Hamlet is my favorite chapter of Shakespeare. I see a remarkably high volume of Shakespeare movies and I try to see all of the Hamlets. I don't think this story has ever been told this way before. First of all, it's scary. The scenes with the ghost are authentic to a real ghost story. The musical score helps keep the heightened awareness that it is, in fact, a horror story, throughout the film. That music, the cinematography and the lighting show how lonely Hamlet's world is and it is interesting to note that, as the story progresses and the truth comes out there is more and more light in the scenes until the final scene which is played outdoors in broad daylight. GENIUS. The directors have made the story accessible to even those who may not understand Shakespeare as well as the scholars. They have filmed it in a way that the filmmaking itself is one of the characters of the play, with the same kind of emotional gravitas that you might get from, say, an actor doing a monologue or weeping over the loss of a sister and a father.
And what acting, indeed.
It is difficult to single out any of these actors as exemplary because it feels like a disservice to the other members of the ensemble. And that's what this is: an ensemble. So, to pay proper tribute to the ensemble: Taylor Myers is the possibly the FIRST EVER age appropriate Hamlet I have seen - he is sympathetic, humorous, frenzied, relatable, scary, and heartbreaking. Pat Dwyer is possibly the first actor ever to play all three kings in Hamlet - his Ghost is terrifying, his Player King is poignant and his Claudius is so layered and nuanced as to indicate this actor MUST, one day, play Lear. Yuriy Pavlish is so sharp, so on point as Laertes during his opening scenes, as to make his return to Elsinore all the more heartbreaking as he watches Ophelia disintegrate -- such calamity and anger in the final half hour of the film. Beth Ann Hopkins as Gertrude has a perfect balance of quiet strength as the concerned mother and submissive support as the wife of a strong willed King. Jonathan Hopkins takes Polonius to places he has never gone before, ever, and then does a complete 180 as the Gravedigger. Constantine Malahias as Rosencrantz AND Guildenstern -- TWINS -- effing BRILLIANT and no mistake. Anthony Vaughn Merchant as Horatio absolutely breaks your heart - nobody ever had a more devoted friend and everybody should. And speaking of heartbreak, let's talk about Elise Kibler, the greatest Ophelia you'll ever see. Sorry Kate Winselt, sorry Helena Bonham-Carter. This mad scene will TEAR you UP.
Dan Hasse has created a script for Hamlet that is simply beautifully executed, included a breathtaking device that no Hamlet has ever had before, bringing the audience further into the journey than they probably ever have gone before; then, along with Taylor Myers, with whom he shares a directing credit, he brings this train into the station with ease and a breathtakingly new flair.
I cannot stress, enough, the esteem I have for this new and singular work of art.
Worth. Catching.
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