tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post5091296742377065540..comments2024-02-06T23:18:42.946-08:00Comments on Shakespeare Calling: Who's There? Hamlet in HamletRuby Jandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12107354716859269385noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-64448908902940804532022-04-20T05:05:44.744-07:002022-04-20T05:05:44.744-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-81632850120107229472013-04-29T04:39:11.304-07:002013-04-29T04:39:11.304-07:00I would dearly love to see this version but nobody...I would dearly love to see this version but nobody seems to have it. Thanks for these links too!Ruby Jandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12107354716859269385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-67216663537287663982013-04-29T04:37:51.386-07:002013-04-29T04:37:51.386-07:00Thanks for all the links! They will be interesting...Thanks for all the links! They will be interesting to check out. I hope you add comments to each of the movies I review as they come up on the movie blog. I'll add my comments there.Ruby Jandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12107354716859269385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-7751759512399203712013-04-29T04:34:27.769-07:002013-04-29T04:34:27.769-07:00Other than small details about which versions are ...Other than small details about which versions are the best/worst etc we are in complete agreement :-) Especially about us being poles apart! And that it will be great fun. I really hope that many other blog visitors - both Shakespeare Calling and the movie blog - will join the discussion - don't be shy! My review on the Olivier version should be up next week I hope and all the others in turn. Mel and Ethan went up yesterday.<br />PS Of course my complaint about Olivier's mountains is petty but that's the first thing I shouted out when watching it - it came from the heart :-) Now on to the next comment...Ruby Jandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12107354716859269385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-42577104066191227322013-04-28T10:21:37.484-07:002013-04-28T10:21:37.484-07:00There wasn't enough space left for this one.
...There wasn't enough space left for this one.<br /><br />"Gamlet" (1964). "Hamlet" in Russian is weird to the extreme, but this one has not become classic for nothing. Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy is a superb Dane from the brooding and introverted school. The other star is the director Grigory Kozintsev (who later made also a terrific "King Lear", albeit with another actor in the title role) who creates a hauting visual symphony in black-and-white, perhaps inspired by Welles and Olivier but no less original. Music by Dmitri Shostakovich. There's little on YT, sadly:<br /><br />Hamlet and the Ghost:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp5Rz0LqUSM<br /><br />Hamlet and Yorrick:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRO9BAGN3qA<br /><br />The inset play:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4xI8yZFXk<br />Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16093061780494131162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-54313014296842644562013-04-28T10:19:25.901-07:002013-04-28T10:19:25.901-07:00By way of conclusion, I may briefly state why Hawk...By way of conclusion, I may briefly state why Hawke, Kline and Branagh are the Hamlets I feel I will return least often to, and add a few words about four versions not mentioned above. <br /><br />Kevin and Kenneth share one grave fault: too much ham. I like ham, especially with eggs, but shouting maniac is not my idea of Hamlet. Both have some terrific moments, of course, especially Kenneth whose movie, moreover, is as visually amazing and textually complete as no other (least of all Kevin's cave-like production), but taken as a whole neither appeals to me strongly enough to say at the end something as meaningful as "WOW".<br /><br />As for Ethan, I actually like the guy a lot (perhaps for sentimental reasons because "White Fang" is a childhood favourite of mine, but that's another story). I think he is an excellent Hamlet, but I am considerably disappointed with just about everything else in this movie. Nobody from the supporting cast is any match for Ethan, to begin with; the abridgment and re-arrangement, though skilful enough as far as continuity is concerned, sometimes border on butchery and farce; last but not least, Almereyda's modern setting lacks the power and the originality of Luhrmann's and Loncrain's whose "R&J" and "RIII", respectively, are still my standard how plays should modernized. They fulfil the two ultimate conditions that every such treatment should meet: 1) aesthetic appeal of its own; 2) increased dramatic intensity compared to the original setting. Almereyda's attempt fulfils only the first condition - and only to some extent. <br /><br />Additional versions:<br /><br />"Hamlet at Elsinore" (1964), recently released on DVD for the first time, shot on location as evident from the title, and including a tantalising cast such as a very young and very handsome Christopher Plummer (Hamlet), the only Shakespearean incarnation of Michael Caine (Horatio), and - I'd love to see <i>that</i>! - Robert Shaw (Claudius), this must be fascinating. I haven't seen it, because it's a bit hard to come by. You can obtain some idea from the several scenes on YT:<br /><br />Hamlet and Ophelia:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN0y2OAesYE<br /><br />Hamlet and Getrude:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d4-r0oCmYw<br /><br />To be, or not to be:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ay2I7py3Og<br /><br />"Hamlet" (1969) with Nicol Williamson as the most sardonic Hamlet ever captured on film, a very young Anthony Hopkins as a lusty Claudius, gorgeously blue-eyed (but horribly white-faced) Judy Parfitt as an equally lusty Gertrude, Marianne Faithfull as an Ophelia with a sense of humour, and Mark Dingam as a classic Polonius in the "old fool" style. It's available complete on YT, so you can watch all of it for free:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN0y2OAesYE<br /><br />NB. Please be warned that: 1) it's extremely fast-paced (it's amazing how much of the play they could squeeze in two hours); and 2) Tony Richardson has some bizarre ideas of direction, for example extreme fondness of close-ups.