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Hamlet -  Criterion Collection
Hamlet - Criterion Collection
Actors: Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Eileen Herlie, Stanley Holloway, Esmond Knight
Genres: Indie & Art House, Drama
UR     2000     2hr 35min

Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 09/19/2000 Run time: 155 minutes

     

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Movie Details

Actors: Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Eileen Herlie, Stanley Holloway, Esmond Knight
Genres: Indie & Art House, Drama
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Love & Romance, Classics, Family Life
Studio: Criterion
Format: DVD - Black and White,Full Screen - Closed-captioned
DVD Release Date: 09/19/2000
Original Release Date: 01/01/1948
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1948
Release Year: 2000
Run Time: 2hr 35min
Screens: Black and White,Full Screen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 15
Edition: Criterion Collection
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Languages: English
Subtitles: English

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Movie Reviews

Reviewing this film is a trap
Xeneri | 08/11/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Consider this: Shakespearean films more than other films are dependent upon the director's translation of the text. HAMLET in particular has been adapted roughly 43 times in film. I'll say up front that this version is not my favorite interpretation, but I won't deny that it certainly set the standard back in its day.For those unfamiliar with the play, Hamlet's father, the king of Denmark, has recently passed away and he resents the speed with which his mother, Queen Gertrude, remarried. It doesn't help that her new husband is the dead king's brother, Claudius. Soon an apparition who is the spirit of his father, the dead king, visits Hamlet. The ghost explains that Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, murdered him in his sleep and tells Hamlet to avenge his death. The remainder of the story primarily revolves around the Prince's struggle to stop thinking and start doing (exemplified by the famous "To be, or not to be" speech. Can Hamlet do what it takes to truly avenge his father's death?Olivier and his much-celebrated interpretation of HAMLET are considered by many to be the best of all Shakespeare film adaptations -- it certainly bears the indelible stamp of its director/star's personality. Apparently, the Academy agreed rewarding it with Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Costume Design and among others. (Trivia: Olivier's direction was also nominated losing to John Huston for "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" in 1948).Olivier's take on Shakespeare's story of madness and murder most foul is unmistakably cinematic -- he takes full advantage of the medium, avoiding the trap of merely filming a play as some Shakespeare adaptations do, with monologues delivered as internal thoughts heard in hushed voiceovers. He occasionally uses dizzying camerawork to show Hamlet's inner turmoil, a trick that could never have worked on stage. The setting, lighting, and cinematography are wondrous setting the somber and Gothic tone.Some notable scenes for me include the sequence where the Ghost appears. Olivier uses sound and voice to create the disorientation that Hamlet and others feel when in the presence of the supernatural for a great creepy effect. Another arresting scene is when Laertes and Claudius are planning the murder of Hamlet. It starts with a close shot of the duo but slowly backs away, as if it wants to separate itself, and the audience, from the bloody deeds being discussed. But there are many disappointing choices made. Substantial cuts were made to the text (forgivable if you realize he needed to cut a 4-hour play into at least 2 hours. The omission of the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (childhood friends of Hamlet who are ultimately killed because they were too loyal to Claudius, and not to the Prince) is unfortunate as they bring so much contrast and subtle texture to the play. While I am a great fan of Olivier's, I strongly believe there were certain roles that were out of his range, Hamlet topping the list. (And I'm not even going to talk about the fact that 41 year old Olivier is playing a character who is in his mid to late twenties.) Olivier also insists on taking the Freudian approach with Hamlet and his mother Gertrude, an idea not really supported by the text suggesting that the real reason Hamlet is upset is not so much due to his father's murder, but that he should be with Gertrude, not Claudius. But the thing that nags at me most is that Hamlet is fundamentally a man of action, though a man of action who is aware that his actions have consequences. He is divided: determined to act, destructive when he does act, and consequently disconnected from his actions. But while Olivier lives well in the language and his rendering of the lines is a kind of dark poetry, his overall portrayal is mannered and brooding and almost petulant. It's a disappointing adaptation by an otherwise brilliant actor. Now as a DVD, this release of HAMLET is by the superior Criterion Collection. Criterion DVD's are often considered to be state-of-the-art, and this one is no exception presenting a nicely restored film good quality and sound. A definite must for a film collector. Having said all that, I'll end my review this way: again, this is not my favorite version of HAMLET (go watch Branagh's, Zeffirelli's or even Mel Gibson's versions) but as a piece of cinematic history this is definitely a watchable film worth seeing for it's accomplishments and cinematography."
Entertaining, but a lot is missing
02/19/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)

"Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, at 153 minutes, is no popcorn flick. However, in order to get the film down to this rather long length, Olivier had to make significant cuts to the famous Shakespearean play. As a film that won four Oscars, this is (was) mainstream entertainment. Presenting Hamlet in its entirety (or even close to its entirety) under these circumstances was therefore an impossibility. Olivier's modifications come in three forms: small deletions from speeches and conversations, "streamlining" of main story lines, and cuts of entire subplots. The first, least drastic change, leads to the second, and finally the third, and greatest, of the changes. The cutting of lines has the least effect on the production's ability to tell the story. The removed lines are usually unnecessary and repetitive, and the transitions are smooth. Without a written version of the text in front of him, a viewer (unless he knows the play extraordinarily well) can rarely pick out where a line has been cut. A good example of this seamless cutting follows the ghost's exit in the bedroom scene. Hamlet's speech to the queen (Act III, scene iv, lines 144-159) is cut approximately in half, by cutting 2-3 lines from three different places. Such instances - cutting a line here, three lines there, etc. -- can be found throughout the production, but in order to locate them one must follow along with a written text. Rearranging parts of play adds to the continuity of storylines and makes the story itself easier to follow. Viewers familiar with Hamlet, however, will probably find these modifications more jarring. Most of the time this "streamlining" is logical. For instance, the meeting of Hamlet and Ophelia in the nunnery scene directly follows the planning of this meeting by the King, Queen, and Polonius, and Hamlet's "fishmonger" conversation with Polonius. In the play itself, this storyline is interrupted by the players' arrival, but in the Olivier production this event takes place after the unfolding of the nunnery scene. Once again these modifications take place throughout the play. The third, and most obvious modification that Olivier makes is the total removal of subplots, as well as other major events. These cuts have a great impact on the telling of the play. Cutting the Player's recitation of the fall of Troy causes Hamlet's soliloquy, "What a rogue and peasant slave am I..." to be cut. Olivier's decision to delete the character Fortinbras, has great consequences, because this necessitates cutting Hamlet's final soliloquy, "How all occasions do inform against me... ." The ending of the play is also altered by this choice. The deletion of two rather prominent characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, has the greatest effect on the play because the deletion or transplantation of several scenes results. The cuts of a line here and there can be viewed as creating a snowball effect that leads to the rearranging of scene, and the rearranging leads to the cuts of whole storylines and events. Most of the material that is cut by the minor deletions is repetitive, and these choices have little immediate effect. However, Shakespeare had a purpose in these repetitions, and that was to ensure that the audience could follow the play. By removing this repetition, one also makes the play considerably more difficult to understand. Olivier employs a logical solution -- that is, increasing the continuity of the story. This requires the rearranging that is so prevalent in his production. However, if one rearranges all of the critical scenes of Hamlet so that they unfold chronologically, then one is left with a considerable amount of unnecessary scenes and even storylines themselves. Therefore, Olivier's decision to cut these excess storylines again seems logical. A viewer familiar at Hamlet may at first find these modifications very uncomfortable, but when one analyzes what caused Olivier to make the decisions he did, these rather sweeping changes become perfectly acceptable."
Essay, Laurence Olivier's Hamlet in comparison to BBC Versio
Fan Wang | 11/23/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many critics have viewed the Lawrence Olivier version of Hamlet to be the best among the 43 film adaptations of Hamlet. The film won four Academy Awards, and Lawrence Olivier amazingly gained two Academy Awards for both directing and acting. The Jacobi Hamlet, on the other hand, was a BBC TV film put together in a short time with a small budget during the late 70s. (As a side note, Jacobi was actually introduced into Shakespearean acting by Olivier.) Despite this difference in prestige, the films presented two equally valid interpretations of Hamlet. The central issue was if Hamlet was mad, and through manipulations of voices and the degree and timing of Hamlet's violent actions, the audience was faced with two emotionally upset Hamlets, one who had more madness and the other who had more control.

