Hamlet

Hamlet set in the pre-Civil War American South (more or less). Claudius, looks vaguely like a recent US president and talks with an Arkansas drawl. Polonius and Ophelia are Black; Polonius is the mansion's major-domo. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern dress, look, and talk like a couple of Mafiosi. The Ghost is a hoot. Hamlet, who speaks with a Midwestern accent, tends to mumble a bit

The text is straight Shakespeare--not a scene or even a line seems to be missing.

The strange thing about this pastiche is that it's engaging and actually works.

Usually, Americans playing Shakespeare make a hash of the language - see "Much Ado About Nothing" with Keanu Reeve and Robert Sean Leonard for unassailable proof. In this version of "Hamlet", though, Campbell Scott's unassuming, straightforward delivery of some of Shakespeare's most challenging lines is almost flawless. It is not that the American accent is unsuited to dealing with Elizabethan English, it seems, but the tradition of allowing the language to speak for itself is usually lacking with American actors. They seem to need to imbue everything with their own idea of what the character's emotional state should be, which the language, if it is powerful enough, should be able to do all by itself. As a result of seeing this version of "Hamlet", I have had to rethink completely my prejudices about Americans playing Shakespeare.

I collect Hamlets. My premise is it doesn't have to be an uncut "eternity" version to get a good score. This is the best Hamlet I have on my shelf. At 3 hrs (vs the uncut 4), it's just right - not much lost, & a whole lot better than the 2 hr versions.

Campbell Scott plays Hamlet as a man teetering on the brink of insanity. The amazing thing is that he does this in a generally quiet way. He doesn't depend on yelling or racing around to form the character.

Bar none, I have never seen a better Horatio than John Benjamin Hickey. Author Kurt Vonnegut referred to Horatio as a "sane & decent man," & that's exactly how Hickey plays him. He's loyal but softly outspoken, a wonderful contrast to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Watch him in the last few moments of his Prince's life as he gently rocks Hamlet in his arms.

This version avoided two of my pet peeves: Ophelia is not jail bait & Gertrude really was old enough to be Hamlet's mother. It makes me crazy when a 30 year old Hamlet has a 15 yr old Ophelia & a 35 yr old Mom! All in all, this one of the best composite casts I've seen. The approach is definitely different from versions that are more physical (Mel Gibson) or "faithful" to the Bard (Nicol Williamson), but when I first saw this I fell in love with everything except the annoying piano score. There are bits of action unique to this production that will make you catch your breath. I won't give you the details; don't want to ruin the surprises.

Enjoy!

I saw this film at first for the ordinary curiosity. Campell Scott is a good actor and his director work can create a conclusive message about an artistic vision and answer for the Hamlet definition. The final impression- a decorous movie and a subtle adaptation.

A delicate miniature with beautiful reflection. Or a spring butterfly. Accuracy, sensitivity, minuteness, theater experience, respect for play and nice flavor. Result of noble ambition and 29 days. But only a honest film and this fact is not a error of director or actors, fruit of clichés but element of special dross. Hamlet has many masks for a spectator. It is a Laurence Olivier's Hamlet,a Ion Caramitru's Hamlet, a Ethan Hawke's Hamlet, a Mel Gibson's Hamlet and many others Hamlets. They are parts of a huge image- in same time, illusion and reality- not of a acting manner or acting school/stile/conception but of the definition of reader/public.

Two elements of this Hamlet are relevant: Roscoe Lee Browne in beautiful Polonius skin and barefooted prince. It is enough for a TV version who must offers only a poor suggestion about a Hamlet vision, a personal question to the daily anxiety. And the form of a Sunday afternoon film is the best.

In Shakespeare's play, not only Hamlet has more than one side. But here, the supporting characters are one-dimensionalized. Polonius, who a generation ago was often played as too silly, is played as too dignified; his speech seems not to wander but to march triumphantly on thin air. Claudius misses the chance in the prayer scene to show a private self appreciably unlike his public self. And Ophelia does the mad scene without any development or continuity of feeling. It's a good contrast to Hamlet's madness-- he's possessed; she's, as it were, dispossessed-- but that's all it is; neither she nor anyone else really counterbalances Campbell Scott's Hamlet. It's a good, energetic, intelligent but lonely performance.