David Tennant's Hamlet
Apparently the BBC folks decided that in the off chance that we weren't already heartbroken enough over the holidays given the imminent death of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who, they should also give us David Tennant as the doomed prince Hamlet and make us watch DT die twice in as many weeks. The vicious bastards. Someone over there owns stock in Kleenex. That, or they're just trying to kill us. But, I suppose if I were to choose the means of my departure, death by DT awesomeness would not be a bad option.
I should probably preface this with a few statements. I'm by no means a Shakespeare expert. I've read many of Shakespeare's plays and other works and read a few scholarly treatments surrounding them way back that I scarcely recall. I haven't studied them extensively by any stretch. I tend to read Hamlet every couple years, as it's my favorite of the plays (yeah, I'm original like that), and it's the one I've seen the most productions of over the years, which is still not that many considering. While I have an appreciation for Shakespeare's genius, particularly for language, and I genuinely love parts of Shakespeare's works, I'm not given to Shakespeare worship. Sacrilegious as it is to say in literary circles, there's a lot of Shakespearean works that I can do without and many elements I actively dislike. That's just my personal preferences and opinions, and it doesn't, for me anyway, detract from my enjoyment of the elements that I do like. Not surprisingly then, I'm not one of those individuals who considers the texts sacred, and am thus quite fine with alterations being made to the generally accepted versions (don't even get me started on the debates regarding which of the many versions of various works are the "true" version - I think those who argue for definitive forms overlook history and the nature of theater) and other modernizations (so long as it serves a purpose of course - those who switch things up or whatnot merely for the sake of attention or to "be different" just irritate me, whether it be Shakespeare or anything else). Anywho, that's where I'm coming from. On to the DT love...
This is far and away my favorite production of Hamlet I've ever seen. David Tennant is miraculous in the role. And he's surrounded by a great cast. With few exceptions, the performances are brilliant. I agree with nearly all of the choices made here. And there are so many choices involved. With Hamlet, both the character and the play itself, even more than with other plays, can be played so many ways to radically different meaning and effect. I love this production's take. I also love the way the play itself has been reworked towards these ends. I'm quite fond of the contemporary touches, but far beyond that, the rearrangements, particularly of Acts II and III, are genius and it truly works. The coherency, flow, and tension are greatly improved. Some of the trimming down helped with this as well, and I don't think anything too great of value was sacrificed (well, except for mention of Hamlet's role in the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern).
David Tennant inhabited Hamlet completely, through each stage of the character's journey, and was absolutely mesmerizing. I've heard DT and others talk about the challenge of trying to make such well-known and complex lines feel fresh and spontaneous in the speaking. My god but does he ever rise to that challenge, and make it look effortless! When I watch this production, I don't find myself going, "look, DT's doing the 'O, that this too too solid flesh would melt' soliloquy." It's, "my god, such grief and frustration, poor Hamlet!" So often, we hear Shakespeare, we don't feel it. The great actors (especially combined in the right productions) make you feel it. Christ, but does DT make you feel it. DT's brilliance for layering performances is used to full effect throughout the play, and I love the balance he strikes between the varying elements of the character and his transitions.
In our first scenes of Hamlet, from court to before the ghost appears to him, we begin with Hamlet very much the pampered prince, sulking, even as his grief is genuine and his dissatisfaction given cause. You feel for him completely while still having that sense of something being slightly off and an understanding for why the others view him darkly.
And then we get our first transition in the character when he sees his father's ghost. He's a young man overwhelmed by the ghost's terrible news and commands. He's genuinely maddened by it, but consciously so, which is all the more tragic. While this is an element of his subsequent behavior, I love the balance DT struck between Hamlet's real madness and his purposeful facade of madness. The depressive side and rage of it are given real weight while the antics are pure, masterful show. I also love how, through both DT's performance and the scene reordering, the production avoided the pitfalls of the exceedingly indecisive trope for Hamlet. This Hamlet is not the Olivier Hamlet, the Hamlet 'who couldn't make up his mind.' DT's Hamlet swears revenge eagerly but finds action more difficult, not from being indecisive, fickle, or weak, but by the massive weight of the undertaking. It's one thing to want revenge, quite another to take it. Beyond that, he needs some assurance of the justice of that revenge (if there ever could be such a thing). All he has are the words of a ghost (which could as easily be a temptation of the devil rather than his father by the thinking of the time), hence the scheme of the play. Once he gets his confirmation (however dubious), he's ready to act (as difficult as it might be), but he just keeps getting tripped up on matters of timing and method (as fits an over-thinker like Hamlet). The King's pious showing with its possible effect on the degree of vengeance he could exact at that moment, and then Polonius's death and the political fallout and consequences associated with it, delay him. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Since I'm already on one tangent... Given DT's Doctor Who connection, now, every time I come across Hamlet's line, "Time is out of joint: O, cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!" and can't help thinking how perfectly apt that statement is for the Doctor.