Both Hamlets were emotional in their voices and had bursts of anger, but Olivier was more rational and controlled in his voice then Jacobi, who seemed truly mad. At first, Olivier's voice was calm and determined. There were deep thoughts behind everything that he was saying, and one could sense love in those tender sounds. His voice gradually became more menacing during the "honesty" speech, but it was still well paced and contrived. After the line "get thee to a nunnery ", the voice intensified, yet it was more suggestive than contemptuous. One could at the same time sense a growing tone of disappointment. After questioning the whereabouts of Ophelia's father, Olivier suddenly flooded out a stream loud, angry and disdainful words against Ophelia's virginity and women in general. It might be that Olivier noticed the presence of the King and Polonius, and increased his voice only to trick them. The emotions, however, were deep and real. The scene ended with Hamlet uttering "to a nunnery go" close to Ophelia in a soft and tender manner, and this brought Hamlet back to his previous rational state.

Jacobi's voice was drastically different than Olivier's. Instead of moving gradually from calmness to anger, Jacobi was dramatic throughout. In his utterance, there was from the very beginning a deep sense of yearning, despair and mockery combined with a viciousness that made a lion quiet. At the beginning, he mocked Ophelia's returning of his scarf in a drunken ignorance. Then his voice became a most dark and menacing whisper as he got closer to Ophelia. That same voice grew angrier and louder as he started looking for the King and Polonius. He wanted the King to hear what he was saying in an act of defiance. After questioning the whereabouts of Ophelia's father, this crazy man screamed far and close to her, and the voice reached a climax in speed and freakiness. At this climax, Jacobi's voice suddenly surprisingly melted into a stream of greater sorrow as he cried against Ophelia. Then as if depleted of his emotions, he walked away without much energy left in his voice. A person's mind is only as clear as his words. Jacobi's voice was the most sorrowful and sad, and their extremity made one wonder if he had lost control over himself. In comparison, though Olivier had his burst also, one saw much more elegance and control in him overall.

The two Hamlets were both violent in their actions, but Olivier acted violently with much less regularity and degree in comparison to Jacobi, whose actions were a combination of sexual harassment, pure hitting, and deep love. In Olivier, Hamlet first pushed Ophelia's book down in a pretty forceful manner. As their eyes met at that instant, Ophelia confusion about what to do seemed obvious. In this first encounter, one could sense that even if their love was a broken one, there were still remnants of passion that either could ignore. There was an overall ease. Olivier stood straight and walked fashionably, and despite tensions, there was politeness in the air. Ophelia tried to not look at Olivier, but Olivier walked from her side to side, encroaching closer and closer with a determined calmness combined with a growing menace. Then, after asking where her Dad was, and looking around alarmingly, Olivier suddenly started to strut wildly about the room. Without warnings, he jumped up the stairs, and pushed Ophelia down so hard that she fell unto the ground crying. This time, contrary to before, there was not a bit of love and care in Olivier's eyes. At the end, he kissed her scarf in a loving fashion. This left the audience wondering if he was faking the violence before. Olivier was certainly suffering. Ophelia might have ignited two opposite emotions for him. He loved Ophelia, but at the same time hated woman in general. This confusion contributed to his change in behaviors.

