ended) Branagh firmly stepped into the role of the director. The magnificent film which is ' Sleuth' was ingenious; Branagh worked with the original playwright, Harold Pinter, on set and created a work of art which had simply two actors; Michael Caine and Jude Law. Then again, as well as directing, Branagh was also involved in such films as ' Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' where he portrayed the dim witted Professor Lockhart, and Valkyrie, the hit film starring Tom Cruise, yet again showing Branagh's acting ability. Now, in recent years (still being Married to art director Lindsay Brunnock), Kenneth Branagh has turned his attention to television, starring in the wonder which is ' Wallander'. A fascinating programme about a Swedish detective is critically acclaimed by all, and Branagh recently won a BAFTA for his acting. Now, in the year 2010, Branagh is directing the epic which is ' Thor'. A film with a vast budget and a huge cast including Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins, it appears it will yet again show the world Branagh's ability and how he is a credit to the world of cinema, TV and stage. A true legend. A Shakespearean legend.
News |
What members say |
Filmography
Kenneth Branagh - news / articles
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Sir Kenneth Branagh's struggle with 'bleak' Wallander -
23 June 2012
-Sir Kenneth Branagh turned to the author who inspired his dark TV series Wallander for advice after struggling with the harrowing scripts.-The director/actor plays police Inspector Kurt Wallander in the hit crime drama, adapted from the Swedish novelist Henning Mankell'
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Winslet and Branagh's Guernsey film delayed -
2 April 2012
-Actress Kate Winslet will have to wait another year to reunite with her Hamlet co-star Kenneth Branagh - their forthcoming war tale has been postponed until next year (13).-The Titanic beauty was due to begin shooting actor/director Branagh's next film, The Guernsey Lit
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Branagh to revive Jack Ryan with Chris Pine -
27 March 2012
-Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh is set to step back behind the camera for another blockbuster - trade reports suggest he has signed on to direct the latest Jack Ryan action movie.-The actor, who won acclaim as the director of last year's (11) Thor, will take charge of the
Kenneth Branagh - what members say
review by A customer from Hornchurch
A 'Must See' film 26 November 2008
review by NICKJOJO from Surrey
shackleton 2002 19 July 2010
review by A customer from gwaenysgor, rhyl, flintshire
superb series 25 August 2005
Kenneth Branagh - filmography
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Wallander - Series 3
on DVD
(2012)
Starring: Mark Hadfield, Rebekah Staton, Jeany Spark
Director: Toby Haynes, Charles Martin
Certificate: 
All three feature-length episodes from the third series of the BBC crime drama starring Kenneth Branagh as the Swedish detective. Inspector Kurt Wallander (Branagh) and his team at Ystad police station investigate a number of violent and terrifying murders in the beautiful setting of Skane County, ..read more »
 
72%
from 115 members
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My Week With Marilyn
on DVD
(2011)
Starring: Toby Jones, Judi Dench, Michelle Williams
Director: Simon Curtis
Certificate:
Drama based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, who worked as an assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', the 1956 British-made film starring Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. Monroe (Michelle Williams) has recently married playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), and filming coincides ..read more »
69%
from 16,999 members
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Thor
on DVD
(2011)
Starring: Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate: 
Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy superhero adventure based on the Marvel comics character, which in turn is based on the ancient myth of Norse God of Thunder, Thor. Moving between present day Earth and the fantastic realm of Asgard, the film tells the story of the Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), ..read more »
69%
from 47,050 members
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Thor - Blu-ray
(2011)
Starring: Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy superhero adventure based on the Marvel comics character, which in turn is based on the ancient myth of Norse God of Thunder, Thor. Moving between present day Earth and the fantastic realm of Asgard, the film tells the story of the Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), ..read more »
71%
from 18,455 members
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Thor - 3D Blu-ray
(2011)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Kenneth Branagh directs this fantasy superhero adventure based on the Marvel comics character, which in turn is based on the ancient myth of Norse God of Thunder, Thor. Moving between present day Earth and the fantastic realm of Asgard, the film tells the story of the Mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), ..read more »
76%
from 137 members
Not currently released
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My Week With Marilyn - Blu-ray
(2011)
Starring: Toby Jones, Judi Dench, Michelle Williams
Director: Simon Curtis
Certificate:
Drama based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, who worked as an assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl', the 1956 British-made film starring Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. Monroe (Michelle Williams) has recently married playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott), and filming coincides ..read more »
69%
from 7,547 members
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Wallander - Series 2
(2 discs)
on DVD
(2010)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh
Director: Aisling Walsh, Hettie Macdonald, Andy Wilson
Certificate:
All three feature-length episodes from the second series of the BBC crime drama starring Kenneth Branagh as Swedish detective Kurt Wallander, who investigates a series of violent and terrifying murders in the beautiful setting of Skane, Southern Sweden. Episodes are: 'Faceless Killers', 'The Man ..read more »
80%
from 587 members
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The Boat That Rocked
on DVD
(2009)
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Frost
Director: Richard Curtis
Certificate:
Richard Curtis writes and directs this ensemble comedy set in the world of the pop music and pirate radio stations of 1960s Britain. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as The Count, a larger-than-life American rock 'n' roll DJ who - along with fellow broadcasters Dave (Nick Frost), Simon (Chris O'Dowd), ..read more »
68%
from 57,938 members
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Wallander
(2 discs)
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Bo Von Gegerfelt, David Warner, Jeany Spark
Director: Philip Martin
Certificate:
Kenneth Brannagh takes the lead role as Detective Kurt Wallander, in three feature-length dramas taken from the pages of Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. Living and working in the idyllic southernmost Swedish city of Ystad, the world-weary detective has to come to terms with a upsurge of ..read more »
71%
from 2,365 members
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Sleuth
on DVD
(2007)
Starring: Jude Law, Michael Caine
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
On his sprawling country estate, an aging writer (Caine) matches wits with the struggling actor (Law) who has stolen his wife's heart.
51%
from 9,902 members
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Galapagos
(2 discs)
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Dr. Carole Baldwin, Mathias Espinosa, Kenneth Branagh
Director: David Clark, Al Giddings
Certificate: 
Part adventure, part scientific expedition, part personal quest, this stunning film takes us on a journey with marine biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History during her first trip to the Galapagos. Traveling to the terrestrial world of the ..read more »
77%
from 667 members
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As You Like It
on DVD
(2006)
Starring: Takuya Shimada, Brian Blessed, Richard Clifford
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Japan, the 1880s. Duke Senior (Blessed) is ousted by brother Frederick (Blessed) and flees into the forest. SeniorÂ’s daughter Rosalind (Dallas Howard) and FrederickÂ’s daughter Celia (Garai) set off after him, where Rosalind meets the man she loves (Oyelowo) and befriends him in a male disguise.
53%
from 2,243 members
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Five Children And It
(2004)
Starring: Tara Fitzgerald, Norman Wisdom, Zoe Wanamaker
Director: John Stephenson
Certificate: 
John Stephenson directs this adaptation of the classic children's novel by E. Nesbit. During the First World War a group of children are sent to stay with their eccentric Uncle Albert (Kenneth Branagh). There, they meet 'It', a Psammead - or sand fairy - in a gravel pit. This ancient, peculiar and ..read more »
59%
from 17,116 members
Currently unavailable
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Rabbit Proof Fence
on DVD
(2002)
Starring: Laura Monaghan, Tianna Sansbury, David Gulpilil
Director: Phillip Noyce
Certificate: 
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
In Western Australia, 1931, the small depot of Jigalong sits on the edge of the Gibson Desert. Running through Jigalong and out into the desert is a rabbit-proof fence that bisects Australia from north to south. The fence was built to keep rabbits on one side and pasture on the other. This remote ..read more »
71%
from 14,975 members
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Shackleton
on DVD
(2002)
Starring: Embeth Davidtz, Lorcan Cranitch, Paul McGann
Director: Charles Sturridge
Certificate:
Writer-director Charles Sturridge ('Longitude') presents his version of Sir Ernest Shackleton's epic South Pole adventure. Setting out in 1914, Shackleton (Kenneth Branagh) and his crew set sail for Antarctica, but get into trouble when their ship, the Endurance, becomes stuck in pack ice. ..read more »
73%
from 2,324 members
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Conspiracy
(2001)
Starring: Brid Brennan, Barnaby Kay, Stanley Tucci
Director: Frank R. Pierson
Certificate:
Based on the transcripts (and filmed in real-time) from the 1942 Wannsee Conference which, over the space of 2 hours, drew up the blueprint for the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. Instigated by Reinhard Heinrich (Kenneth Branagh), a group of high-ranking Nazi officials met to discuss the final ..read more »
74%
from 1,386 member
Currently unavailable
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Shackleton - S01 E01
(2001)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Kevin McNally
Director: Charles Sturridge
Certificate:
This two-part drama begins in London in 1914. The epic adventure begins with the explorer attempting to raise funds for his expedition on the eve of the First World War - as well as struggling with a complex personal life and his brother's imprisonment for fraud - and ends on the frozen wastes of ..read more »
90%
from 5 members
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Shackleton - S01 E02
(2001)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Embeth Davidtz, Kevin McNally
Director: Charles Sturridge
Certificate:
With their ship trapped, Shackleton and his men are forced onto the ice, and it becomes clear that the only way out is to haul boats across the ice floes to the sea. Against all odds the men reach the water and endure a ninety-mile journey across the South Atlantic to Elephant Island.
