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Hamlet

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Film Review: Hamlet (2000)@drax1134d

(source: tmdb.org

Trend of Shakespeare’s plays being adapted by setting them in different time periods can take very different forms. Some film makers might use places and times different than those in the works of Bard with specific purpose of making such an adaptation more spectacular. Kenneth Branagh did exactly that with his epic reworking of Hamlet in 1996. Four years later the very same play was adapted by Michael Almereyda into a film set in modern day period with an aim to make it more down-to-earth and easier to understand by contemporary audience.

The plot is set in 2000 New York City. The “King” and director of Denmark Corporation has died. His position was inherited by his brother Claudius (played by Kyle MacLachlan) who also didn’t wait long to marry brother’s widow Gertrude (played by Diane Venora). Claudius’ nephew Hamlet (played by Ethan Hawke), aspiring independent film maker, is deeply troubled with mother’s decision. When the apparition (played by Sam Sheppard) claiming to be his father’s ghost visits him, he is told that Claudius is responsible for father’s death. While trying to find whether ghost tells truth or not, Hamlet decides to feign madness and also uses his film making skills to pursue the matter. The test works, but now Claudius is convinced that Hamlet represents danger to his position. So, he decides to eliminate his nephew and, in order to do so, uses Ophelia (played by Julia Styles), young photographer with whom Hamlet has been in relationship.

Making his version of Hamlet in such a short time after Branagh’s was a mixed blessing for Almereyda. While Branagh with enormous budget and clout had the luxury of keeping Shakespeare’s text intact, Almereyda was more economical and had major cuts. That brought ire of Shakespeare purists and snobbish critics that would claim that Branagh had said everything that had to be said of Shakespeare’s work. The truth is that Branagh and Almereyda took the same source but used very different approaches, resulting in two very good but also very different films. While Branagh built his film on mixing grand Shakespearean theatre with Hollywood spectacle, Almereyda made his Hamlet in style of American low budget independent cinema. Almereyda’s film also seems more personal. In the protagonist, who is also an independent film maker, and his moral and existential dilemmas Almereyda probably found bits of himself and his struggles to get ahead in cruel and unforgiving world of American cinema industry.

What is crucial for success of Hamlet is Almereyda’s ingenuity in adapting centuries old play for modern setting. After discarding all the scenes that would have slowed down the plot or represented grotesque anachronism, Almereyda worked hard to make each and every scene within the context of modern world, and in doing so, he had more success than Bazz Luhrmann in Romeo + Juliet. That goes far beyond switching daggers and swords with revolvers and Uzis. In this film exteriors and background events are synchronised with the character’s dialogues. Characters use cell phones, video cameras, computers and answering machines, and one of the most famous Shakespearean monologues takes place in seemingly unexpected, but actually quite fitting location. Even production design is ingenious and makes corporate offices and apartments by New York’s elite look very much like the cold, depressive and claustrophobic halls of Elsinore.

Almereyda owes part of his success to an excellent cast. Ethan Hawke, who spent much of 1990s often appearing in thankless roles, is enthusiastically taking opportunity to master one of the most prestigious characters in history of scenic arts. Liev Schreiber, who was by that time known most for his Shakespearean roles in theatre, is also very good as Laertes. Kyle Maclachlan delivers very good Claudius and Diane Venora confirms her Shakespearean credentials established in Romeo + Juliet. Julia Styles plays very serious but effective role of Ophelia thus trying and succeeding to broaden her range from the roles in teen comedies. Her older colleague Bill Murray is also good in dramatic role. Almereyda’s Hamlet also features solid cinematography by John de Boorman and music soundtrack by Carter Burwell, which is solid, although not as “epic” as Patrick Doyle’s in Branagh’s version. This film represents one of rarely successful marriages of tradition and modernity and can enchant even the audiences that care little about Shakespeare or art cinema.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

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›Review - Hamlet (1996)@thunderjack1327d
My Bonnie Bride and I finished watching Kenneth Branagh’s production of Hamlet (1996); this in part due to the recent CineTV Movie Star of the Week feature on Kate Winslet, who appeared in this film as Ophelia. Unlike Harold Hecuba’s smash hit musical Hamlet A-Go-Go (which doesn’t really exist, but I just had to toss in a Gilligan’s Island reference), this adaptation is very long, weighing in at a touch over four hours. Needless to say, we did not watch it in one sitting. More like over three evenings.

Hamlet - IMDB

About a third of the way in, I realized I haven’t seen a production of Hamlet, nor have I read it. Admittedly, I have only read about a dozen of Shakespeare’s plays and have seen productions (stage and screen) of a few more than that. And yes, I do have some favorites for both reading and screen. A Comedy of Errors produced by The Flying Karamazov Brothers is one of my favorites. But we’re supposed to be talking about Hamlet right now.

