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new law of martial prowess. Hamlet’s Oedipal dilemma is then framed by a larger father-son conflict, which reinstates the Oedipal succession of sons who challenge the authority of their fathers.

The paternal law also figures in less obvious ways in Branagh’s Hamlet, particularly in its representation of sexuality. In compliance with the paternal taboo against incest and homoerotic desire, Branagh avoids any gesture toward non-normative sexuality. The flashbacks of the Hollywood love scenes between Hamlet and Ophelia invest Branagh with the screen image of a “healthy” hetero-Hamlet, who exemplifies normative ideals of masculinity and sexuality. To construct this image, Branagh eschews not only the hint of incestuous desire between Hamlet and Gertrude or even sexual anxiety on Hamlet’s part, but also any indication of Hamlet’s “femininity” or affiliation with homoeroticism.

Branagh’s “masculinization” of Hamlet is created through directorial choices in the casting and interpretations of various secondary characters in this all-star film, such as Robin Williams’s portrayal of Osric in stereotypical “fag joke” fashion. In this scene, both Hamlet and Horatio are positioned as “regular guys,’’ in contrast to the exaggeratedly effeminate Osric. Williams’s portrayal of Osric, combined with Branagh’s delivery of Hamlet’s jibes, strongly homophobic in their cultural resonances, derisively present a stereotypical image of male homosexuality, once again defensively situating Branagh’s Hamlet in “safe” hetero-male territory.

A similar gesture to “sanitize” Hamlet and Hamlet is made in the scenes with the players. Instead of the all-male troupe of actors featured in Olivier’s and Zeffirelli’s films, Branagh’s nineteenth-century players are a “wholesome,” middle-class family, complete with father, mother, and children. To support his “family guy” image, Branagh’s Hamlet delivers his acting advice to the little boy player in a sweet and affectionate manner. Not surprisingly, the head of this nuclear unit is played by none other than Charlton Heston. As an icon, Heston brings ideologically charged meanings to the film, via its “cinematic unconscious.” The Father extraordinaire of Classic Hollywood Cinema (Ben Hur/Moses/God), the National Rifle Association, and American conservative politics, Heston provides the intertextual authority of the paternal law, the embodiment of the Law-of-the-Father in cinematic and cultural iconography.

As a text that supports the dominant fiction of the Oedipal fantasy, Branagh’s Hamlet is a “squeaky clean” adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, one that reinforces conservative ideology and cultural val-

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