The best Hamlet?

[Janine]

My pleasure Nick.

blah blah blah....

I am currently watching Ken Branagh's "Henry V"...he's the best Henry V ever! Oh no, did I open another can of worms???

[kelby_lake]

Janine, I think the actress is Eileen Herlie . I don't remember the name, but that's a name on the cover of my dvd, and I know the lovely Jean Simmons was Ophelia, so it must be her.

Yeah, it is Herlie

[WICKES]

You left out John Gielgud. For me whoever plays Hamlet has to have an upper class English accent. I couldn't sit through a Hamlet played by someone with an American accent.

[NickAdams]

You left out John Gielgud. For me whoever plays Hamlet has to have an upper class English accent. I couldn't sit through a Hamlet played by someone with an American accent.

Do you think that a Danish accent would be more proper?

[DanielBenoit]

Laurence Oliver, always. Seeing that film was one of the greatest film experiences of my life, though maybe it was because I was experiencing Shakespeare's greatest play for the first time. I remember, I ws thirteen, I had read quite a bit of Shakespeare without realizing that I had never read or seen Hamlet. Since I wanted to experience this great play rather than read it (as I had done with Macbeth) I decided to rent Oliver's version. I watched it, and though I must admit that about 98% of my reaction was based on the greatness of Shakespeare's words, I was utterly mezmerized by the whole thing, including the flawless peformances and the perfect rendering of the masterpiece.

Had I not seen it that way, I probably wouldn't love the film so much, but I treasture it so much that it is undoubtably one of my fifteen or twenty favorite films. One thing that I found quite special was the slightly minimalistic noir sets of the castle, which were far from extravigent and really did seen to reflect Hamlet's state of mind. The bright and wonderous colors of Branaugh's version is what bothered me, as well as the ghost. No ghost of Hamlet's father has ever been done better.

[DanielBenoit]

As far as film goes, I would have to go with Ethan Hawke. Does he embody the staples of Hamlet as we know him? I don't know, but his performance is the only one that doesn't seem like it would be better suited for the stage.

I know, I know. Shakespeare's works are and are only suited for the stage and any purely cinematic rendering is doomed to be unfaithful to his language. Sure novels can be adapted well, but I have absolutley no faith in adaptations of works like The Divine Comedy or Paradise Lost, the power of the work is all too much lost when translated into the language of cinema. Novels are just an exception since they are more adaptatble than narrative poems. But plays are by far the most adaptable, but the only problem is, is that to make a purely cinematic rendering of a play, especially in the case of Shakespeare, comes out almost the same had it been done on stage. Films like 12 Angry Men or Oliver's Hamlet are exceptions since they are so well acted and directed.

In the end, yes the Hawke version is the most cinematic, but even then I found the film awkward. The modern setting of New York for Denmark and buisness executives in place for the king seemed all too weird and out of place. Me being so obsessed with dialects found the iambic parameter in this modern New York setting extremely bothering. Besides, who the hell got the bright idea to get Ethan Hawke to play Hamlet?

Btw, this just made me think, would Daniel-Day Lewis not make a great Macbeth?

[NickAdams]

We missed one of the most interesting choices for Hamlet: To be or not to be ...

One thing that I found quite special was the slightly minimalistic noir sets of the castle, which were far from extravigent and really did seen to reflect Hamlet's state of mind.

It does have a great tone.

I know, I know. Shakespeare's works are and are only suited for the stage and any purely cinematic rendering is doomed to be unfaithful to his language. Sure novels can be adapted well, but I have absolutley no faith in adaptations of works like The Divine Comedy or Paradise Lost, the power of the work is all too much lost when translated into the language of cinema. Novels are just an exception since they are more adaptatble than narrative poems. But plays are by far the most adaptable, but the only problem is, is that to make a purely cinematic rendering of a play, especially in the case of Shakespeare, comes out almost the same had it been done on stage. Films like 12 Angry Men or Oliver's Hamlet are exceptions since they are so well acted and directed.

In the end, yes the Hawke version is the most cinematic, but even then I found the film awkward. The modern setting of New York for Denmark and buisness executives in place for the king seemed all too weird and out of place. Me being so obsessed with dialects found the iambic parameter in this modern New York setting extremely bothering. Besides, who the hell got the bright idea to get Ethan Hawke to play Hamlet?

Btw, this just made me think, would Daniel-Day Lewis not make a great Macbeth?

I really enjoy Hawke's blah-blah-blah delivery (no sarcasm) and his mockery during the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Hawke's Hamlet is a smart-a$$ and I think it's he's behavior more than anything that entertains me. He's a spoiled brat; it's Hamlet in Gossip Girl.

Daniel-Day Lewis would be amazing. After watching closer, I really wanted to see Clive Owen as Macbeth. I'm not sure about Ray Winstone's range, but it's a curiosity.

[kasie]

It's going a bit off-track, but I agree, NickAdams, Clive Owen could make a good Macbeth - but you should have seen Patrick Stewart's Macbeth at Chichester/London a couple of years ago: he was electrifying.

I'm set for the week-end, however - my David Tennant Hamlet dvd has arrived. (OK, I know I watched it over Christmas on tv, but you can't have too much of a good thing....)