90%
from 4 members
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The Road To El Dorado
on DVD
(2000)
Starring: Armand Ass, Rosie Perez, Kevin Kline
Director: Eric 'Bibo' Bergeron, Don Paul
Certificate:
When luckless Spanish adventurers Tulio and Miguel obtain a map showing the way to El Dorado, the legendary city of gold, they immediately set sail for Mexico and the adventure of a lifetime. After a perilous sea voyage, they reach their destination and are lavished with more gold than they ever ..read more »
69%
from 2,157 members
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Wild Wild West
on DVD
(1999)
Starring: Ted Levine, M. Emmet Walsh, Kevin Kline
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
The director and star of 'Men in Black' are reunited for this action comedy, set in the American West of 1869. James West (Will Smith) is a US special official, charged with tracking down a confederate officer named McGrath (Ted Levine), whom the government believes is illegally stockpiling weapons...read more »
53%
from 13,596 members
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Walking With Dinosaurs
(2 discs)
on DVD
(1999)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
The BBC used state of the art computer graphics, combined with established historical fact to trace the evolution and 160-million year history of the dinosaurs. The techniques employed by Stephen Speilberg in his 'Jurassic Park' movies are used here to bring the long-extinct behemoths and the world ..read more »
74%
from 2,651 members
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The Proposition
(1998)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Madeleine Stowe, William Hurt
Director: Lesli Linka Glatter
Certificate: 
Father Michael McKinnon goes from the UK to Boston circa 1935. For unknown reasons, he avoids at all costs the most prominent parishioners, Arthur and Eleanor Barret. Meanwhile Eleanor and Arthur desperately want to have a child, but Arthur is sterile, so they hire Harvard law student Roger Martin ..read more »
64%
from 5 members
Currently unavailable
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Celebrity
(1998)
Starring: Winona Ryder, Dylan Baker, Judy Davis
Director: Woody Allen
Certificate: 
Woody Allen's critical look at the world of modern day celebrity. Journalist Lee Simon (Kenneth Branagh) breaks with his school-teacher wife Robin (Judy Davis) and embarks on an odyssey into the world of the rich and famous. Moving with celebrated actresses (Melanie Griffith), beautiful supermodels ..read more »
54%
from 2,696 members
Currently unavailable
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The Gingerbread Man
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: Wren Arthur, Gregory Alpert, Troy Beyer
Director: Robert Altman
Certificate:
After having a one-night stand with waitress Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz), attorney Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh) discovers that she is being stalked by her cult leader father, Dixon (Robert Duvall). Magruder has Dixon arrested and put on trial, but, as events take a disastrous turn, the lawyer ..read more »
51%
from 868 members
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The Theory of Flight
(1998)
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Kenneth Branagh, Gemma Jones
Director: Paul Greengrass
Certificate:
A dreamer who aspires to human flight is assigned public service after one of his attempts off a public building. This leads him to meeting a young woman, who is dying of motor neuron disease. The strong-willed woman admits her wish to be de-flowered before her death. The man, struggling to ..read more »
64%
from 10 members
Currently unavailable
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In the Bleak Midwinter
(1995)
Starring: Michael Maloney, Julia Sawalha, Richard Briers
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
An out-of-work actor on the verge of a nervous break-down decides to put on a production of Hamlet in a church. At Christmas. Despite admonitions from his agent and sister about the career suicide he's about to commit by investing in such a morbid play over the holidays, he pushes on to realize his ..read more »
74%
from 28 members
Currently unavailable
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Aidan Quinn, Richard Briers, John Cleese
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
Kenneth Branagh stars in and directs this adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic horror yarn. Obsessed with creating life, Victor Frankenstein (Branagh) harnesses the power of electricity in order to reanimate the body of a once-dead criminal (Robert De Niro). When he then witnesses the abhorrence of ..read more »
61%
from 5,179 members
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Much Ado About Nothing
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Star studded rendition of the classic Shakespeare romantic comedy which sees two princes, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) and Benedict (Kenneth Branagh), battling to win the hearts of those they love. The object of Benedict's desire, Beatrice (Emma Thompson), acts as his sharp tongued sparring ..read more »
70%
from 8,103 members
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Peter's Friends
on DVD
(1992)
Starring: Hugh Laurie, Kenneth Branagh, Stephen Fry
