Hamlet

Rating

Director

Laurence Olivier

Screenplay

Laurence Olivier (Play: by William Shakespeare)

Length

155 min.

Starring

Laurence Olivier, John Laurie, Esmond Knight, Anthony Quayle, Niall MacGinnis, Harcourt Williams, Patrick Troughton, Tony Traver, Peter Cushing, Stanley Holloway, Russell Thorndike, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Norman Wooland, Felix Aylmer, Terence Morgan, Jean Simmons

MPAA Rating

Approved (PCA #12473)

Review

Before Kenneth Branagh, there was Laurence Olivier. Olivier was the embodiment of all things Shakespeare. When he decided to write, direct and star in the bard’s famed play Hamlet,it was undoubtedly going to be a great screen success.

Many said that Olivier could speak the lines of Shakespeare as they were intended to be spoken. Seldom was that more evident than in his production of Hamlet. The opening scenes feature the ghost of Hamlet’s father accusing the king Claudius (Basil Sydney) of murdering him in order to ascend to the throne. As Hamlet struggle sto expose the murder of his father and seek revenge against the man who killed him, he slowly descends into madness.

Hamlet is incredibly dry. We cannot fault Olivier for this. The production is tedious to sit through even when cut down to 155 minutes. The film does its best to present the story as authentically as possible but fails to make the movie entertaining. In this type of setting and production, it’s entirely appropriate for the dialogue to remain largely intact and for the filmmaker to avoid compromising his love for the source material to make some garish spectacle. And the film certainly resonated with the Academy, taking home Oscars for Best Actor and Best Picture along with two other awards.

One can’t sit down to a performance of Hamlet and expect to be filled with laughter like Shakespeare’s comedies. It is a drama of the most serious nature. Tragedies befall the characters with such regularity that it’s difficult to find something humorous in such circumstances. Thus, Olivier’s admirable production remains undeniably slow.

Olivier’s performance as the bard is nothing short of brilliant. He embodies the role with such fervor that it is increasingly difficult to separate the man from the role. In addition to his performance, his hand behind the camera is grasp tightly around the performers, eliciting convincing renderings from each. Eschewing broad sets and dazzling locales, Olivier opts for a more stage-like atmosphere. Though many of the scenes feel like they could be taking place on location, it is quite apparent from the drops and sparse décor that the film was entirely shot on a sound stage.

Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet isn’t a film for every person. Lovers of the works of Shakespeare will certainly enjoy themselves as seldom is there such a stirring rendering ofone of his plays. Hamlet may be difficult to watch from beginning to end without tiring, it is nonetheless a commendable film.

Review Written

October 30, 2006