Hamlet (2009)

Some things I liked some I did not.

Purely Joyful Movie!

Dreadfully Boring

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

the way Patrick Stuart and David Tennant portray their roles as superb role in this production. another Hamlet. decent, interesting. but far to seduce. the acting is OK and the new elements are not bad but scene by scene something seems missing. the pressure of role for David Tennant, the filming angles, Patrick Steward who is not more than a Cladius as too many others are causes for to define it only as a good job. such a good TV film. Both actors are both really good at portraying different roles with in the film. Hamlet is one of the best productions made for the BBC and it is diffidently a 5 star out of 5 star

Incest, Ghosts, Revenge, Death. This movie has it all, and the dysfunctional royal family is the start of it all. Most notably, "King" Claudius. Actually everyone should point fingers at him. Even the ghost did, which is reasonable because the spectre happens to be the real King Halmet. David Tennent is a phenomenal actor because he plays a Hamcrazy character that can turn from serious to "off his rocker" in a matter of a few lines. His soliloquy is lengthy and spot-on with Shakespearean's original motives. Tennent's character, Hamlet, is a Dutch prince bent on revenge for his fathers death. Not only did he suspected the new king, his own uncle, to be the murderer, but he has an extreme distaste for his mother, who was married to the now dead king, to marry his uncle a minute after the original king's "death." So yeah, this family is a dysfunctional as you can get. Speaking of the sinful Claudius, of the devil actually, by him betraying and offing his brother, he sets forth a chain of events that eventually gets everyone that has a name killed. Well, except for two lucky characters but we'll get to that later. Unfortunately, most of the bloodshed happens near the end so save your bloodlust for later. Patrick Stewart, who plays Claudius, already has a strong background in acting with the X-men movie series and the Star Trek TV series on his resume. So he's a very capable actor and it shows in this movie. Playing the role of a kind-hearted king who has dark secrets was not easy and Picard, I mean Patrick pulled it off with aplomb. After Claudius was semi-exposed by semi-crazy Hamlet, he started becoming a big dutchkill and wanted Hamlet gone out of his castle. Penny Downie plays Gertrude that is basically in the movie just for the incest set-piece. Horatio, Hamlet's best friend, is the luckiest guy in the world to live in that castle and somehow not end up dead. Almost (wink). Robert Curtis, who plays Fortinbras, is such a good actor that he was Fortingone for the entirety of the movie. There's no need because he is a Norwegian prince that can do what he wants, wage wars, and take over thrones of other countries. This movie's target audience would be Britons, conquering princes, murdering kings, incestuous Queens, Shakespeare fanboys, the 16th century, and English teachers across the world.

One wonders if this Shakespeare play has been over done in the film department. If you type it into IMDb it comes up with 73 links under the title (though some may be repeats or attempted sequels). However, the main ones that come to mind are the Kenneth Branagh version and the Mel Gibson version. This version, however, was originally performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (I have seen their version of a Midsummers Night Dream, and it was brilliant) and they decided to bring the actors from the stage play and make a TV version of it. I didn't know that this version existed until I searched Amazon and what caught my attention was that Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard and Professor X) as well as David Tennant (Dr Who) had taken major roles in the production.We all know about Hamlet, and a lot can be said of the play itself, however I do not intend to go over old ground here but rather focus on the production itself. I must say that it was brilliant. While it has a modern setting, the setting actually takes a back seat to the play itself. This, to me, is a sign of a brilliant production as the setting simply takes a backdrop and adds colour to what is essentially one of Shakespeare's most popular works. This is something that did not happen with Ian McKellan's Richard III.There were a number of aspects that attracted me to the film, one of them being the extensive use of security cameras. It almost created a similar feel to Paranormal Activity, though the cameras were used sparingly. The second aspect was the shattered mirror. It was the shattered mirror that really caught my attention, and then after Polonius is shot, the shattered mirror seems to dominate the play from that point. We are constantly taken past it and to me this is suggestive of one of the major themes in the play, and that is how Claudius' world is falling apart. His dream of stealing the kingdom from his brother is shattered by Hamlet who is burning up inside with anger towards Claudius. Once again, it is not that Claudius stole the throne, but rather that he killed his father and married his mother.One of the reviews that I read suggested that David Tennant successfully shed the character of Dr Who in this film, however I must disagree. While I thought Tennant played the role very well, in a number of cases his madness reflected the eccentricity of the doctor. This is not surprising as I suspect that each of the actors that play the Doctor tend to bring bits of their own personality into the role so while they may go off and do other things, that aspect of their character that they took into the role of Doctor Who will tend to stick to them. However, with the exception of Peter Davidson, many of the actors that played the Doctor never really went onto anything afterwards.As for Patrick Stewart, he is brilliant. He plays a very calm and collected Claudius. While at first when Stewart began to take on other roles after Star Trek one would chuckle and think, 'gee, Captain Picard', I do believe he does not carry that stigma with him. Further, when one realises that Stewart is a Shakespearian actor more than the star of a Science-fiction soap opera, one begins to appreciate his acting skills.When it comes to Hamlet, it is not the play, the plot, or the theme that will carry the movie because we all know the play (or I hope we do). No, it is the actors and their portrayal of the characters that carries the plays. As mentioned about, the background can help, but in many cases the background should really stay in the background, unless it helps to emphasise and reflect the themes in the way that the shattered mirror in this version does.

I lived in the UK during the production of this Hamlet, but, alas, tickets were sold out. When I found it was filmed, I was ecstatic. A long time fan of Patrick Stewart and David Tennant, I had high hopes. However, I was blown away by this film. Those who have complained about Tennant's acting skills are treating him as the Doctor starring in Hamlet. Tennant's portrayal is one of my favorites. Here is the Hamlet I've read, a young man with a terrible knowledge searching for answers and guidance. His "To be or not to be" was chilling. Patrick Stewart as Claudius is soft-spoken and deadly. He gave me shivers. Here is a man who looks like your uncle (to use one reviewers words), but would kill you in a moment. If I had one complaint, the actress portraying Ophelia was an obvious let-down. I'm not a big fan of Ophelia and this actress seemed to be struggling with the character. Her "mad" scene was painful to watch. So, I had to give this 9 stars. Excellent production. Great set, acting, and atmosphere. I loved it.