Hamlet
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.38 You Save: $1.61 (16%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Hamlet
Movie Review: Read the Play, loved the Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
Since other reviewers have suggested if you like this movie, you must not have understood or read the play, I think my title is appropriate. I have two degrees in English Literature, have read the play several times, have seen several versions of it, and have written papers on it. I say this only to explain why I know that this is the movie Shakespeare would have made if he were alive today. Purists and others who pooh-pooh the production because it is not slavishly devoted to the more obscure and anachronistic elements of Shakespeare's Hamlet have MISSED THE POINT! It is a "re-envisioning" of the play, and a brilliant one at that. The most visionary moment of the movie comes when Ethan Hawke walks down the aisles of Blockbuster video--next to the ACTION section--and gives his soliloquy about being unable to take ACTION on his situation by taking his own life ("to be or not to be.") For those of you who don't recognize it, this is called "irony." Hawke as Hamlet looks soul-dead and weary because this is supposed to be Hamlet's lowest moment. It would hardly be appropriate for him to be ranting and raving here (as one reviewer seems to feel).
Moments of great insight punctuate the play's updating. Great remakes (which this is) must feel free to be true to the intent of the original, but creative in the interpretation of the particulars, and the director has some astounding moments--like eliminating extraneous "spear-bearers" from the play and replacing them with faxes, phones, security cameras, newspapers, televisions, etc. It shows how well Shakespeare translates to the modern world, because the feelings and emotions are the same, even if the trappings are different. Shakespeare was adventurous with both words and images, and the director of this film lives up to that intent. As for it being a "stomach churner" as another reviewer says--there is actually less violence in this film then in the original play, and certainly less than say, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, which is basically a "leave your lunch at the door" kind of thing. Bottom line--loosen up, people, and enjoy the new view.
Movie Review: A potent translation
Summary: 5 Stars
With his stunning new vision of the most revered of Shakespeare's plays, director Michael Almereyda has effectively transposed many of the enduring themes of that classic work to our contemporary hi-tech era. Even if you are not very familiar with Shakespeare's plays or have always been confounded by his verse, one can still appreciate this film for the tremendously inventive ways by which Almereyda has interpreted the core scenes of Hamlet in the context of corporate America. His visually striking translation of scenes like Ophelia's drowning and Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy are a delight and true brain candy. The cast is all around superb, with the classically delivered lines from actors Liev Schreiber (Laertes) and Sam Shepard (Ghost) nicely counterbalancing the very contemporary style of delivery from Ethan Hawk (Hamlet), Bill Murray (Polonius), and Julia Stiles (Ophelia).There will no doubt be much comparison between this film and Baz Luhrmann's flashy modern remake of Romeo and Juliet. However, whereas Luhrmann's film ultimately fails in going beyond the boundaries of its visually striking presentation, Almereyda's Hamlet proves to be far more than a mere spectacle for the senses. In fact, this is the serious flaw that plagues most of the films coming from young, talented independent filmmakers these days: all style, no substance. Well, this Hamlet has both. By setting the film deep in the heart of a very real and very modern steel and concrete American jungle like New York City, which is infused with the relics of the mass media and cold capitalistic consumerism, Almereyda powerfully enhances for the audience the sense of the desolation of his characters that results from urban isolation. This is a theme that Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai has so masterfully examined with his films Fallen Angels and Chungking Express. In Hamlet, we get a powerful dose of both Kar-Wai's visual flair and the sensitive, crumbling heart that it sheathes.
Movie Review: The archaic madman has finally become human
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a Shakespeare purist, you are going to hate this movie. There are no theatrical extremes or classical cliches. There is nothing remotely traditional about this presentation of Hamlet. That said, you should know that this is the most artful and humanistic portrayal of Hamlet ever put on film. In this film, Hamlet is neither an inaccessible eccentric nor an Oedipal mess, but a film student, a tortured and lonely artist. Ethan Hawke gives a performance that puts a dark and brooding perspective on a character who is normally portrayed as maniacal. In this movie, Hamlet's madness is buried so far within him that it radiates from the inside out. This is what most "mad" people are really like, and also why Hawke's Hamlet is one that for the first time an audience can actually relate to.
And this new humanity is reinforced by the talented supporting cast. Julia Stiles gives a haunting performance as Ophelia. Kyle McLaughlin and Diane Venora, as Claudius and Gertrude, act with fiery lust toward each other and chilling disdain toward Hamlet. Liev Schrieber gives an incredible bitterness to the role of Laertes. Sam Shepard, as the ghost of Hamlet's father, gives an excellent cameo performance. Even Steve Zahn, much to my surprise, gives a very funny take on Rosencrantz. My only complaint is the casting of Bill Murray as Polonius. He isn't really cut out for Shakespeare, but his prescence could be seen as a sly throwback to Ghostbusters. This is one of many hidden references and clever interpretations in the movie that may go over the heads of some viewers but make the story fresh for those who know it.
I am truly sorry that most of the people who reviewed this movie could not appreciate its ability to be innovative while preserving the ideas and the mood of Shakespeare's play. Maybe it strays too far from tradition to satisfy all audiences. Or maybe they just didn't get it.
Movie Review: Best Hamlet Ever and I've Seen All of the Hamlet Films
Summary: 5 Stars
Director Michael Almereyda's version of "Hamlet" comes in as my top favorite and this is said after seeing Branagh, Olivier and even Gibson do it in films. Every once and awhile I have the wonderful experience of seeing a film on the right side, art side, of my brain. I have no control over when this occurs but when it does, it pulls me right into the movie. I oftentimes am fuzzy about film details after seeing it this way but the intensity of the experience more than makes up for it. I saw this in our local art house theater and my right brain, the art side, was sucked right into the film. I emerged at the end as if in a stupor or drugged; I was that bowled over. Certainly setting the film in high tech New York City at the heartbeat of capitalistic consumerism worked well for me. Perhaps it set the mood for this work though and no one has ever brought out the mood of "Hamlet" as well as it was brought out here. For once, I truly appreciated how depressed, alienated, and isolated Hamlet was from everything and everyone. This has always escaped me in prior filmed versions. The rage is palpable as well throughout. That virtually all of the characters are desolate is well evoked too. Ethan Hawke (Hamlet), Sam Shepard (Father's Ghost), and Bill Murray (Polonius)are all brilliant. I normally like the work of all three and this was no exception. In fact, it is among the best work the three men have done. I realize that many viewers are comparing and contrasting this with Baz Luhrmann's modern remake of "Romeo and Juliet" with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. Although I really enjoyed that movie, I cannot say it was high art so cannot compare the two myself. I really cannot think of any flaws and am excited about seeing it on DVD again.Movie Review: The Prince of all Hamlet Movies for the artistic
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all I don't know if i am watching the same movie as all these others that gave the movie 1 or 2 stars. I came on to see all the praise for this fantastic movie, and instead i saw critcs without open minds, and the slashing of the only Hamlet worth watching. So, i figured i better write a review of my own.
I came in on the middle of this movie when i first saw it, and i was so drawn to it, like a magnet to its attractable surface, that I became enamored and had to watch it. I already liked Ethan Hawke, but after this i became his "fan." It amazes me how much his acting career has matured since Dead Poets Society. I saw his potential there, but here it really shines.
Anyways after that first viewing of the movie it became glued onto my brain and i never forgot it. This movie made me love Shakespeare more than as just the author of Romeo and Juliet. At this point i realized Shakespeare was amazing.
The way they also use the book of Hamlet in modern day New York is not only creative, but also inspiring, and original. If you're kicking the tires of Shakespeare go and watch this unnoticed classic. Trust me, you'll get in and enjoy the ride.