When next we see Hamlet, he's worn down by his original grief now vastly compounded by the horror of knowledge and the burden of his oath. The most famous of monologues is upon us. And does DT ever do it justice! My god but he is heartbreaking!
And then we get the ever controversial scene between Hamlet and Ophelia. I like the way this production handled the Hamlet-Ophelia relationship. While Hamlet is horridly thoughtless to her, he's not intentionally cruel and he does genuinely love her. One of the tragedies of Hamlet that is often overlooked is the tragedy of the relationship that might have been between them. What might have been had it not been for his father's murder or her father's interference. All hail Polonius, Master Knave of Tragic Timing. When Hamlet is most in need of Ophelia, the comfort and grounding she might have provided him in the midst of his trials, Ophelia's taken from him. When his mother's conduct has made him wariest of women and love, Ophelia has severed ties, appearing fickle. Worse, when her meeting with him is so obviously contrived and observed, it "proves" she can't be trusted and seems a bitter betrayal. DT plays is beautifully. Mariah Gale tries, bless her.
I think Davies plays Polonius perfectly throughout, and I do love his scenes opposite DT. The character just infuriates me so (as he's intended to), I can scarcely stand it, so I haven't much intelligent to say about Polonius in general. Here, though, DT's Hamlet playing the fool while in truth being wickedly clever just gives me glee beyond measure. His antics absolutely kill me. While some have argued with me over whether DT is the most moving Hamlet of our generation (guess which side I'm on), surely there can be no doubt he is the funniest. God but does this ever make me long to have seen DT's Touchstone. The humor of Shakespeare is so often lost these days. We forget that, in their day, this was popular entertainment and was meant to be amusing, with laughter even in the bleakest of Shakespeare's tragedies. Part of the current loss is that the nature of humor has indeed changed, but much is lost simply because we tend to take Shakespeare so damn seriously. It's theater, not somber rite. God bless you, DT, for bringing the laughter and playfulness back to Shakespeare! And to Hamlet, no less!
Much like the scene with Ophelia, Hamlet's otherwise potentially comforting reunion with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern becomes another torment when Hamlet realizes they're not merely sent by the King and Queen, but R&G try to hide it and stick to their purpose rather than being merely Hamlet's friends. In their defense, they were mostly well-meaning, although this production does play up the opportunistic side of them as well, which I actually quite liked. Mostly, they're just fools. Indeed, they're played as particularly foolish in this production, which again, I think worked well. They are really out of their depth with Hamlet and too stupid to realize it. It's a dark pleasure, I suppose, and ultimately sad, but it's so fun watching Hamlet run circles around them.
I think this production also did a nice job making the logic of the play for the King much clearer. While Hamlet feels shamed by his inaction, he does need to know for sure. Arguably not the best strategy and the "proof" it provides is rather dubious were it not for the subsequent confirmation of guilt we later get in the Claudius's soliloquy, but that's on Shakespeare. I also love that DT's Hamlet is so clearly wary of his own bias and trusts in Horatio's judgment rather than his own. Those lines are often treated with less significance.
DT is absolutely mesmerizing as Hamlet at his most antic ever through the play scene, and the touches he adds are brilliant. OMG the whistling! That cracked me up so much. (Was that really DT whistling? Another hidden talent?) The way he sprawls on the floor with Ophelia and chews at her arm! Playing with the camera and using it to spy on the King for his reaction! Brilliant, all! I love how frenzied he is, so overanxious to drive home the point of the play.
