Hamlet (TV)
2009 · Movie · 182 min. · United Kingdom
Featuring the original stage cast, the drama focuses on Prince Hamlet having decisions to make following the murder of his father, the King, at the hands of his Uncle Claudius, who is now also married to Hamlet's mother. It takes place in a heartless Elsinore of black polished floors and two-way mirrors. From the first soliloquy ("O, that this too too solid flesh would melt..."), Tennant's Hamlet is someone we entirely believe is a wreck and in agonies of grief. There are neat modern touches, too. Ophelia undercuts Laertes's lecture on chastity by pointing out the condoms in his case; Hamlet films the play on a Super-8 camera to capture Claudius's reaction; and when he later kills Polonius, he shoots him through a vast glass panel, the shattered mirror becoming a recurring image. Patrick Stewart provides strong support as Claudius (and the King's ghost) while Oliver Ford Davies is an infuriating Polonius. But in the end it's all about the riveting central performance.
Direction Gregory Doran
Cast David Tennant · Patrick Stewart · Oliver Ford Davies · Mariah Gale · Penny Downie · Edward Bennett · Peter De Jersey · Sam Alexander · Tom Davey · Mark Hadfield · John Woodvine
Soundtrack Paul Englishby
Screenplay William Shakespeare
Cinematography Chris Seager
Original title Hamlet (TV)
7.4
97 votes (FilmAffinity)
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