If Olivier's actions were mercurial, Jacobi's actions made one feel as if he had 5 minds fighting against each other at once. His face was not calm like Olivier's; it squinted and sneered most unpleasantly throughout. Near the beginning, he bonded that gift scarf to Ophelia's neck, and than tried to grab her groin. Ophelia looked horrified, and her sufferance was conspicuous through her bewildered and tearful eyes. His actions were so vehement that it would not seem strange for him to pull out a knife at any instance. After asking the whereabouts of Ophelia's father, he went into an even higher level of frenzy. This man rushed toward Ophelia, pushed her down, and accused her of the foulest things, but just as the audience expected more violence, he strangely hugged her tightly with the most ardent passion. With that hug, one could not doubt that he loved her, but then why was he so violent to her before? The only conclusion is that he was suffering under such a heavy burden of revenge, and was so disappointed at his incapability at taking any actions, that he really was becoming crazy.

These two movies interpreted the tones and actions of the Hamlet differently. The king and Polonius were looking for signs of Hamlet's craziness, and they would have collected totally different evidence from the two. The Olivier Hamlet was a struggling prince with a fairly confused mind, but he was mostly in control of himself. Even when he became wild, there was more melancholy than madness in his anger. On the other hand, the Jacobi Hamlet really freaked one out. This Hamlet was certainly in deep pain, but his often too visible sorrow and violence left the audience feeling more horrified than sympathetic. The original title of the Olivier's Oscar winning Hamlet was "An essay on Hamlet", because he directed the movie to show his personal estimations and interpretations of Hamlet. Jacobi himself summed the disparities between Hamlets in an interview with the Christian Science Monitor in 1980, he said,

Really, it is the personality of the actor playing the role which is the determining factor. You don't actually have to play the character, you play the situation in which Hamlet finds himself and your own personality, your own outlook takes over. That's why the part is played differently by so many different actors, all doing perfectly valid interpretations. Hamlet is a universal man, he is all of us.

One can prefer one Hamlet to the other, but no Hamlet is better than another. Shakespeare certainly had his own thoughts about who Hamlet really was, but he also left the question to us, so that we could see which Hamlet we truly are."
The play's the thing.
Themis-Athena | from somewhere between California and Germany | 05/01/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hamlet belongs into the theater," says Mel Gibson, the star of the tragedy's 1990 adaptation by Franco Zeffirelli, in an interview on that movie's DVD. And while primarily expressing regret over his own lacking opportunity to explore the role's complexities by nightly slipping into the prince's skin on stage, he also has a point regarding any screen adaptation's validity: the many facets of Hamlet's character have, after all, been debated by literature's greatest minds since the Bard's very own time. For that reason, too, any newcomer is well-advised to first read the play - not see it on stage, nor watch any of the myriad movie versions - but keep an open mind and let the Bard's words speak for themselves. All these centuries later, Shakespeare alone still remains the one true authority on Hamlet's character; and while reading, too, necessarily creates an interpretation in the reader's mind that others may or may not agree with (as does any staging of the complete tragedy), the interpretative element is enhanced even more if this complex play is reduced to somewhat over half its length to comply with cinematic necessities. Nothing proves this better than Sir Laurence Olivier's 1948 movie, which won him Best Director and Best Actor Academy Awards, in addition to the film's Best Costume Design and Best Set Decoration honors.

