Hamlet
Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) comes home for his father's funeral and finds his uncle Claudius (Art Malik) marrying his widowed mother Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha). His father's ghost (Avijit Dutt) reveals Claudius murdered him, leading Hamlet toward revenge and introspection.
STORY: C-
Shouldn’t have stuck to the script.
Imagine you’re rocking out at Coachella, and everyone around you is speaking in that snappy, hammy 1940s noir film register. It would be weird, wouldn’t it?
Cramming Shakespeare’s original words into an otherwise modern-day England has the same effect. The “gimmick” never melts away into a compelling narrative. Instead, it becomes a constant reminder of the film’s artifice.
PEOPLE: C
Riz doesn’t let it rip.
Hamlet bounces between depression, rage, and madness. Ahmed chooses to root him in the former for most of the film. When he does venture into madness and rage, it feels tempered, as if the words alone are enough to convey the prince’s anger and confusion. The performance is getting good reviews, but it did not work for me.
FILM NERD STUFF: B
Proving film really is all about sight and sound.
The film’s best moments are when it sets Shakespeare’s script aside and allows cinema’s most powerful elements to tell the story. The famous “play within a play” sequence is an extraordinary swirl of light, music, and dance.
The film never feels more alive than in this moment. It would have benefited from more moments like it.
ONE BIG LESSON: D
It doesn’t pay to be over-reverential.
Every actor and crew member puts their heart and soul into this film. Yet they all seem to take a backseat to the Bard. By holding his words with such reverence, it feels as if they hold back much of their own artistry.
FINAL COMMENTS:
The play has sparked a 400 year-long conversation, so if you’re going to make another Hamlet, you better have something new to say.
This film adds a couple new wrinkles. It casts South Asians as the main characters, and the representation is much welcomed. The film also dips its toes into social justice — the role of Fortinbras is cleverly transformed into a group of people displaced by the multibillion-dollar Elsinore construction company.
However, the film’s weaknesses neuter their impact. We’re never fully engaged, which leaves the questions, “Why this version?” and “Why right now?” without sufficient answers.