Hamlet (2000)

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan, Sam Shepard, Dianne Venora, Bill Murray, Liv Schrieber, Julia Stiles

Adapted and Directed by Michael Almereyda

Music by Carter Burwell

Cinematography by John de Borman

Director Almereyda has been very clever with this adaptation of Hamlet. Updating the Bard's brooding ghost tale to New York 2000 utilising video cameras, TV, Blockbuster video stores, news anchormen, and hundreds of modern devices to bring Hamlet to a trendy, younger audience is partly successful. But the passion and power of Shakespeare's play has been lost. Mixed performances may be the reason or, perhaps, in the updating process the characters and narrative are lost in a jumble of gimmicks.

One senses little excitement with this version. Ethan Hawke makes a fine, young, brooding Hamlet yet the performance tends to be a bit anaemic. Sam Shepard surprises with his powerful portrayal as the Ghost but fails to be truly scary. Bill Murray as Polonius is not totally credible; however his reading of Shakespeare is quite good. Kyle MacLachlan makes a valiant attempt as the scheming Claudius. Only Dianne Venora as Gertrude and Liv Shrieber as Lartes are performed with passion and intensity. Julia Stiles as Ophelia is lovely as Hamlet's love but she should have remained silent.

It's New York City 2000 and the CEO of the powerful Denmark Corporation is dead. His brother, Claudius, has taken control and married the dead man's wife. Hamlet, son of the deceased, returns to NYC from his schooling as a video producer and suspects foul play. The apparition of his father's Ghost confirms the murderous deed. (Hamlet just so happens to reside at the plush Elsinore Hotel.) The remainder of this abbreviated version focuses on Hamlet's revenge.

The film is well photographed by John de Borman. Perhaps a bit too well photographed as the images often become the star of the movie and are often distracting. Almereyda's edits can be confusing for those not familiar with the play. An impressive moment in the film is Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy in the aisle of a Blockbuster Video store. Almereyda's visuals are more than inventive and hold interest but do little to add cohesiveness to the story.

If you are going to attempt Shakespeare on film then best do it with excitement and passion. "Hamlet 2000" is certainly worth viewing but, personally, I'll take Ian McKellen's "Richard III", Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood", and Orson Welle's "Othello" and "Chimes at Midnight".

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