Kozintsev spent years preparing this version of Hamlet. Aside from the film, his research led to the publication of one of the most intelligent reflections on Shakespeare published in recent times-Shakespeare, Time and Conscience (Hill and Wang, N.Y. 1966). Based on Boris Pasternak's translation, Kozintsev's Hamlet is highly atmospheric, charged with visual poetry and strongly accented by a brilliant Shostakovich score. In somber, windswept Baltic settings, Kozintsev has found a powerful physical equivalent to Shakespeare's Denmark: his interpretation is marked less by trendy psychological insights than by a strong awareness of the state of Denmark and its relation to the central drama. According to the French critic Georges Sadoul, Kozintsev's Hamlet "is perhaps the best film based on Shakespeare. It brings the ancient Kingdom of Denmark face to face with the real world in characterizing Hamlet as sincerely motivated and revolted by injustice, crime, and tyranny. 'Into this State, where everyone swims with the stream, there comes a person who is against all of this' (Kozintsev)." Aside from Innokenty Smouktenovsky's intense performance as Hamlet, outstanding acting contributions are made by Mikhail Nazvanov as Claudius and Anastasia Vertinskaya as Ophelia.-Tom Luddy and Yvette Biro Hamlet is repeated Sunday, April 7.