ada the leading man is my tpye

TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

rachelcarl-24118 Hamlet is a beautiful play. In fact, its widely thought of as Shakespeare's best works. Why someone would want to butcher it like this is completely beyond me. This adaption cuts beautiful and often crucial lines to focus on certain aspects of Hamlet's character, but completely misses the mark.My first and possibly biggest issue with this play is how completely unlikable Mel Gibson's Hamlet is. One of the most fascinating things about Hamlet is that he is a mystery, an enigma of a character. He is also a prime example of a beautifully flawed protagonist. Mel Gibson plays him as a moody, misogynistic, and lustful man-child with no regard for others. His struggle with whether or not to murder his uncle is almost completely diminished in favor of giving us more of Hamlet's "madness" while bringing close to nothing new or revolutionary to his character. Another of this adaption's fatal flaws is its near complete erasure of Horatio, Hamlet's loyal friend and moral compass. More of his lines are cut than anyone else's and his friendship with the moody prince is massively downplayed. In doing this, I believe this movie didn't reach its full potential of just how tragic the story is. We also lose a great deal of Hamlet's sense of turmoil when we underestimate how integral Horatio is to the story. He often acts as Hamlet's conscience and his only confident.Pair all this with a forgettable Claudius, mediocre Gertrude and frankly disturbing and incest-y scene between Hamlet and his mother and you get Hamlet (1990).I will readily admit to absolutely adoring how Helena Bonham Carter played Ophelia. This, in my opinion, is what made this movie worth watching. She seemed far less like "that girl in love with Hamlet" and far more like Ophelia than any adaption I've seen.Over all, though, this adaption of Hamlet's fatal flaw is really the fact that it is *too* Hamlet-centric. I know, it sounds crazy, but hear me out. This interpretation of Hamlet was so focused on telling us about Hamlet, that it left all other characters flat and uninteresting. Instead of asking what motivates a character or why they would say something based on who they were, this adaption seems to focus far more on how this effects Hamlet or what other characters can do to make Hamlet look a certain way. This does every character a great disservice.

Armand beautiful images. precise direction. great cast. impressive performance. and magnificent essence of unique play. a Zeffireli. after his vision, result of his rules. aesthetic. and more. because the mark of this adaptation, not the best, not giant, not maybe, memorable, is the soul. each word, each face expression, each gesture is fruit of a profound feeling of a strange prey. sure, it is Shakespeare. but delicate manner to introduce in the Hamlet universe, the care for detail, the rough Scotland, the solutions for ordinaries problems of adaptations are worthy of respect. after Romeo and Juliet and mature experience, it is not a surprise. only form of seduction. because , more than a director work, it is a delight.

smfilm This title has fallen to the wayside over the last 21 years... Not mentioned much, if ever.Even a very high quality Blu Ray release on July 5, 2010 (ASIN: B0040T7316) didn't wake up interest in it... though I believe it was a Australia only release, it's available at Amazon and various other outlets... including BestBuy.It's a shame, because Zeffirelli's take on Hamlet occupies a very good niche... beautiful cinematography, perfect direction, and some truly breathtaking acting combine with a shortened story to bridge the gap between modern cinema and Shakespeare... no small featMel Gibson gives a unique and sharp rendition of Hamlet and his madness. His delivery is effortless and entirely believable. He gives life to Shakespeare for the modern audience. Even my high school age kids now have a genuine interest in Shakespeare, which I doubt any mainstream American kid has actually had in the last 3 generations.Helena Bonham Carter delivers the performance of her career with incredible affect... mesmerizing to watch.Likewise Glenn Close performs the scene of her career begging Hamlet for mercy upon learning of her new found husbands treachery. A truly stunning scene.This production cuts significant parts of the play as well as adding a prelude... but the story of Hamlet is told in a very artistic and true way.Snooty Shakespeare snobs will write terrible reviews of this as if there is no room for alternative viewa in order to adapt his plays... but I would argue that NONE of his plays are suitable as-is for modern film.... the idea itself is absurd, so let them whine while you enjoy this film. Anyone looking for a superlative introduction to Shakespeare in film should see this... a tour de force filled with subtlety... it's simply the best modern version of any Shakespearean play.

crose5 And vice versa.Hamlet is, to me, the greatest work in the English language. It dares us to look at the truth of our own mortality and at the same time consider right vs wrong.Branagh's choice was to present the entire play, Zefirelli chose to compress it for the screen. Each choice has its merits. I like Branagh's version too and I think it's a mistake to compare the 2 versions or add a comparison to Olivier either. Judge each on its own merits.Looking at this film, Mel Gibson is simply great. His Hamlet is obviously someone with a zest for life and a sense of humor who is completely stunned by the events at the opening of the film and thrown even more off kilter by his father's ghost. All I can say is, I love the way he plays it. The other players are excellent as well. I've never particularly liked Glenn Close's looks, but she's a great actress. Helena is my favorite Ophelia ever. And Alan Bates is superb.I've never quite accepted the theory that Hamlet can't make up his mind. Just reading the play one sees Hamlet go from a thirst for blood to messing around with a fencing match because Claudius placed a bet on it. How to explain this? What we are seeing is a bright, brilliant mind going through a nervous breakdown and then regaining sanity.You HAVE TO understand, too, that Hamlet can't just go stick a sword in his popular uncle and say his father's ghost told him to do it. Pay attention and it's clear that he needs more than just the word of the ghost and this limits his choices. After the visit from his father's ghost Hamlet seems to be not just feigning madness but literally out of his mind, he's not in control. Hamlet tells us that one reason not to commit suicide is that God has outlawed that choice. If Hamlet accepts that from God, how can he commit murder, even if his father's ghost tells him to? Hamlet's "antic disposition" at the Mousetrap is not an act. And Gibson's Hamlet really is off his rocker when he rails at his mother and accidentally kills Polonius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are victims of this madness as well.The Hamlet who comes back from England isn't charging back to Denmark for revenge, is he? He hardly mentions it. To me, at this point Hamlet HAS made up his mind. He has resigned himself to the fact that he does not want to be a killer and he is going to take things a day at a time. Gibson plays it with this sense of resignation. He still has his intelligence and sense of humor, he's regained control of himself. He is swept into the duel with Laertes willy-nilly, there is no more strategy for killing the king. He's almost beginning to enjoy life again as the duel starts. He even tells Laertes that he was crazy when Polonius was killed and says it wasn't the real Hamlet who did that. It's not until Gertrude is poisoned and Laertes tells Hamlet he is doomed that he explodes with rage again and doubly kills Claudius. His father's murder isn't the reason for this act, it's rage at Claudius for the deaths of Getrude, Laertes, and Hamlet himself.Hamlet's fatal flaw isn't indecision, it's his humanity, intelligence, and his conscience. That's the human being that Shakespeare created and Gibson brings to life.