The Fifteen Minute Hamlet

You know how there are a few films or books you got to experience once but they've stayed with you ever after? This is one of those jewels.

Absolutely brilliant writing by the ever esteem-able Tom Stoppard, and the acting by the always solid Austin Pendleton merely enhances the piece.

This was my first exposure to Philip Seymour Hall, and his work herein really made me sit up and pay attention.

The entire premise is simply condensing Shakespeare's Hamlet into fifteen minutes. The first attempt had me rolling, but the second round of condensing Hamlet even further was so brilliant I just sat there with my mouth open.

This is SO worth releasing on DVD....pllllleeeeeaaaassseee?

It's like watching a live performance of the Cliff Notes from Hamlet, only with a sense of humor. All the actors do a wonderful job and the film is a laugh riot from beginning to end. Highest marks!

This short film has stayed true to its theatrical roots and has broken new ground in filmmaking. A director makes a 15-minute film adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which he must cut down several times with hilarious consequences, to its final length of 1 minute.

The first 15-minute version contains almost no cuts, feeling very alive, like its theatrical counterpart. However, the director is no slave to the tripod, moving the camera constantly between sets and actors. The Director also straddles the line between abstract and realistic film, by dressing the set with props relevant to the plot and closing in on them at the appropriate time (my favorite being the ship in the bucket of water which zooms by when Hamlet's sea trip is mentioned).

This short film is a very well choreographed ballet duet between the actors and the camera, both of which dance in and run throughout the well designed sets.

The cast and crew have created an awe-inspiring sequence shot (comparable to Orson Welles' opening to "Touch of Evil", and John Woo's hospital shot in "Hard Boiled."), which opens this film. Hamlet is a hilarious, laugh-out-loud film which is well worth the trouble it might take to find this rarity.

I was watching this on Sundance just to pass the time and became entranced. It's funny until you think about, 'Is this how cruel the movie business is?'

Check it out.

I screened a copy of 15 Minute Hamlet at the New York Comedy Film Festival and after seeing it, thought, this is it. Just about everyone else on the festival staff who saw it had the same reaction. After it made its way through the channels of the festival and into the schedule it was awarded Best Short Film at the inaugural New York Comedy Film Festival. Congrats To Todd, the cast (members of which keep turning up on B'way) and the crew. If you haven't seen this film, YOU MUST.