Hamlet - Laurence Olivier
It’s a great story – it’s Shakespeare. The performances are a bit over the top, with some very strange directions taken.
There is an odd title at the start explaining the play in layman’s terms – this feels very pointless because if they feel that you need this title card to understand then you are not going to understand.
Overall I like this story but Hamlet undermines himself by putting additional criteria on the revenge. First, he has to be sure – to show the guilt.
Then he has to ensure that his uncle goes to hell (or purgatory) where his father is. All of these steps cause chaos and destruction around him – but I guess we wouldn’t have the play otherwise.
And it does make sense for Hamlet’s character to act this way. The intro title screen is also read out aloud – and ends with this is a story about a man who could not make up his mind.
There is a little more to it than that. Once again it is dumbing it down and I can’t understand who they think their audience is if they are watching Hamlet but also need those titles to make sense of the story.
The first time we meet all the characters is at a council meeting and Hamlet’s mother is a super bitch – wondering why he is still so upset about his father’s death.
The scene ends with them having a full-mouth kiss in farewell. This is one of the weird decisions that was made. It is not the only time that Hamlet kisses his mother full on the mouth.
The Laertes and Ophelia scene is fantastic as he lectures her on how to behave in an honorable manner with Hamlet and she gives it right back to him. Jean Simmons gives us one of the best Ophelia’s I’ve seen.
The ghost scene was impressive because they would have had little access to anything resembling special effects. But the mist and sound design work great in creating a spooky ghost.
The hard use of Ophelia by her father to prove Hamlet’s insanity is heartbreaking to watch. Unfortunately, the soliloquy was meh.
The play within the play was good as usual but what was interesting in this interpretation was the whole court was focused on the king’s reaction rather than just Hamlet and Horacio.
The next interesting direction is during the duel at the end between Hamlet and Laertes. The king tries to serve Hamlet the poisoned cup and it looks like his mother realizes that it is suspect and drinks it herself.
It is almost as if she has decided that all is up and she will now commit suicide to save her son. But it is all in vain. This is an interesting take as most of the time she ends up with the cup in error.
I’m not sure what the goal is at the end of Hamlet to carry his body off at the end. In this version, it is way too long. We see him taken through the castle and up onto the parapet where he meets the ghost – completely unnecessary.