But easily my favorite is the scene just after the play. Throughout, DT's amazing gift for physicality, the way he moves, has brought so much to the character, and it's all on display in this scene. Then you add in the brilliant use of props. The fake crown perched crooked on his head! Alternatively wielding the recorder as a toy, a scepter, a conductor's baton of words and men, and ultimately a weapon. His recorder comparison speech is not just a rebuke to R&G. He's not their plaything, they have been his all along. He puts them on notice. He's rage and menace. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, no one flips switches better than DT. He can turn from hilarity to terrifying in an instant and back again and be both. The way his Hamlet toys with those lessers around him, R&G and Polonius, especially, is both marvelous and horrific. Perfection.
It's also in this scene that I fell in love with Peter De Jersey's Horatio. In most productions, Horatio stands back, astonished, servile, or perhaps bemused, but of little depth. Not here. This is a Horatio who plays along, and is amused by, understanding of, and admiring of his best friend's brilliant performance as the mad, antic prince. He's in on the joke. He gets it all. The one character who truly sees Hamlet. And he loves him. A best friend and a brother. In a few deft strokes, we're given a portrait of an amazing relationship. When this Horatio scrambles for the poisoned cup at Hamlet's death, we believe. It's not for show. It's not duty. It's a friend's love. And his grief hits us all the harder at the end. I weep for Horatio as well as Hamlet. But I've gotten ahead of myself again.
In all this rambling, I haven't yet mentioned Patrick Stewart. I have been terribly remiss. PS is his typically masterful self throughout, and this is showcased well in his guilt speech (not to mention his brilliant and distinctive appearances as the Ghost). In this production, I can't help thinking what a marvelous style counterpoint he provides for DT. PS has always seemed to me a bridge between the traditional and modern Shakespearean. He's a lovely blend of the two, and I love that about him. I thoroughly enjoy the contrast between his voice driven style and DT's physicality. They're both exceptional and casting these roles with distinctly different yet clearly compatible actors was marvelous. I only wish they'd had more direct interaction, but that's the nature of the play, so I'll just have to hope for a future work with these two.
Penny Downie is also exceptional throughout as Gertrude. The confrontation between Gertrude and Hamlet was even more powerful than I expected going in, and I had already set the bar quite high. The rage and the fear and the frustration and the pity on both sides in this scene is gutwrenching. So much emotion, and so genuinely played. And dear god but do I love this production so much for avoiding the Oedipal trap here! It's such a common cop-out. That's not what this scene is about. This is what happens when those we love and trust disappoint us more than we ever thought possible (however fair/unfair the standard or actual/perceived the offense), when a bond is shattered, when love turns to hate and yet love remains, and when we've lost our ability to fully understand and be understood by one another when we need it most. To think what the relationship must have been before all this. It's all so utterly heartbreaking.
Then we're treated to more amazing and ever more tragic Hamlet antics. Even as we laugh the horrific quality is harder and harder to deny. It's Hamlet's twisted "Goodnight, Mother!" and Gertrude's bitter laugh. It's jumping over the side of the staircase. It's petulantly jerking at the rolling chair you're tied to, impatiently crying "To England," knowing full well your death has been plotted there. It's fucking brilliant.
Unfortunately, I think the quality drops a bit thereafter. Don't get me wrong, it's still exceptional and my favorite production, but many subsequent scenes don't have quite the same magic as the rest. Perhaps that's just me, though. Ophelia's descent into madness and death just doesn't have the resonance it should. Mariah Gale doesn't pull it off believably. I really don't want to pick on her, though. Ophelia is an incredibly difficult character to play well, particularly by as young an actress as is required by the story. Any emotion for the character is solicited primarily from the play itself and PD's Gertrude. Edward Bennett's Laertes doesn't manage it for me either. He's decent enough as Laertes, I suppose, but a bit dwarfed by the giants he's surrounded with. I'm really surprised then that he was the choice to fill in as Hamlet when DT was out for his back surgery. Perhaps he has a quality that doesn't translate so well to film as live theater. I really don't know. Perhaps Laertes seems only good rather than great by force of the relative impossibility of playing the mirror to Hamlet when Hamlet is played by DT.
None of this criticism should be taken to imply that I was anything but riveted throughout, especially when watching the graveyard scenes and the final duel. I absolutely was. And I absolutely sobbed at the end. But, I'm getting ahead of myself again. If only I hadn't also gotten so behind. I've just taken a look above and realized the length of this (OMG!). As I've prattled on far too long, I'll try not to belabor the remaining scenes.
