Hamlet (2009)

Powerful

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Best movie ever!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

RSC's Hamlet takes advantage of its medium in stepping off the stage and into the screen. Early on, in Claudius' first address of the court (or in this low budget case, no more than a dozen in the room), the camera looks pointedly at Hamlet, as if to speak to him, before an about turn has the crown prince and heir rebuffed for the lesser Laertes. Later, when Hamlet and Laertes are fighting over Ophelia's grave, Patrick Stewart in some fleeting shots has a sly smirk, as if he's egging on the two madmen to finish each other off and leave the throne for himself. Hamlet, in that play within a play scene, films the reaction of Claudius with a grainy hand-held camera. And maybe most telling of all, before one soliloquy, we have a mad Hamlet confront the surveillance camera, rip it off, and resume without any disturbance. These are the hints of subtext that aren't readily leaping of the page of Shakespeare's play, and this adaptation does well to visualise some of them. The black and white POV of the camera is also used regularly throughout in a voyeuristic fashion (which I thought was sometimes needless), and in the first appearance of the ghost. Here he materialises terrifyingly in colour, and then is absent in the camera vision. A nice touch.Maybe all the budget was allocated to Stewart and Tennant, because the production design certainly is limited, although not in the way a stage is. The court proceedings all take place in the one room and its few offshoots, but to be fair, it is a magnificent set, lavish marble beams of black and white, chandeliers and ornate mirrors, exquisite furniture. The reflective sheen of the black floor is reminiscent of a stage and it works. It's when we step outside and into natural light that it falters; the grave scene is garishly lit and seems to be from a different era altogether. The costuming is likewise; most of it is stylised like modern British royalty would dress, but then you have Tennant going mad and this is represented by this terrible red T-shirt and being barefoot in jeans. It was very jarring and far opposite to the beautiful costumes of the players. The script takes a few areas of the original out altogether, which I thought was economical in some instances and in others made the scene rather shallow. More distracting is the way that some events will jump ahead of others in the chronology. The biggest mistake was rushing the final act, which allows for even less contemplation when the arrival of Fortinbras is not even in the film, which sacrifices the political context and those final solemn words from him and Horatio. In terms of acting, the cast is mostly satisfying. Tennant can tend to over act but in this case it is perfectly suitable. He lends some sort of gravitas to the soliloquies and his over the top madness is believable, if not a little slapstick at times (the recorder). During his acts of insolence and aggression to those that plot against him, he shines. Downie (Gertrude) and Gale (Ophelia) play their parts to perfection as they slowly slip away into grief and madness respectively when viewing Hamlet. As for the veteran in Stewart, he is great as the diplomatic and imposing royalty figure, while showing remorse and guilt in that praying scene. It's a more mature and solemn performance than his Claudius of 1980, and is probably enough to make up for that silly little shrug before he commits suicide, which instantly took me out of the scene and turned the tragedy into a comedy for a sparse second. It's not as disappointing as the gravedigger, which turned a classic character with wit and humour into some British sitcom fill-in, and then takes the substance of "Alas, poor Yorick" and wastes it. Overall, a good Hamlet, but not a great one. I wish they didn't feel the need to resort to a shattered mirror every single time a character was monologuing or contemplating.

If you can't stand the idea of a Shakespeare play being staged outside of it's historical context, then perhaps this is the exception that proves the rule. It's mostly down to the sets, and presumably the lack of acquaintance for most audiences anywhere with the country in which it is supposed to take place, in the time it is supposed to take place, but mostly just the very beautiful sets, which place it in a strange, elegant landscape of the internal workings of the characters, but it's not abstract, it's not in limbo, and it works very, very well. Though I suppose the nature of the play helps just a little bit.It isn't without any historical specificity at all, it seems to have a World War One feel to it, as a point of reference. David Tennant is very watchable. Occasionally it becomes a little too modern, some of the CCTV shots are annoying (though the idea is is used very nicely on the whole), and the business with the home-movie camera is a little jarring. The interpretation of the dialogue and content is excellent; nothing in any way pretentious or forced about it.Surprising, riveting, very enjoyable, proper full on Shakespeare.