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Ten years after leaving university, Peter and his best friends reunite for a New Year's party to end all parties. Having weathered most of life's triumphs and disasters, there doesn't seem to be much left to shock them - but Peter has a special surprise that will test their friendship to the utmost...read more »
68%
from 3,699 members
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Dead Again
on DVD
(1991)
Starring: Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Robin Williams
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Private detective Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) tries to help the amnesiac Grace (Emma Thompson) recover her memory by having her visit a hypnotist (Derek Jacobi). Grace then experiences a series of memories in which she is Margaret Strauss, the world-famous pianist who was murdered in 1948. Could ..read more »
62%
from 1,413 member
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Henry V
on DVD
(1989)
Starring: Emma Thompson, Richard Briers, Judi Dench
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Kenneth Branagh's star-studded version of Shakespeare's play has a more intimate and equivocal approach to war than Laurence Olivier's 1944 classic. The young King (Branagh), his days of carousing behind him, is advised of his legal claim to the throne of France. He decides to invade with his small ..read more »
68%
from 3,379 members
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Look Back In Anger
(1989)
Starring: Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh
Director: Judi Dench
Certificate:
Actress Judi Dench co-directs this made-for television adaptation of John Osborne's ground breaking stage play - set only in the grotty bed-sit the protagonists live in. Jimmy (Kenneth Branagh), university educated articulate and poor, is angry with almost everything and everyone from the ..read more »
54%
from 370 members
Not available for rental
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Twelfth Night
on DVD
(1988)
Starring: Richard Briers, Caroline Langrishe
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Certificate:
Kenneth Branagh directs the Renaissance Theatre Company in this performance of Shakespeare's comedy. After being separated from her twin brother in a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy and finds employment with the Duke Orsino, who uses her as a go-between in his attempted wooing of the ..read more »
59%
from 390 members
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High Season
(1987)
Starring: Irene Papas, Jacqueline Bisset, Kenneth Branagh
Director: Clare Peploe
Certificate:
An idealistic photographer (Jacqueline Bisset) lives on a beautiful Greek island which is regularly invaded by hordes of tourists. She enlists the help of an art historian friend to help sell an (allegedly) antique vase to raise funds for her continuing work.
46%
from 119 members
Currently unavailable
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Fortunes Of War
(3 discs)
on DVD
(1987)
Starring: Emma Thompson, Rupert Graves, Charles Kay
Director: James Cellan Jones
Certificate:
Long-term collaborators Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson star in this epic wartime drama (which cost the BBC an estimated 7 million pounds). The story begins when the newly married couple arrive in Romania at the start of World War Two. The story then follows their adventures and life throughout ..read more »
75%
from 639 members
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A Month In the Country
(1987)
Starring: Patrick Malahide, Natasha Richardson, Mar
Director: Pat O'Connor
Certificate:
A story of unrequited love and the making of a friendship. Two veterans of World War One (Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh) meet in a Yorkshire village. Colin Firth is working inside the local church painting a mural, but discovers a medieval fresco. Meanwhile, Kenneth Branagh is uncovering Saxon ..read more »
61%
from 1,054 member
Currently unavailable
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Alan Plater at ITV
Starring: James Bolam, Alison Steadman, Helen Mirren
Certificate:
An anthology of the BAFTA-winning playwright's work for ITV. Featuring both single plays and selected episodes, the collection includes performances by James Bolam, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren and Alison Steadman, among others. Titles comprise: 'The Beiderbecke Affair: What I Don'..read more »
28%
from 7 members
Not available for rental
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Wallander - Series 1-2 - Blu-ray
(4 discs)
Starring: Kenneth Branagh
Director: Aisling Walsh, Het, Andy Wilson
Certificate:
Kenneth Brannagh takes the lead role as Detective Kurt Wallander in this collection of six feature-length dramas adapted from the pages of Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. Living and working in the idyllic southernmost Swedish city of Ystad, the world-weary detective has to come to terms with ..read more »
78%
from 383 members
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Kenneth Branagh facts
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...This version of 'Much Ado About Nothing' by Kenneth Branagh is a must see. This is Shakespeare in his own words but delivered in a superbly contemporary and accessible way. We...