I think the graveyard scenes can be summed up with the pronouncement that DT's a virtual force of nature, PS is at his deviously slick best, Gertrude and Horatio are delightfully unusually affecting, and there's something wickedly snotty and cruel about the priest that struck me and I rather liked it. As for Hamlet's pre-duel scene, the messenger/referee makes me proclaim every time, "Is this whole kingdom full of fools?!" (Christ, by such subjects alone, if I was prince I'd be fucking suicidal, too), I love how DT's mockery has so little mirth now, and DT's fatalistic speech is far more moving than should be reasonable. Now, that gets us to the last scene. Who says I can't be concise? (umm, a little thing called reality, perhaps?)
I love that DT plays it straight here, a glimpse of the Hamlet that might have been. Eloquent, judicious, and temperate (barring sufficient provocation of course, which he gets). At the same time, there's those little touches, like the eyeroll at Claudius being grandiose, that mark him the same man. And DT never forgets this little touches of realism either, like loosening up as the bout begins or the glee of scoring hits. Another thing I love: that Gertrude is here portrayed as sensing the treachery of Claudius and drinking the cup fearfully and bravely, knowing full well she may be sacrificing herself for her son. This is a Gertrude whose eyes were opened by Hamlet's words at their confrontation. She's no fool. She's the kind of mother who could have raised so clever a son. And she gets a chance to prove her love for him. And, oblivious at the moment, Hamlet does as grown sons do and makes a face at her second doting wipe of his brow. Love it! Truly, save for a flat Laertes, the final scene is as close to perfect as any production I have yet seen. One by one they fall. Hamlet dies in his best friend's arms. And I weep for him, and for Horatio, and for Gertrude, too - the later two of which I'm not accustomed to doing, nor have I ever shed as many tears for Hamlet. God, but DT is heartbreaking! And brilliantly, they end it there, on "flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" and Horatio's sobs, with a beautifully haunting spare musical arrangement. Perfection!
So, short story long, I think I may have liked it just a wee bit.
Note: I totally need an icon like the Sam one that I used but with DT making one of his crazy faces for this post, and just for life in general really. Alas, I lack icon skills.
.
I should probably preface this with a few statements. I'm by no means a Shakespeare expert. I've read many of Shakespeare's plays and other works and read a few scholarly treatments surrounding them way back that I scarcely recall. I haven't studied them extensively by any stretch. I tend to read Hamlet every couple years, as it's my favorite of the plays (yeah, I'm original like that), and it's the one I've seen the most productions of over the years, which is still not that many considering. While I have an appreciation for Shakespeare's genius, particularly for language, and I genuinely love parts of Shakespeare's works, I'm not given to Shakespeare worship. Sacrilegious as it is to say in literary circles, there's a lot of Shakespearean works that I can do without and many elements I actively dislike. That's just my personal preferences and opinions, and it doesn't, for me anyway, detract from my enjoyment of the elements that I do like. Not surprisingly then, I'm not one of those individuals who considers the texts sacred, and am thus quite fine with alterations being made to the generally accepted versions (don't even get me started on the debates regarding which of the many versions of various works are the "true" version - I think those who argue for definitive forms overlook history and the nature of theater) and other modernizations (so long as it serves a purpose of course - those who switch things up or whatnot merely for the sake of attention or to "be different" just irritate me, whether it be Shakespeare or anything else). Anywho, that's where I'm coming from. On to the DT love...
This is far and away my favorite production of Hamlet I've ever seen. David Tennant is miraculous in the role. And he's surrounded by a great cast. With few exceptions, the performances are brilliant. I agree with nearly all of the choices made here. And there are so many choices involved. With Hamlet, both the character and the play itself, even more than with other plays, can be played so many ways to radically different meaning and effect. I love this production's take. I also love the way the play itself has been reworked towards these ends. I'm quite fond of the contemporary touches, but far beyond that, the rearrangements, particularly of Acts II and III, are genius and it truly works. The coherency, flow, and tension are greatly improved. Some of the trimming down helped with this as well, and I don't think anything too great of value was sacrificed (well, except for mention of Hamlet's role in the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern).
