Hamlet
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Movie Reviews of Hamlet
Movie Review: Hamlet for the new millenium
Summary: 4 Stars
I must first quantify this review by stating that I have not seen the very beginning or the very end of this particular version of a true classic. Suffice it to say that on one Sunday afternoon this Shakespeare standard, using every last bit of the classic dialogue, but set in modern New York City, was enough to distract me, for two hours, from my daily chores.Although I am a Shakespeare fan, I do not claim to be an expert in any form. I have always loved the twisted, disturbed, timeless nature of Shakespeare's dramas. This version only succeeded in validifying the timelessness of his art.
While I have always been a fan of the works of the Bard on a very general level, I got so much more out of this version than I ever realized was possible. The modern settings of NYC, corporate culture and modern technology make the original text substantially more understandable than ever before. During my previous viewing (the Mel Gibson version) and readings (high school) I only understood the basics of betrayal and confusion.
From the first moment of viewing this version (which I started watching because I was flipping through the channels and stopped upon seeing Julia Styles, whom I soon realized was portraying Ophilia) I was fascinated. Soon, I saw that Ethan Hawke fully conveyed the persona of a young man on the verge of madness. Kyle MacLachlan played the role of murderous, semi-incestuous Claudius to a tee. At least so far as I can remember. The wonderful actress who plays Gertrude (I'm sorry, I don't know her name) fully related all of Gertrude's dismay and guilt in a manner more complete than I have ever witnessed.
To be totally honest, I reward most of my fresh understanding of the ages-old dialogue to the movie's modern setting. I sincerely hope that high school instructors use this version as a teaching tool. Almereyda's vision is a brilliant transference of a classic to our times. And it works!
Movie Review: Worthy effort, this unique version should be praised
Summary: 4 Stars
I think, before writing this DVD off as a fluke as many people on this review page have done, that everyone should consider the fact that the crew of this movie has done a wonderful job in interjecting the plot of hamlet into a modern day setting. This could not have been easily done. This play has always been meant for a medival/renaissance type setting, but I think this movie is as good or even better than the modern day version of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was more easily adaptable to a modern day setting than Hamlet. I think the director and all the writers of this movie deserve kudos for thier effort, and I think that anyone who loves this great tradgedy such as I, should see this movie. Sure, it is hard to picture Bill Murray in a serious role such as Polonius, but I think he is doing a wonderful job in trying to branch out from comedies, although I think that automatically jumping into a tradgedy such as Hamlet is a little far-fetched. His acting was sort of monotonous though, and it sounded a little bit like he was reading the script for the first time. Out of all the roles, even Ethan Hawke as Hamlet, I thought that Liev Schrebiner as Laertes did the best job in portraying his role, with the possible exception of Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius. Schrebiner did wonderful in portraying Laertes' sorrow for Ophelia's death, and his anguish in coming back from France to find his father dead and his sister mad. The fight scene at the end dissapointed me when he pulled out the gun and shot Hamlet. What was the point of the poison tipped sword then? It was hardly dramatic. It is supposed to be symbolisim when Hamlet kills Claudius with his own poison. It really dissapointed me. I think they did a wonderful job portraying the rest of the scenes in the film, save a few, but overall worthy of your time, as it was mine.Movie Review: Our thoughts are ours, their ends - none of our own...
Summary: 4 Stars
The everlasting masterpiece of Shakespear - the tragedy Hamlet, has always astonished and fascinated me with its plot, characters and their passions, be it M. Gibson's medieval and too theatrical version, K. Brannagh's Victorian overlong adaptation or this exuberant phantasmagoria set against the skyscrapers of NY and its exclusive hotels. This is one of the very rare movies that can boast so well-casted actors: they embody their characters to perfection, and it does not matter what epoch's costumes they are wearing. E. Hawk (Hamlet) and K. McLahlan are especially good as Hamlet and Claudius.
This version mostly follows the classical plot of Hamlet, although some small parts were let out (if included, they indeed were irrelevant to this "modernized" version). True, to see Hamlet's monologue among Blockbuster's video stands implyingly screaming "action" or Ophelia drowning in the pool of Excelsior hotel is weird, and incompatibility between 16th century verse and Armani-clad PC operating characters is eye-striking. Whatever excesses of set pieces design the actors are acting against, I would like to thank the Director for offering us such original decisions.
Thankfully, it's not some action movie with Hamlet operating a machine gun and Claudius being an ugly cartoon villain, it is still the drama of an ordinary person discovering murder and nurturing revenge, but hesitating to face its consequences and afraid of bloodshed.
Still, I'll take down one star for the unconventional editing of the ending (the fencing is still there, but the whole scene lacked depth, to my mind). In general, a very good adaptation of a classic that still moves a modern mind. I wonder what version will be the next? Hamlet plus Star wars? The rest is silence....
Movie Review: Timely and still timeless
Summary: 4 Stars
I read about 40 of the 80 reviews posted here, and I have to say that all of you who are touting the Olivier and Branagh versions over this one are elitist, close-minded snobs. Not to be judgmental, but... It's not a classical interpretation, but what did Branagh have to offer except classically-trained actors and lavish sets? At least Michael Almereyda seems to have a personal connection to the story and a specific take on it, moreso than many past filmmakers who treat Shakespeare like it's the Bible. They play it safe. Almereyda has the guts to bring it down to an everyman level, and he does so in an inspired and organic way.
Yes, there's humor in it. So what? All of you chiding the scene in which the ghost disappears into a Pepsi machine, did it ever occur to you that he's being swallowed up by a corporate logo, which is in keeping with Almereyda's whole vision of the story? It's funny, but what's wrong with complicating the emotions we feel during these scenes? The moments of humor make the tragic ones more hard-hitting than those Hamlets that treat every scene like a maudlin death march.
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet for the masses; he wrote it to be entertaining. He didn't write it so that directors would bow down in front of it and chastise those who don't treat it in the proper, Elizabethan manner.
My point is, lighten up. It's an amazing play, and I give Almereyda credit for recognizing that without being afraid to make it personal and still have fun with it. This version hits me in the gut more than any other purely because it isn't larger than life. It's deceptively simple, and wonderfully realized. The most original, personal and, in many ways, the most complex Hamlet film I've ever seen. Get off your high horses.
Movie Review: An update that works
Summary: 4 Stars
OK, Hamlet has been done. It's been done a lot. A new one has to have something special to attract attention. This one has it.
It's a successful update of the classic story into contemporary Manhattan boardrooms, with the the CEO "royalty" of Denmark, Inc., staying at the luxurious Elsinore hotel. Hamlet himself is an art student, already brooding and edgy by nature. The party at which Ophelia makes her scene is a black-tie affair at the Guggenheim. Ophelia (Julia Stiles) is true to a 2000-era teenaged girl, with sneakers, baggy pants, attitude, and her tummy in the breeze.
A few things fit much too well, like the goons in Claudius' entourage. A few things fit poorly, like Bill Murray. I admit, he makes a serviceable Polonius. The problem is that he's Bill Murray, with "Groundhog Day" and "Osmosis Jones" all over him. A few things are remarkable additions. The "to be or not to be" soliloquy, for example, debates life and death as Hamlet roams the aisles of a video store. On the monitors, in the background, we see "The Crow: City of Angels" DVD playing. It's a movie in which life and death are not the only options, a well-placed echo of Claudius himself.
The original language is all here, even though the cadence falters rather often. The modern idiom of sight and sound, background music included, attaches very well to it.
Ignore the purists and look at the basics: the story is still true and strong, however it's spoken.
//wiredweird