Branagh, like Zeffirelli, has a darn good handle on producing Shakespeare for the screen, in addition to being a brilliant performer. In Branagh’s Hamlet, it is somewhat updated in time period to what appears to be (at least to me) early to mid 19th Century based on the firearms used by the soldiers in the film.

One of the surprises, at least for me, is finding out that both Billy Crystal and Robin Williams can perform Shakespeare quite admirably; especially Williams as he has a history of ad-libbing and cracking people up beyond all belief. How Williams managed to play Shakespeare without his usually comedic style is beyond me. And Crystal as a Gravedigger chatting with Hamlet over what was to be Ophelia’s grave was simply brilliant.

Branagh incorporated a number flashback scenes as an overlay to some of the main scenes to fill in some action and flesh out background events, including the murder of Hamlet’s father by Claudius (Derek Jacobi) and again with Hamlet’s soliloquy about Yorick. This was an interesting touch to the production and helped with the overall flow of the film.

Add to the mix brilliant performances by Charlton Heston as The Player King, and, of course, the aforementioned Kate Winslet as Ophelia, among many others. And I do mean many others.

Branagh and Winslet - IMDB

Speaking of Kate Winslet, she played the role of Ophelia exceptionally well, disturbingly so when Ophelia had lost her sanity after the death of her father Polonius. Playing someone who has lost their sanity has got to be wuite a challenge, and she continued to show her versatility as an actress by handling her part quite well.

We both enjoyed watching this production of Hamlet, and, even though it is quite long, it is worth the time. It really is best to watch it over a couple of evenings rather than in a single sitting.

Thanks for stopping by.

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›Film Review: Hamlet (1990)@drax1371d

Hamlet is the most recognisable of all Shakespeare’s works and arguably one of the most popular plays in the history of world literature. As such, it served as basis for countless film adaptations. Some of the most interesting among them were made at the end of 20th Century – Gabriel Axel’s Prince of Jutland which explored Shakespeare’s sources and set the plot in half-mythical past of Dark Ages Denmark; Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 version which, despite being the slavishly faithful to Shakespeare’s text, turned into old school larger-than-life Hollywood epic; and Michael Almereyda’s 2000 version which with great ingenuity set the plot in modern day corporate Manhattan. Inevitable comparisons with those three films make Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 version look bland and underwhelming.

The plot, like most traditional versions, is set in medieval Denmark. It begins when King (played by Paul Scofield) dies after which his widow Gertrude (played by Glenn Close) waits only two months before marrying King’s brother and new monarch Claudius (played by Alan Bates). All that troubles her son, Prince Hamlet (played by Mel Gibson) and even more so when he meets father’s ghost that tells him that he was murdered by his own brother. At first sceptical, Hamlet sets the clever trap for Claudius and discover that the ghost actually told the truth and then begins to feign madness while plotting his own revenge. In the meantime, Claudius begins to suspect that Hamlet has discovered the truth and begins plotting his own scheme to get rid of increasingly dangerous nephew.

Franco Zeffirelli was very good choice to direct this film, because some of his best known and successful works were adaptations of Shakespeare, most notably 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, which has appealed to the young audience by interpreting the play as a tale of teenage rebellion. Zeffirelli, to a certain degree, tried to do the same thing with Hamlet. Although he chose Mel Gibson for lead role after being immensely impressed by his intense performance as Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon, Gibson’s being at the zenith of his popularity as major Hollywood star also played part in it and the general idea was that his face on the poster would attract armies of his fans. Gibson was enthusiastic about project trying to prove himself as a serious actor and not just good-looking star of action films. When most Hollywood studios refused to back the project, Gibson has founded his own production company for that very purpose.

The result of Zeffirelli’s and Gibson’s efforts was, however, disappointing. Gibson, to his credit, handles the role very well, obviously unimpressed with the rest of the cast that included legendary Shakespearean actors that could have played such roles in their sleep, like Alan Bates or Paul Scofield. He plays Hamlet with great intensity and lot of physicality, especially during the sword fight at the end which is staged like the scenes in his action films. The rest of cast doesn’t fare that well – Glenn Close is a little bit restrained in her role of Gertrude and her role comes to life only in a brief moment that makes the audience question true nature of her character’s relationship with Hamlet. Helena Bonham-Carter is good in her role, but she is underused. Zeffirelli and his co-writer Christopher De Vore have tried to make the film accessible to modern audience by removing almost half of Shakespeare’s text. The idea was streamline and simplify the plot. Unfortunately, they haven’t done anything with Shakespeare’s dialogues that sound archaic and too theatrical and shatter audience’s suspension of disbelief. Production design of Dante Ferretti and rather forgettable score by Ennio Morricone doesn’t shatter impression that Zeffirelli’s Hamlet is just another mainstream and rather unimaginative adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. Fans of Mel Gibson might like it, but those that appreciate Shakespeare would likely prefer to watch something different.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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