Review by Lars Lindahl (larsattacks@mail.com)
"Hamlet" (2000) **1/2 (out of four)
Directed by Michael Almereyda Written by MIchael Almereyda from William Shakespeare's play
Starring Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Bill Murray, Sam Shephard, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora, Liev Schreiber, Steve Zahn, and Dechen Thurman.
There have been countless remakes of William Shakespeare's most celebrated drama Hamlet. Everyone from Laurence Olivier to Mel Gibson has stepped into the shoes of the titular character with a fair amount of success. Now indie writer/director Michael Almereyda (Another Girl, Another Planet), with an all star cast, has tried something a little bit different with the bard's masterpiece. The ultimate question facing Almereyda is whether this difference can attract the same viewers who have seen the play filmed to death. Is this play the thing? In many ways, yes. The unique visual flare of the director and the ability of making the story work in a time period it doesn't belong are both reasons to see and enjoy this film. However, many walls stand in the way of perfection.
Meet the new Hamlet; a New Yorker, a loner, a hip stylish artist in his twenties who has lived to see the dropping ball introduce the year 2000. He has a cell phone, a video camera, and a Blockbuster card and he also has a lot on his mind. His father, the "king" of the Denmark Corporation, died and his mother, following the funeral, immediately married his uncle. All of this seems fine until the ghost of Hamlet's father visits him in his apartment and tells him that something evil is going on. Poor, confused Hamlet now doesn't know if he's just imagining the ghost, or if his father was actually betrayed by his own greedy brother.
Although not as witty or impressive as Baz Luhrmann's similarly contemporary Romeo + Juliet, this remake stands out for its overall cleverness in presentation. Very dramatic with periods of laugh out loud humor, Almereyda creates new meanings to words written centuries ago. Some of the scenes will have you wondering how the heck anyone could have thought of something this original. Instead of a theatrical play to determine whether Claudius is guilty or not, Hamlet creates a short film entitled Mouse Trap with blatant images of death, greed, and corruption. The short is memorably funny and makes the film Hamlet much more interesting. There are plenty of satisfying scenes like this which liven up the movie but at some points, it feels like Almereyda takes the easy way out. He leaves out scenes (possibly because they are too difficult to complete?) and he leaves out characters (two talented actors - Jeffrey Wright and Casey Affleck are in the movie for seconds as the gravedigger and Fortinbras, a case of too much editing). But there is more to like than to hate while watching this movie and I guess that's a good thing.
My major complaint is with Almereyda's obsessive use of product placement. Sure, using real companies is another clever way of reminding the audience that this Hamlet is living in the same world as you are, but eventually it becomes very distracting. For example, Hamlet delivers the famous "To be or not to be" speech inside a Blockbuster Video store. The speech is extremely important in understanding exactly how Hamlet is responding to the visits of the ghost or his troubles with girlfriend Ophelia, but the whole time I found myself uncontrollably spotting familiar video boxes in the background or watching the television behind Hamlet's head display previews of upcoming releases. Not once did I look at Hawke and very few times did I hear what he was saying. This happens several times during the movie; by the end I really wanted to rent a video, drink some Pepsi, shop at Key Food, and call Movie-Fone. If this adaptation is paying tribute to Shakespeare's brilliant writing skills by updating it, then why are there so many visual distractions that detract the audience's attention from the script? The visuals are stunning and creative but the text is what has made Hamlet so respected - what has inspired this film to be made in the first place.
The cast left me with several mixed impressions. Despite hearing that Hawke was a disappointment as Hamlet, I found him to be very effective and convincing. You could feel his pain each time he is betrayed (which is about a billion times) and it is very clear that as the film progresses, his character becomes more and more doomed for tragedy. Julia Stiles, as Hamlet's illicit lover Ophelia, is not as successful in her performance. It seemed like her part was much less important than in other versions, maybe because Almereyda cut some scenes or because she put very little life into her role. Either way, I felt very little sympathy for her. Bill Murray is also a bit of a disappointment. It felt like he was reading off cue cards - he would pause after every sentence and look off over the shoulder of his counterpart like someone was feeding him words. The rest of the cast positively contributed to the film: Sam Shephard was brilliant as the ghost, Diane Venora and Kyle MacLachlan ideal as the mischievous relatives Gertrude and Claudius, and Liev Schreiber right on target playing the vengeful Laertes. You have to give credit to these actors no matter how they faired, these roles were very difficult to master. Mixing old lingo with a contemporary background is tough to do.
The most recent Hamlet to add to the voluminous collection of Hamlet's is a near-hit. At some points you will be shocked with entertainment and other points frozen in boredom. Check it out for some decent experimental filming and laugh at Bill Murray doing Shakespeare.
Grade: **1/2 (out of four)
Lars Attacks! A teenager attacks past and present cinema http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/larsattacks
larsattacks@mail.com (c) 2000 Lars Lindahl
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