[kelby_lake]

It's going a bit off-track, but I agree, NickAdams, Clive Owen could make a good Macbeth - but you should have seen Patrick Stewart's Macbeth at Chichester/London a couple of years ago: he was electrifying.

I'm set for the week-end, however - my David Tennant Hamlet dvd has arrived. (OK, I know I watched it over Christmas on tv, but you can't have too much of a good thing....)

It was very good i'd buy it if it was cheaper

[wessexgirl]

It's going a bit off-track, but I agree, NickAdams, Clive Owen could make a good Macbeth - but you should have seen Patrick Stewart's Macbeth at Chichester/London a couple of years ago: he was electrifying.

I'm set for the week-end, however - my David Tennant Hamlet dvd has arrived. (OK, I know I watched it over Christmas on tv, but you can't have too much of a good thing....)

I watched it again on BBC4 Kasie, and it was wonderful. My complete set of Shakespeare from the Beeb has arrived, I'm so excited . It doesn't contain the Tennant Hamlet, as this is the complete Shakespeare which was completed over a number of years, from the late '70s -'80s. But it has the Jacobi Hamlet (yay), and Patrick Stewart is in a few of them. I don't know where to start, or when I'm going to watch them, but there's a whole host of stellar actors in there.... whhhooooo! I'm salivating just looking at them......

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/459382/index.html

I've just noticed this while looking for a link too

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...rds-plays.html

but it's dated 2007. I hope it's going to happen....double wwhoooooo!

[prendrelemick]

Have you watched them yet! I remember Jane Lapotaire's performance as Lady Macbeth And Cleopatra - I must 've had a crush on her at the time- I also remember Johnathan Miller saying about the Cleopatra casting, he wanted true beauty, not Holywood tat.

[Fen]

I watched it again on BBC4 Kasie, and it was wonderful. My complete set of Shakespeare from the Beeb has arrived, I'm so excited

Wow you are so lucky! I was on the lovefilm DVD rental scheme for awhile and I saw as many of them as I could they are absolutely amazing. I went for the ones that were least likely to come round on tv so I can't tell you about Hamlet but on the whole the acting(with a few exceptions) just made Shakespeare's plays come alive especially Robert Lindsay, he is fantastic.

[wessexgirl]

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to watch any yet, but we break up tomorrow for half-term, so you can guess what I'll be hoping to do . I love Jane Lapotaire, so I think I may watch A & C first, (love the play). I've watched clips on youtube of Robert Lindsay as Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing, and I love him too, so I hope to get round to that soon as well. Now I love Jane Lapotaire, and I love Robert Lindsay too, but which one first.......there's only one way to find out.........FIGHT!!!!!!!! (Sorry, only fans of a certain UK comedian may get that ).

[Janine]

I watched it again on BBC4 Kasie, and it was wonderful. My complete set of Shakespeare from the Beeb has arrived, I'm so excited . It doesn't contain the Tennant Hamlet, as this is the complete Shakespeare which was completed over a number of years, from the late '70s -'80s. But it has the Jacobi Hamlet (yay), and Patrick Stewart is in a few of them. I don't know where to start, or when I'm going to watch them, but there's a whole host of stellar actors in there.... whhhooooo! I'm salivating just looking at them......

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/459382/index.html

I've just noticed this while looking for a link too

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...rds-plays.html

but it's dated 2007. I hope it's going to happen....double wwhoooooo!

Wow, lucky you. That's an expensive set. A friend lend me the History plays part of the set and it was quite good. At the time we were discussing "Richard II"; Jacobi plays him. I haven't returned the set yet so I watched the Henry plays several times. I prefer the Branagh version of "Henry V", even if it's a little abreviated; but the young actor (forget his name now) playing Henry in the BBC version is quite good and it's interesting to watch the same actor in both of the Henry plays.

The "Richard III" is quite good, too; the ending is pretty awesome. The "Hamlet" of course is the Jacobi one and it's wonderful. I would really like to see "As You Like it" with Helen Mirren. Let me know, wessexgirl, when you watch these and maybe we can discuss them briefly. I would like to know your impression(s).

[Janine]

I am rewatching Kenneth Branagh's version of "Hamlet"...I watch it about 10 times a year! I always see something new in the production. I was thinking last night how hard it is to compare films...some are closer to plays such as the Jacobi version; a little more barebones. I would say Branagh's production is more cinemagraphic and lush...the sets are really stunning, yet they don't detract from the dialogue or characters. One could do a whole analaysis on the set design. I guess I am very visual, so that his version appeals to me the most. I could turn the sound off and still enjoy the film. The setting, at Blenheim castle estates, is perfect. I saw a another castle on the internet, that is known as the Hamlet castle; I just looked it up and it says: "Shakespeare's play, 'Hamlet' takes place in the Danish castle of Kronborg, which is located in Elsinore or Helsingør North of Copenhagen, on the place where Denmark is closest to Sweden."

That building is quite impressive, too. Here is a link to the site:http://www.copenhagenpictures.dk/kronborg.html

Don't mind me, I am just thinking out loud....