AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
David tennant hamlet full movie gomovies11/13/2022 ![]() ![]() This 2009 Royal Shakespeare Production productively mines the play for maximum humor but comes up short on emotional punch. With so many Hamlets on film, Williamson’s and Kline’s successes are less fun than the interesting failures below. Kevin Kline: Hamlet 1990.īoth of these performances are solid, intelligent, and affecting. 76% Tomatometer and 59% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. Zeffirelli substitutes his habitual spectacle for any fresh ideas about the play, however. There are strong actors throughout the supporting cast who are interesting in their roles. Gibson’s Hamlet is angry, wounded, and fearful, and he brings off the role well. Mel Gibson: Hamlet 1990.Ī “Mad Max” Hamlet is a piece of stunt casting, but Gibson climbs into the middle of the list by exceeding expectations. My longer review of Cumberbatch’s Hamlet is here. Some clunker performances among the supporting cast and staging a bit heavy on gimmicky spectacle also knock this version down the list. This makes Cumberbatch the most appealing and engaging Hamlet on my list, but it also robs his Hamlet of the philosophical transformation that powers the last third of the play, leaving the end feeling rushed and flat. Benedict Cumberbatch: Hamlet 2015.Ĭumberbatch’s superb Hamlet is marred by the choice of making his Danish prince entirely sane and pretty well adjusted. This version is filmed like the stodgy stage play it is with the occasional rough close-up, for which none of the actors except Jacobi seem prepared. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is uneven and in some scenes, dull. Jacobi’s voice has an extraordinary range of emotional colors, and his acting is often supple and subtle. Derek Jacobi: Hamlet 1980.ĭerek Jacobi plays Hamlet as amazed by his weakness, rather than desperate for strength, and is one of the few Danish Princes who feels like he could actually be the son of a warrior king. 95% Tomatometer and 80% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. And Olivier’s ditzy, hysterical Ophelia – played by Jean Simmons – not only offends contemporary tastes, but also begs the question, “What does Hamlet see in her?” The way his camera stalks the corridors of dark, Freudian Elsinore castle hasn’t aged particularly well. (Could an always-hesitating Hamlet improvise the murder of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or jump into the middle of a battle with pirates?) Olivier edits the text so heavily that the story is unintelligible unless you know it. Olivier is the better actor, and gives a better performance, but his concentration on Hamlet’s indecision makes less sense than Branagh’s choices. 95% Tomatometer and 89% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. The ghost scene in 1.5 is unwatchable, and Branagh stages the climactic duel in action-movie land. Some of Branagh’s directing is very fine (the two-way mirror in “To be, or not to be”) and some of it is not. Branagh films the whole text, and so includes the essential framing character of Fortinbras and allows us to fully see how Laertes and Ophelia together serve as a double for Hamlet. This choice creates a satisfying Hamlet and turns Branagh’s conspicuous habit of overacting into a virtue. Kenneth Branagh: Hamlet 1996.īranagh’s performance swings wildly between Hamlet’s famous indecision and the Danish prince’s other signature (but often overlooked) characteristic: his recklessness. And all this outweighs the serious limitations director John Gielgud faced filming a live performance in a Broadway theater as well as some less than stellar acting in the other roles. The sheer physical stamina of Burton’s work is impressive. When he is funny, Burton is funny without the viciousness or condescension you often see in other performances. His transitions from line to line and emotion to emotion feel like the natural consequence of the previous idea and feeling. Burton plays all of Hamlet’s emotions with extraordinary conviction: grief, fear, doubt, anger, indifference, easy acceptance. Richard Burton wins the title “best Hamlet” with the range, insight, and power of his acting in this filmed stage production. I have also summarized the rankings of other critics from around the internet to give you more perspectives. ![]() Which is the best Hamlet movie? Here are my assessments of the film adaptations of Hamlet I’ve seen ranked in order of personal preference. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |