The Rest Is Silence

For those of you who know me lately, I have been on what one might call a kick. Perhaps mild obsession. Whatever you want to call it, ever since my good friend showed me this damn amazing show I have been tracking down whatever I can find starring David Tennant.

As a filmmaker, this tends to be what I do whenever I find an artist that I admire so I've been down this road before (Stanley Kubrick, Gary Oldman, Leonardo DaVinci). In some cases (not naming names), it has brought me to low and lonely places. Not so in the grand adventures of Mr. Tennant! And my latest discovery was buying Hamlet on blu-ray. This particular film is an adaptation of the stage production of the same, including original cast.

So some background: I am a huge Shakespeare fan and Hamlet is my absolute favourite of his plays. I am picky, so I prepare myself to be let down when I watch new adaptations. I don't subscribe to any of the "insanity" or "oedipal" bullshit that's surfaced in the last century and the play makes me extremely emotional. Since I am a woman, this also makes me lethal, so don't fuck with m Hamlet.

All that being said, I delved right in! There is a wonderful dark neutrality about the set, mirroring the darkness set upon young lord Hamlet. Mirrors themselves, playing a pivotal role in the stage version, are rampant throughout the set design - the broken mirror a classic representation of the fractured mind. The director utilizes the camera well with the soliloquies and asides and presents us with many interesting angles and some gloriously long takes.

But the performances, you ask! Okay, as unbiased as I can possibly be... David Tennant was absolutely stunning and heartbreaking in this. I think I would die to see the stage production, because his emotion was so incredibly raw yet subtle, cutting through the fancy words to what the character truly feels. He also plays with the comedy more than I'd seen before, and I thought that was a stroke of genius. It fleshed out Hamlet so he's not so mopey; he's lively and witty and yet full of pain. He captures the essence of the character that I related to so well upon first reading it while going through a loss of my own. Just, bravo. Bravo, Mr. Tennant!

And bravo to Patrick Stewart! I always figured that no matter what, he'd always be Professor X and Captain Picard to me, or possibly this guy. But it's now resolved - if I ever, ever meet this amazing man, I will thank him profusely for acting the hell out of Claudius. Trust me folks, it's all in the ending and the rest is a fantastic journey up to it.

And the supporting cast completely keeps up pace. Penny Downie's Gertrude made me feel for that woman for the first time ever and Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius was charming. Basically, I have no complaints in the acting at any point in the film. I can't even say that about Branagh's version!

Not to gloss over it too much because these guys do hard work, but briefly I have to acknowledge the other departments. The DP did a great job with lighting and handling all the mirrored sets. I thought the editing was great! I did notice a few hiccups in the sound, but I'm overtrained and overlistening for the most part.

10/10