I did this for school, but it was exactly like what I post on here, so here’s my review of the (sort of) modern version of Hamlet.
The new version of Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke is a very interesting merge of the new and the old. It takes the classic Shakespeare play and plops it right down in modern day
Although the actual time and setting is modern
For the acting, I thought it was very good overall. It’s hard to act modernly, while at the same time reciting lines from Hamlet and making it work. It does, to the extent that the actors can do it. Ophelia and Hamlet would have been better cast if the movie was a “true” modern interpretation of the play, but they were very good anyhow. Claudius and Gertrude were also very well cast, and performed the lines very well. And Hamlet Senior was just great. I don’t know why, but the actor just had the right look and feel to him. He looked like the ghost of a king, and the times when he was silent were chilling.
The movie didn’t do THAT much for me cinematically. It wasn’t that it had bad cinematography, but it didn’t go the extra mile that it could have. The way it showed
Overall, I enjoyed this newer version of Hamlet very much as another way to interpret the book, and it really did help me understand the story better. But if I was not watching this in school, and wanted to see a movie for pure entertainment, I would rather have the dialogue be translated also – but with nothing else changed. The story would be exactly the same, staying true to Shakespeare’s original play.
I must confess, I have never in my 52 years read or watched a shakespeare play and enjoyed it. Every single time its been just torture. I know they are great stories (I like very much West Side Story, and Kiss Me Kate), but the antique language is such a barrier, I spend all my time trying to think it through and figure out what the dialogue means. And then often the actors rattle it off, and I don’t catch all the words. I’ve been of this opinion since middle school, and for a while I thought I might get it when I grew up. But no, I never did. never did. torture. tedious. deadly. snooze time.
And archaic language in a modern setting is just plain stupid.
UB
To tell you the truth, I actually agree with you completely. I mean, I get some of the stuff but I don’t care much for it.
Most of the stuff like “although I enjoyed this film as an educational resource” is just……. going along with what the teacher thinks.
Good going Austen. I had to write those papers too. In junior high, our required viewing was Franco Zefferelli’s “Romeo and Juliet”. It made for a welcome field trip off campus, but the sole highlight was the brief and controversial topless scene by the teenage Olivia Hussey as Juliet. I was on the edge of my seat. Is this it? do you think its coming up now? I think it is. Yep looks like it. oh. was that it? gee. well, that was cool.
Can you imagine what kind of grade I’d get if I ever wrote what I really thought?
Shakespeare and the Bible are the sources of most of the Western World’s truisms, quotes and cliches. Universal truths are just that. It can be humbling to see those truths expressed hundreds or thousands of years ago by more “primitive” peoples. Especially when they are said poetically and with more wit than most of us are able to muster. Me’thinks the Shakespeare haters protest too much.
You guys are really great! A fellow and his nephew anylizing a Shakephereian play/film! I’m so proud of you both!
I think Austen’s school paper should receive an “A”. It was well conceived, well written and insightful. Way to go!
I too, had a hard time with Shakespere,and only grew to appreciate and understand some of his plays in later years. I still have the same problem that you both have, in pondering the poetic lines and losing the meaning thereby. The action moves on while I’m back in the dialogue. But blessings on you both for discussing the Bard of Avon!
Grandpa
Linda, I completely know what you’re talking about - how there are amazing underlying themes and ideas behind the poetic wit of Hamlet’s speeches.
But it takes 10 minutes to understand two lines, because all of the words are switched around! I guess (Uncle Bob and) I are just not the “analyze text for 3 different meanings” type. Because it takes too long!