Without question, in his day Olivier was considered *the* quintessential Hamlet; the actor who owned the role like none before and few, if any, afterwards; not least because of this movie and his participation in the 1937 Helsingor (= Elsinore) staging. Olivier's approach follows the still-predominant understanding of Hamlet as a wavering man, "who cannot make up his mind," as he says in the movie's prologue, which borrows from the passage "so oft it chances in particular men that, for some vicious mole of nature in them ... they ... carrying ... the stamp of one defect, ... their virtues else, - be they as pure as grace ... shall in the general censure take corruption from that particular fault," from Hamlet's monologue preceding the encounter with his father's ghost (here: an uncredited Sir John Gielgud). Olivier's prince is weary, subdued: but for confrontations like those with Ophelia ("get thee to a nunnery"), with Gertrude after the play designed to "catch the conscience of the king," and with Laertes over Ophelia's grave, he speaks softly; and unlike other interpretations of the tragedy's single most famous soliloquy, even "to be or not to be" - although dramatically set on a parapet above the ocean's raging waves - already begins half-defeated and emphasizes the reluctant suicide over the reluctant avenger. Yet, while this works well within this film's context, perhaps just *because* the medium also invites interpretation by cutting and rearranging scenes, it seems somewhat ill-matched with Hamlet's later violent curse of his own inaction and renewed vow of revenge ("O, vengeance! This is most brave ..."); a passage essentially omitted here. A torn man he is certainly, but I think with room for a broader range and more forcefully expressed emotions than Olivier allows himself - I'd have liked to see how his approach worked in the full play's theatrical productions. (It also feeds into the Freudian concept of Hamlet's and Gertrude's relationship, and the idea of more than friendship between him and Horatio: equally aspects I don't find firmly anchored in the play.) But there we are: interpretation is the key to it all!

Equally without question, from today's perspective Olivier's Hamlet stands out vis-a-vis the remaining cast's performances even more compellingly than it must have to its original audience; and many today might disagree with a September 30, 1948 N.Y. Times review praising the "beautiful acting and inspired interpretations all the way." Sir Laurence's costars were near-uniformly well-established actors of their time: Basil Sydney (Claudius) a theatrical leading man and matinee idol since before 1920, also with a prolific - though less illustrious - film career, Eileen Herlie (Gertrude) celebrated, inter alia, for stage appearances in "Rebecca" and "Medea," Felix Aylmer (Polonius) a noted Shaw interpreter with (even then) 30 years' stage and almost two-thirds that in screen experience, and Norman Wooland (Horatio) a Stratford-on-Avon regular since the 1930s. Yet, even method acting aside, none of them inhabit their roles in the more complete, natural(istic) way modern audiences have come to expect; rather, the era's stilted stage performances are in evidence, and although then-19-year-old Jean Simmons garnered an Oscar nomination for her Ophelia, her achievement is neither her own career's greatest nor the best-informed portrayal of the maid. (Why Terence Morgan - Laertes - received fan mail for this, his first movie, also escapes me.) I sometimes wonder what might've been gained by cutting speeches down to more succinct dialogue; although behind the scenes this might well have created a feeling that "[e]verybody had a part either too long or too short" (Austen, "Mansfield Park"), thus ultimately doing more harm than good, even if it had made room for Hamlet's ambiguous school-fellows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who add depth and texture to the play and to those screen versions preserving them. (The same is true for Fortinbras, but there dramatic dynamics do provide better grounds for the character's elimination in a screen adaptation.)

Both costume design and set decoration, however, were worthy Oscar winners; and while one may debate some cinematographic choices (e.g. the famous pull-back from Claudius's and Laertes's conspiracy), generally the camerawork enhances the movie's richly-layered, darkly-atmospheric setting. Thus, it all comes down to that central question: to cut or not to cut - and if so, what? The first part may not have offered any alternative; it took, after all, until 1996 for Kenneth Branagh to show that Hamlet can be done completely *and* successfully as a movie. As for the second part ... de gustibus non est disputandum. So, yes, a milestone in Olivier's career and Shakesperean history certainly; however "no more but so" (Ophelia), and these days, no longer the one definitive Hamlet, either.

Also recommended:
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
Hamlet (The New Folger Library Shakespeare)
BBC Shakespeare Tragedies DVD Giftbox
Olivier's Shakespeare - Criterion Collection (Hamlet / Henry V / Richard III)
William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Grigori Kozintsev's Hamlet
Hamlet
Peter Brook's King Lear
Richard III
Henry V"