Hamlet film essay

Name / Class / Date

It seems that a different yardstick is used to critique Shakespeare done on film as opposed to Shakespeare done on stage. Be creative on stage and you are praised. Take your characters out of tights on film and you’re in trouble. (Unless you’re Leonardo DiCaprio – most reviewers who didn’t like this version of Hamlet had among their main reasons that they didn’t like Ethan Hawke, but, really, is there a young, indecisive emo type out there who’s any better? He even looked like Hamlet in Snow falling on cedars!)

The Ethan Hawke film was not particularly well received by reviewers. Most of these ‘experts’ canned it because they didn’t think it was a faithful version. But faithful to what? As we know, Shakespeare’s texts are at their most potent when they are interpreted by someone with an appreciation of his play’s themes and ideas. Understand the themes, interpret them and portray them on stage or screen, and you’re being faithful to the text, not to some notion of what it should be.

I think that when reviewers lambaste a modern interpretation as ‘unfaithful’, they are comparing it to their own favourite film version of the play. So here is the only yardstick that a filmic adaptation of Shakespeare’s work should be judged against: does it get across the themes and ideas of the text?

Which brings me, in roundabout way, to your task:

Critically analyse director Michael Almereyda’s 2000 movie adaptation of Hamlet.

Points to consider (there are, of course, more but start with these).

·  Are the central themes lost or reinforced?

·  Does the setting make sense to you?

·  Is the casting appropriate and convincing?

·  Is there any indication as to target audience and, if so, do you think it is reached by this version?

·  Is the decision to retain the original language a successful one?

·  Is the play’s structure altered and, if so, does that particularly matter?

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‘All this can I truly deliver’ by Troy Clohessy, Caritas College, SA 1