Hamlet Redux

Having just seen a live production of Hamlet just a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't really high on my list to watch Hamlet again right away. But then it happened that last Tuesday was the release date of a new DVD that grabbed my attention.

Last year, the Royal Shakespeare Company staged a respected version of Hamlet starring David Tennant in the title role, and Patrick Stewart as Claudius. The BBC arranged for those two -- and everyone else in the original cast -- to assemble for a film version of the play. I decided that even at the risk of becoming "Hamleted out," I needed to see this version.

I remarked in my recent comments on the play that one rarely sees it unabridged in some way; this production was the exception to that rule -- though probably not surprisingly, given the RSC origins. As such, it runs over three hours in length. It all exposes all the strengths and weaknesses of William Shakespeare's most famous play.

Let's not be blinded by reputation, there are weaknesses. This is a ponderously long play, and you feel every moment of that because so much of the story is about inaction. Hamlet knows what he has to do -- avenge the murder of his father. But he spends scene after scene talking about it, psyching himself up, talking himself out of it, setting test after test in which he says "after this, then I'm going to go through with it," berating his lack of conviction, and repeating the cycle again. It's probably a fairly realistic portrayal of what an actual person might do in such a situation, but it at times makes for some rather repetitive drama.

But on the flip side, all those speeches, all that self-debate -- it's truly powerful language. There's a reason this play is quoted more than any of Shakespeare's others. The soliloquies, the dialogue... it's all beautifully crafted.

And in David Tennant's gifted hands, you get all of that. His performance as Hamlet is outstanding. Every major speech has a different overall tone, and different layers are exposed within each. He revels in the language, while simultaneously not losing the level of telling the story and playing the character. Patrick Stewart is similarly excellent in a dual role as Claudius and the Ghost of Hamlet's father.

Not every single member of the cast is up at the level of those two, but there are several others worthy of praise -- this production has a great Polonius, a wonderful Gertrude, a compelling Horatio, and more. With actors like these, following the meaning of the words is easy, even when things get dense. I think one watches Shakespeare primarily for the language and the acting, and this version of Hamlet delivers these things in full measure.

This is fortunate, as the production falls rather short in other areas. Foremost, this doesn't come across as a film so much as a theater production with cameras. And while I should have perhaps expected this, given the origins, I expected more. One or two scenes on location try to open the film up a little, but it predominately takes place in a single room. And I mean that literally. Even when the action is supposed to be taking place in different places (the throne room, the queen's bedchamber), you can clearly see that it's all just the same space with a few bits of furniture moved around -- just as it would be for a play.

The concept of this staging isn't good, either. This Hamlet is set in a vague netherworld of time, implied as the near-present one moment, but suggested as the distant past the next. In a particularly obnoxious directorial choice, moments of the action are played as security camera footage, with our perspective jumping mid-scene into a black-and-white 7-Eleven vision. One can imagine what intellectual idea this was meant to convey, but it's simply jarring and out of place. Throwing a film technique at us that would not be possible in a stage performance is no substitute for actually reimagining the piece as an actual film.

But as I said, it's the language and the acting that one sees Shakespeare for. At least, that's why I see it. And here, it is superb. Overall, there's far more in this version of Hamlet to commend rather than condemn. I'd rate this Hamlet a B. If you have any interest in the play -- or are even just a Doctor Who fan that likes David Tennant, or a Star Trek fan that likes Patrick Stewart -- you'll probably want to check it out.