#school report

As an introduction, I have read and analyzed the original play by William Shakespeare. I have already seen this adaptation (only once before). If I were someone going blind into either watching the in-person play or the adaptation, I would be very confused, but I was not. However, I believe that watching the play as a film would help tremendously with a general understanding of the text. It is not necessary, but it helps, and I will explain that later.

Viewing “Hamlet” as a film instead of a play is, admittedly, not much different than seeing it as a play. However, the use of cameras, cinematography, and other locations for background sets is a big help for an understanding of the text. Also, seeing that I saw this adaptation on a streaming service, Amazon Prime, I had the option to watch with subtitles, and I did. This also helps, as you can read along with what the actors are reciting. Rather, if you went to see “Hamlet” as a play, there would be no way to read along (unless you brought the text with you) and enjoy the performance at the same time.

I enjoyed this adaptation very much. David Tennant is stunning as Hamlet, playing his character with a definite madness and sadness that is much needed for the role. (As an aside, I remember getting chills when he looked into the camera and said quite calmly, with a malicious glee in his eyes and a wide smile on his face, “O, most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, most damned villain!” This is one of many outstanding acting moments from Tennant. Here’s the link if you want to see this part: https://youtu.be/FARSwD0a3DA .) Tennant completely sells his performance and is the driving force behind the play. However, we cannot gloss over the many other actors and performances that are worthy of praise here: The acting all around is outstanding. We can tell that, even if we may not know what they are saying, they do. They understand the text so well, so they can act it, not just say it. Edward Bennett plays Laertes wonderfully, and Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius is absurd, funny, over-the-top, and contradictory. Davies especially as Polonius is exactly how I imagined the character to be played. Stewart as both Claudius and King Hamlet is impressive as well - two brothers, two drastically different personalities. He plays King Hamlet with definite anger and hatred, and Claudius with a too pleasant, sickly sweet deception. (This addition, of one actor playing two drastically different characters, but also two brothers, makes the “Have you eyes!?” scene a little funny, since Hamlet is comparing one to a god-like figure like Mercury or Hyperion, and the other to a “satyr”, but it’s funny because they look the same.) This would also be a little confusing, however, to anyone who has not read the play’s original text. Gertrude’s actress, Penny Downie, is gorgeous and puts on a mask of denial, making herself seem very happy and nonchalant, but gives off a feeling of uneasiness as well, and, during the “Have you eyes?!” scene, begins to succumb to madness and grief herself. Mariah Gale as Ophelia is tragic, but in a good way: she is wonderful as this beautiful but utterly hopeless romantic who, at her peak performance, goes mad with grief over the loss of her father (Polonius). Her acting is excellent. However, Horatio’s actor, Peter de Jersey, does okay with what he’s given, but due to the lack of real emotion from him, his lines and performance fall a little flat in my opinion.

The technical aspect of this film is the cinematography, lighting, and camera work, as this is a made for television movie adaptation. Most of this play is filmed in only one room - the throne room of the castle where Hamlet and his family live. However, the fact that this play is mostly shot in one room is quite hard to realize (and that’s a pretty cool thing!), because every scene is filmed in such a way that you cannot realize it! The cameramen, the director, and the lighting workers all worked together to film every shot differently in this throne room, utilizing camera angles, lighting, fog machines, and set decorations to make it seem like a different place each time! I noticed this during Hamlet’s confrontation with his father’s ghost, and also with the play scene where Hamlet tries to get Claudius to unknowingly confess his sins to everyone. The camera work also helps with individual performances, especially at moments of realization or fear, or emphasis on who is speaking or who the most attention is to be placed upon. Whereas during a play, you would not get this kind of emphasis - everyone in the scene would be standing in one room, on one stage, with only one “camera angle”: your own eyes. During most scenes, the camera stays still on its dolly, but at times of distress and uneasiness, it moves off the dolly completely (for example, during the “Swear’t!” scene) or moves around in a circle (“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king!”.

There is, however, an aspect to the film that I didn’t find to be all that useful: as this is a more modern adaptation of “Hamlet”, the director, set designer, and cinematographer decided to use security cameras as an added “modern” effect. Ultimately, this addition does nothing to make a difference in what you’re seeing. They add nothing to the plot (aside from when Hamlet notices that Claudius and Polonius are spying on him while he’s arguing with Ophelia). I didn’t understand why they added this. However, I did like how the cameras could not pick up an image of the ghost of King Hamlet during Act One, Scene One.