Just a quickie synopsis, Hamlet's father, was the king of Denmark, now dead. Hamlet's uncle quickly marries Hamlet's mother. Hamlet's father's ghost returns to say someone dispatched him on purpose (murder most foul). While Hamlet seeks revenge, he is also distraught with indecision. How he acts with friends and relatives to conduct his plans of revenge is what the play is about.
For more insight into Hamlet before watching this presentation you will want to read "Hamlet: Poem Unlimited" by Harold Bloom. Some surprises there.
Everyone wants to improve the presentation of Hamlet. Some want it to be shorter and cut out Rosenkranz and Guildenstern. Some curtail sections during wartime. Others just cannot help but make it up to date and still use the original Iambic pentameter. Will there be no end to this corruption?
Let us look at "Hamlet" (2015) the way that Benedict Cumberbatch does. Once again, we take Hamlet and his friends out of the real world into some timeless minimalist stage play. This is more like "Alice in Wonderland" than a modern interpretation. The props such as a massive table (interictally displayed) can be the focus of several soliloquies as it changes purpose. The seating position at the table has a significance. Keep in mind that this is a stage play National Theatre Live: Hamlet. However, he only has fifteen hundred lines.
Due to the nature of the play and the costume for Old Hamlet not being in armor, we miss HAMLET ACT 1, SCENE 2, 229-232 Horatio: O yes, my lord, he wore his beaver up.
Back to Cumberbatch, I am afraid that as with many great actors I have to keep from seeing "Star Trek into Darkness" (2013). He has had a great deal of playing main characters in many different genres. Keep in mind that Benedict Cumberbatch is not the only good actor in the Hamlet presentation.
Again, I prefer something a tad more traditional. However, this makes a good addition to the Hamlet collection.
For more insight into Hamlet before watching this presentation you will want to read "Hamlet: Poem Unlimited" by Harold Bloom. Some surprises there.
Everyone wants to improve the presentation of Hamlet. Some want it to be shorter and cut out Rosenkranz and Guildenstern. Some curtail sections during wartime. Others just cannot help but make it up to date and still use the original Iambic pentameter. Will there be no end to this corruption?
Let us look at "Hamlet" (2015) the way that Benedict Cumberbatch does. Once again, we take Hamlet and his friends out of the real world into some timeless minimalist stage play. This is more like "Alice in Wonderland" than a modern interpretation. The props such as a massive table (interictally displayed) can be the focus of several soliloquies as it changes purpose. The seating position at the table has a significance. Keep in mind that this is a stage play National Theatre Live: Hamlet. However, he only has fifteen hundred lines.
Due to the nature of the play and the costume for Old Hamlet not being in armor, we miss HAMLET ACT 1, SCENE 2, 229-232 Horatio: O yes, my lord, he wore his beaver up.
Back to Cumberbatch, I am afraid that as with many great actors I have to keep from seeing "Star Trek into Darkness" (2013). He has had a great deal of playing main characters in many different genres. Keep in mind that Benedict Cumberbatch is not the only good actor in the Hamlet presentation.
Again, I prefer something a tad more traditional. However, this makes a good addition to the Hamlet collection.