David Tennant inhabited Hamlet completely, through each stage of the character's journey, and was absolutely mesmerizing. I've heard DT and others talk about the challenge of trying to make such well-known and complex lines feel fresh and spontaneous in the speaking. My god but does he ever rise to that challenge, and make it look effortless! When I watch this production, I don't find myself going, "look, DT's doing the 'O, that this too too solid flesh would melt' soliloquy." It's, "my god, such grief and frustration, poor Hamlet!" So often, we hear Shakespeare, we don't feel it. The great actors (especially combined in the right productions) make you feel it. Christ, but does DT make you feel it. DT's brilliance for layering performances is used to full effect throughout the play, and I love the balance he strikes between the varying elements of the character and his transitions.
In our first scenes of Hamlet, from court to before the ghost appears to him, we begin with Hamlet very much the pampered prince, sulking, even as his grief is genuine and his dissatisfaction given cause. You feel for him completely while still having that sense of something being slightly off and an understanding for why the others view him darkly.
And then we get our first transition in the character when he sees his father's ghost. He's a young man overwhelmed by the ghost's terrible news and commands. He's genuinely maddened by it, but consciously so, which is all the more tragic. While this is an element of his subsequent behavior, I love the balance DT struck between Hamlet's real madness and his purposeful facade of madness. The depressive side and rage of it are given real weight while the antics are pure, masterful show. I also love how, through both DT's performance and the scene reordering, the production avoided the pitfalls of the exceedingly indecisive trope for Hamlet. This Hamlet is not the Olivier Hamlet, the Hamlet 'who couldn't make up his mind.' DT's Hamlet swears revenge eagerly but finds action more difficult, not from being indecisive, fickle, or weak, but by the massive weight of the undertaking. It's one thing to want revenge, quite another to take it. Beyond that, he needs some assurance of the justice of that revenge (if there ever could be such a thing). All he has are the words of a ghost (which could as easily be a temptation of the devil rather than his father by the thinking of the time), hence the scheme of the play. Once he gets his confirmation (however dubious), he's ready to act (as difficult as it might be), but he just keeps getting tripped up on matters of timing and method (as fits an over-thinker like Hamlet). The King's pious showing with its possible effect on the degree of vengeance he could exact at that moment, and then Polonius's death and the political fallout and consequences associated with it, delay him. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Since I'm already on one tangent... Given DT's Doctor Who connection, now, every time I come across Hamlet's line, "Time is out of joint: O, cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!" and can't help thinking how perfectly apt that statement is for the Doctor.
When next we see Hamlet, he's worn down by his original grief now vastly compounded by the horror of knowledge and the burden of his oath. The most famous of monologues is upon us. And does DT ever do it justice! My god but he is heartbreaking!
And then we get the ever controversial scene between Hamlet and Ophelia. I like the way this production handled the Hamlet-Ophelia relationship. While Hamlet is horridly thoughtless to her, he's not intentionally cruel and he does genuinely love her. One of the tragedies of Hamlet that is often overlooked is the tragedy of the relationship that might have been between them. What might have been had it not been for his father's murder or her father's interference. All hail Polonius, Master Knave of Tragic Timing. When Hamlet is most in need of Ophelia, the comfort and grounding she might have provided him in the midst of his trials, Ophelia's taken from him. When his mother's conduct has made him wariest of women and love, Ophelia has severed ties, appearing fickle. Worse, when her meeting with him is so obviously contrived and observed, it "proves" she can't be trusted and seems a bitter betrayal. DT plays is beautifully. Mariah Gale tries, bless her.
I think Davies plays Polonius perfectly throughout, and I do love his scenes opposite DT. The character just infuriates me so (as he's intended to), I can scarcely stand it, so I haven't much intelligent to say about Polonius in general. Here, though, DT's Hamlet playing the fool while in truth being wickedly clever just gives me glee beyond measure. His antics absolutely kill me. While some have argued with me over whether DT is the most moving Hamlet of our generation (guess which side I'm on), surely there can be no doubt he is the funniest. God but does this ever make me long to have seen DT's Touchstone. The humor of Shakespeare is so often lost these days. We forget that, in their day, this was popular entertainment and was meant to be amusing, with laughter even in the bleakest of Shakespeare's tragedies. Part of the current loss is that the nature of humor has indeed changed, but much is lost simply because we tend to take Shakespeare so damn seriously. It's theater, not somber rite. God bless you, DT, for bringing the laughter and playfulness back to Shakespeare! And to Hamlet, no less!
