Dr Who does does Shakespeare once more in the BBC version of the Royal Shakespeare company of the story of what is rotten in Denmark. This time out it's David Tennant as Hamlet. He is ably supported by Patrick Stewart as his Uncle and his father.
A serviceable version of the play, It's the performances that make this a must see. Tenenant is amazing as Hamlet. He's a force of nature and gives the sort of performance that you can't help but watch, whether you want to or not. In all honesty my interest in this version came and went and there was a couple of times where I considered turning it off however watching Hamlet dismantle made stopping the DVD not an option.
The equal of Tennant was Patrick Stewart as both Hamlet's uncle the king and as the ghost of the Hamlet's murdered father. Talk about being intense.
For me the problem with the production is that as good as the performances are, most of the characters fail to register. I think the problem is that this version is too focused on the father/son and stepfather/ stepson issues to work out side of those narrow confines....
...actually I think the problem is that the two leads are so strong that they unbalance the rest of the play to the point where everything else is kind of laid waste.
That statement would kind of make you think that I'm ambivalent or hesitant to recommend the film, and that's not the case. This is really good film version of Hamlet, the trick is that you have to understand going in that the strength of the film is all about the performances. I wouldn't want to direct anyone who wanted a great understanding of the play to this (That would be to yesterday's full version)
No comments:
Post a Comment