A One Mann’s Movies Film Review of “Hamlet” (2024).
Note that Hamlet will be available on DVD, Blu-ray & Digital Download from 8th April! And the disc cover has my quote on it, as above!
The Covid lockdown in 2020 did a lot of damage to the performing arts in the UK, but none more so than to theatres. One of the productions severely disrupted was Sean Mathias’s “Hamlet” at the Theatre Royal Windsor and acknowledgement of this is recognised in the opening titles for this quirky film version of the play.
Unlike the illustrious Mrs Movie Mann, I’m not particularly an expert Shakespeare scholar, but I have seen multiple versions of “Hamlet”. And this one really connected with both of us.
The film will be available FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY in UK cinemas on 27th February 2024, so book early to avoid disappointment!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
It’s Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”… Surely, that’s enough!
Certification:
UK: 12; US: NR. (From the BBFC website: “Moderate violence, language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Ian McKellen, Jonathan Hyde, Jenny Seagrove, Francesca Annis, Steven Berkoff, Emanualla Cole, Alis Wyn Davies.
Directed by: Sean Mathias.
Written by: Adapted for the screen by Sean Mathias, based off the William Shakespeare play.
Twitter Handle: #Hamlet.
Running Time: 1h 57m.
“Hamlet (2024)” Film Review:
Positives:
- Sean Mathias has delivered a quirky Hamlet for those with a shorter Shakesperian attention span. Kenneth Brannagh’s 1996 Hamlet came it at over 4 hours. And I remember sitting and watching Andrew Scott in his brilliant London stage version (where, as an aside, I was delighted to meet Bill Nighy in the audience!): that was about the same length. But this abridged version comes it at under half of that. While the omissions may annoy Shakespeare purists, it means that the action moves along at a hell of a lick, which I really enjoyed.
- An 84 year-old Sir Ian McKellen playing Hamlet? When his ‘mother’ Gertrude (Jenny Seagrove) is only 66? Yes, it defies logic, but McKellen shows such expertise with the role that this age-blind version just works. He shimmers in the role and is clearly having fun so we have fun too. Looking back at his interesting web page, McKellen went on tour with an equally quirky production in 1970/71 where, in The Times review of March 29th 1971, one critic dismissed it as “damned teenage twaddle” and McKellen was “pleased to be thought of as a teenager”. There’s no danger of that here! But with age comes great wisdom and even greater acting prowess.
- The supporting performances are also terrific: Jonathan Hyde as Claudius; Jenny Seagrove as Gertrude; the great Steven Berkoff as Polonius, Emmanuella Cole as Laertes and particularly Alis Wyn Davies as Ophelia. Davies has such wonderfully expressive eyes, and here she delivers the definitive Ophelia in mad rock-chick form. It was a scene that moved me to tears.
- How do you use a theatre (in this case, the Theatre Royal Windsor) during lockdown? The answer is that you turn it into a film set. Every bit of the theatre, from the dressing rooms, to the stage, to the auditorium, to the gents toilets gets used for different scenes. When the ghost (a spooky, gender-blind Francesca Annis) ‘walks the battlements’ it is the roof of the theatre that they are striding across. The film actually opens with a baffled McKellen trying to get into the theatre from the deserted street outside, complete with spooky apparitions on the stairwell. It brilliantly sets the mood for the piece.
Negatives:
- As above, this is an abridged version of the play, so purists may turn their noses up at it.
- My main criticism would be why it is only getting a single night cinema release, limiting the number of people that can go and see it.
Summary Thoughts on “Hamlet (2024)”
Sean Mathias has turned upside down your expectations of how Hamlet should be done with this stunning and contemporary age-blind, colour-blind and gender-blind version. It’s simply stunning. Try to see it on the big screen.
Trailer for “Hamlet (2024)”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_SyDYUZmow .
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