<br /><br />"Hamlet" (1964) with Richard Burton as the most feverish, hectic, and hysterical Hamlet ever captured on film, in this case a crude b&w footage shot during a performance in front of a live audience. Memento from Burton's legendary Dane on Broadway in 1964. Fascinating opportunity to compare Eileen Herlie's Gertrude with the one she played 16 years earlier for Olivier. Hume Cronyn is the most hilarious Polonius I know. Linda Marsh is a terrible Ophelia, neither smart nor pathetic. A good deal of it is on YT:<br /><br />To be, or not to be:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsrOXAY1arg<br /><br />O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxV1SgCwruI<br /><br />Hamlet and Polonius:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l93LR6Sw75Q<br /><br />Hamlet and the Ghost (John Gielgud, no less, who also directed)<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Nq7sFE3VY<br /><br />Final scene:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZZBZL75cmM<br /><br />Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16093061780494131162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-29198423390746352542013-04-28T09:32:34.177-07:002013-04-28T09:32:34.177-07:00These days I have been on a kind of Hamlet diet, s...These days I have been on a kind of Hamlet diet, so it occurred to me to set the stage for our future discussions of the different movie versions which we may continue under the respective posts on the Movie Blog. This looks like a nice place for an overview.<br /><br />As long as nobody takes it seriously, this is going to be a remarkable debate. As usual, Ruby and I inhabit, if not different planets, certainly the different poles of one planet. Olivier's "Hamlet" is the worst she has ever seen (I'm correct in asserting this, aren't I?), and Branagh's is - well, it's <i>not</i> the worst I have ever seen, but it is among my least favourite adaptations (surpassed in this sad contest by Kline and Hawke only). To set the wheels in motion, I must say that the objection against the mountains in Olivier's movie strikes me as petty. Unrealistic it may be, but it is certainly not illogical. This is like saying that Shakespeare's play is fake because there never was such a guy as Hamlet in Denmark's entire history.<br /><br />I have yet to revisit Jacobi (because I've seen it only once and a long time ago) and to see Tennant for the first time (he looks very promising on excerpts level), but from the rest eight adaptations one firm conclusion can be drawn immediately. All of them have <i>something</i> to offer, each one is worth seeing at least once, probably more than that. The play is so overwhelmingly powerful and complex - that it can survive everything, however hideous, and what's more, it can - and does - benefit from bewildering diversity of interpretations, especially but not only in regard to the Prince.<br /><br />The greatness of "Hamlet" is also its curse. There's no such thing as perfect or definitive "Hamlet". There never was, there never will be. Only mediocrity enjoys perfection and definitive interpretations. If I am forced to choose but one "Hamlet" for my desert-island exile, yes, you guessed right, I'll go with Olivier's. It is not perfect. Far from it. It has a host of defects, some are function of the times (the cuts, some of them rather disfiguring), and some are there by Larry's insistence (those lame pro-Oedipal kisses with Gertrude that so much dilute an otherwise much more fascinating relationship). It is just the version I like best, mostly if not entirely for sentimental reasons.<br /><br />Maybe the curse is a blessing in disguise. No definitive version means - well, it means more versions, more friendly arguments, more fun. It may also mean more spiritual profit for everyone of us.<br /><br />Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16093061780494131162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-60778837111519346692013-04-08T03:23:49.812-07:002013-04-08T03:23:49.812-07:00So glad you found it and enjoyed it so much. The f...So glad you found it and enjoyed it so much. The full movie review will be showing up on the movie blog in a few weeks. I'm slowly catching up. But we seem to be in happy agreement this time!Ruby Jandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12107354716859269385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763524608484932801.post-44412038207840622112013-04-01T14:44:59.755-07:002013-04-01T14:44:59.755-07:00I have had the pleasure of seeing "Hamlet&quo...I have had the pleasure of seeing "Hamlet" with Adrian Lester and was mightily impressed with the man. This is definitely not Brook's "Hamlet". It's Adrian Lester's. It matters not that he looks like he's going to plunge into some of Bob Marley's greatest hits. Understated but very subtle and altogether extremely powerful performance. It will repay re-visiting. Fabulous diction, too; one could easily take a dictation and write down the whole part (or what's left of it).<br /><br />In the beginning I was unpleasantly surprised by the heavy abridgement and the vast liberties taken the play, but this wore off rather quickly. The cutting is actually supremely well done, hardly noticeable if one is not intimately familiar with the original. If Peter Brook is responsible for this, as I suppose he is, this is his greatest contribution to this production. <br /><br />I have always liked productions which emphasize the personal struggles of the characters, meanwhile dispensing with the largely irrevelant (and not terribly prominent, let's admit) politics. It's been seriously suggested that politics in "Hamlet" - as well as in "Lear", by the way - really matter so much that one just can't cut them without an irreparable loss. I think this is tosh. Politics are just a spice, not the main dish.<br /><br />I also loved the international cast. An Indian Ophelia is a very fresh touch indeed. Another clever one is to have the old Hamlet and Claudius played by the same actor; this eliminates any part that physical attraction may have played in Gertrude's infatuation, so makes the situation more interesting. Rosenkrantz (or was it Guildenstern? always confuse these two) is a very exotic-looking fellow, too.<br /><br />No one from the supporting cast is any match for Adrian Lester. But, then again, no other character is any match for Hamlet either. All give good performance - except, I agree, the rather dull Gertrude. But it's Adrian's show all right. Shakespeare wanted it that way, and so did Brook. Terrific interpretation, hard to find but worth searching for. Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16093061780494131162noreply@blogger.com