Hamlet (1990 film) was directed by a man.
Franco Zeffirelli . He is also a former senator ( 1994 -- 2001 ) for the Italian centre-right Forza Italia party . He is also known for several of the movies he has directed , especially the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet , for which he received an Academy Award nomination . Hamlet is a 1990 drama film based on the Shakespearean tragedy of the same name , directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Mel Gibson as the eponymous character .