In a radical departure from previous "Hamlet" films, Branagh set the internal scenes in a vibrantly colourful setting, featuring a throne room dominated by mirrored doors; film scholar Samuel Crowl calls the setting ""film noir" with all the lights on." Branagh chose Victorian era costuming and furnishings, using Blenheim Palace, built in the early 18th century, as Elsinore Castle for the external scenes. Harry Keyishan has suggested that the film is structured as an epic, courting comparison with "Ben Hur", "The Ten Commandments" and "Doctor Zhivago". As J. Lawrence Guntner points out, comparisons with the latter film are heightened by the presence of Julie Christie ("Zhivago's" Lara) as Gertrude.