The best production of HAMLET, That I have seen. The sets were amazing, the acting especially by David Tennant and Sir Patrick Stewart was brilliant. David Tennant's performance was nothing less than extraordinary, and if you don't believe me, then believe Sir Patrick Stewart who stated in interviews that David was the finest and most talented young actor in England today. David brings the tortured soul of Hamlet to life. He runs the gambit of emotions from deep depression over his father's death to anger over the too quick marriage of his mother to his uncle - to revenge for his fathers murder by his uncle, to self pity and self doubt. David was very capable of the pretense of madness by Hamlet in front of the king, queen, and court while he plots his revenge.Other reviewers have not understood the use of the surveillance cameras, but this is to show how everyone was always under watch by the King or his men, using the cameras or hidden rooms to spy on all. At one point Tennant breaks a camera and states "Now I am alone". Plus the use of camera's and modern clothing, and the use of a helicopter by the Norwegian army against Poland give the audience of today a better understanding of Shakespeare and grounding in today's society. And what's the difference of what costume is worn as long as those beautiful words of the Bard are used, they are the important thing.I thought the supporting actors who played Laretes, Horatio, and Gertrude were great, but I thought the actors who portrayed Ophelia and Polonius were a little too one dimensional.Anyone thinking of buying this movie, will more that get their money's worth. And it's a great way to introduce your children to the beautiful prose of Shakespeare.

I checked the spoiler check-box to be sure, but I don't think anyone would be surprised by the bits of storyline I'll reveal. :)I wasn't fortunate enough to see the production on stage, so I was very excited when I found out that they will release it on DVD. I watched it the day when finally arrived till 2 am and totally worth the next sleepy workday. I saw David Tennant in many roles and I think he's one of the most talented actors in his generation. He never fails to connect his character with me and I was curious to see his Hamlet. I wasn't disappointed. I saw quite a few Hamlets over the years, but this was the first when I was able to see the human behind the role. I don't know anything about the inner work of theater, I'm merely one of the audience, I only can say what I feel. Don't get me wrong, Kenneth Brannagh was an amazing Hamlet, but even he couldn't get Hamlet close to me. David Tennant did. He showed me the real meaning and depth of those beautiful words Shakespeare written. He made me feel all of Hamlet's pain and uncertainty, the educated man who not only lost his beloved father, had to see his mother married so close after the funeral, but witness an appearance of a ghost and based on its words he was expected to commit a murder. No wonder he was considering suicide to escape from all of this. I could totally understand, even sympathize with him like I never did before. This version of Hamlet is the most memorable for me because of his powerful performance.Also Sir Patrick Stewart was an authentic and subtle villain, the essence of the "smiling in your face than stab you in the back" type. His Claudius showed genuine love for Gertrude as well which was one of the main reasons why he murdered his own brother. I always felt that many actors (or directors) failed to put some focus on that. After all there should be some very good reason to kill your closest kin and it's not like Denmark was especially powerful or rich at the time with Fortinbras and his army at the borders.I also loved Penny Downie as the clueless, "goes with the flow" Gertrude, even if I wonder all the time that how is it possible that she doesn't suspect anything right until the bedroom scene. Penny made me think that maybe she does, only she choose not to see what happens in front of her eyes.Unfortunately I couldn't love Mariah Gale's Ophelia, I couldn't connected with her like I did with the others. Maybe it's my fault but I couldn't see her as the beautiful and intelligent young woman who worth of the love of the prince and who return his feelings so strongly, that when she lost him to the madness she takes her own first step to that way as well.This review gets quite long so just some quick words about the set: I think the modernization worked very well, the black, mirror-like floor, the security camera system helped me to rethink the play from a new viewpoint and showed it like it would be the first time anyone perform it. It seemed new and fresh to me and I wondered if that was the way (aside from the modern technique of course) they used to perform in the first days before the play was burdened with so much expectation and history.All in all, I highly recommend this movie for those who have never seen Hamlet before and for those who have seen a lot, but are open for some fresh version of it.