Review of Hamlet (2009) by Amanda C — 26 Feb 2012

This is the first version of Hamlet I've seen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I clearly have not studied enough Shakespeare, because I had no idea what they were saying most of the time, but that didn't matter because they all say it so well.

David Tennant has a wonderful way with language. Fabulously articulate, and beautifully paced, he is absolutely electric. You can't take your eyes off him. He makes fantastic use of his closeups engaging the audience directly, staring straight into the camera and out towards them, drawing you in. It's unsettling and also completely mesmerizing. Patrick Stewart is also fabulous offering a calming dignified counterpoint to Tennant's manic physical energy.

The direction threw me a bit as it's a mix between film and theatre. The staging is very theatrical and fantastic use is made of closeups, but the mix of the two makes it slightly odd to see. Actors are never that still in films and there are rarely such long stretches of a single person speaking while everyone else on screen sits and watches them. As this is from a stage production and there are a ridiculous number of soliloquies in the original text, the director can't be entierly faulted and he should be commended for letting his actors do what they do best and not overshadowing them.

The cinematography is absolutely beautiful. Wonderfully desaturated and bleak. Great use of shadows especially on Tennant's face, making good use of its angles. The mirror motif and the duality of sanity and insanity within a single person was well done, through actual mirrors and the mirrored floor. The security camera inserts were unnecessary. I understand the idea behind them, but it comes across as trying to make it more cinematic, which is unnecessary and pulls focus to how uncinematic this production is. The feeling of surveillance was much better portrayed through the use of two way mirrors and people peeking out from behind curtains and doors.

Overall most of the problems with this production come from treating it as a film, which isn't completely fair as it was conceived as a stage production. Whatever can be said of its filmic shortcomings however, is more than made up for by truly mesmerizing performances that fascinate whether you can follow the text or not.