Much like the scene with Ophelia, Hamlet's otherwise potentially comforting reunion with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern becomes another torment when Hamlet realizes they're not merely sent by the King and Queen, but R&G try to hide it and stick to their purpose rather than being merely Hamlet's friends. In their defense, they were mostly well-meaning, although this production does play up the opportunistic side of them as well, which I actually quite liked. Mostly, they're just fools. Indeed, they're played as particularly foolish in this production, which again, I think worked well. They are really out of their depth with Hamlet and too stupid to realize it. It's a dark pleasure, I suppose, and ultimately sad, but it's so fun watching Hamlet run circles around them.
I think this production also did a nice job making the logic of the play for the King much clearer. While Hamlet feels shamed by his inaction, he does need to know for sure. Arguably not the best strategy and the "proof" it provides is rather dubious were it not for the subsequent confirmation of guilt we later get in the Claudius's soliloquy, but that's on Shakespeare. I also love that DT's Hamlet is so clearly wary of his own bias and trusts in Horatio's judgment rather than his own. Those lines are often treated with less significance.
DT is absolutely mesmerizing as Hamlet at his most antic ever through the play scene, and the touches he adds are brilliant. OMG the whistling! That cracked me up so much. (Was that really DT whistling? Another hidden talent?) The way he sprawls on the floor with Ophelia and chews at her arm! Playing with the camera and using it to spy on the King for his reaction! Brilliant, all! I love how frenzied he is, so overanxious to drive home the point of the play.
But easily my favorite is the scene just after the play. Throughout, DT's amazing gift for physicality, the way he moves, has brought so much to the character, and it's all on display in this scene. Then you add in the brilliant use of props. The fake crown perched crooked on his head! Alternatively wielding the recorder as a toy, a scepter, a conductor's baton of words and men, and ultimately a weapon. His recorder comparison speech is not just a rebuke to R&G. He's not their plaything, they have been his all along. He puts them on notice. He's rage and menace. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, no one flips switches better than DT. He can turn from hilarity to terrifying in an instant and back again and be both. The way his Hamlet toys with those lessers around him, R&G and Polonius, especially, is both marvelous and horrific. Perfection.
It's also in this scene that I fell in love with Peter De Jersey's Horatio. In most productions, Horatio stands back, astonished, servile, or perhaps bemused, but of little depth. Not here. This is a Horatio who plays along, and is amused by, understanding of, and admiring of his best friend's brilliant performance as the mad, antic prince. He's in on the joke. He gets it all. The one character who truly sees Hamlet. And he loves him. A best friend and a brother. In a few deft strokes, we're given a portrait of an amazing relationship. When this Horatio scrambles for the poisoned cup at Hamlet's death, we believe. It's not for show. It's not duty. It's a friend's love. And his grief hits us all the harder at the end. I weep for Horatio as well as Hamlet. But I've gotten ahead of myself again.
In all this rambling, I haven't yet mentioned Patrick Stewart. I have been terribly remiss. PS is his typically masterful self throughout, and this is showcased well in his guilt speech (not to mention his brilliant and distinctive appearances as the Ghost). In this production, I can't help thinking what a marvelous style counterpoint he provides for DT. PS has always seemed to me a bridge between the traditional and modern Shakespearean. He's a lovely blend of the two, and I love that about him. I thoroughly enjoy the contrast between his voice driven style and DT's physicality. They're both exceptional and casting these roles with distinctly different yet clearly compatible actors was marvelous. I only wish they'd had more direct interaction, but that's the nature of the play, so I'll just have to hope for a future work with these two.
Penny Downie is also exceptional throughout as Gertrude. The confrontation between Gertrude and Hamlet was even more powerful than I expected going in, and I had already set the bar quite high. The rage and the fear and the frustration and the pity on both sides in this scene is gutwrenching. So much emotion, and so genuinely played. And dear god but do I love this production so much for avoiding the Oedipal trap here! It's such a common cop-out. That's not what this scene is about. This is what happens when those we love and trust disappoint us more than we ever thought possible (however fair/unfair the standard or actual/perceived the offense), when a bond is shattered, when love turns to hate and yet love remains, and when we've lost our ability to fully understand and be understood by one another when we need it most. To think what the relationship must have been before all this. It's all so utterly heartbreaking.
Then we're treated to more amazing and ever more tragic Hamlet antics. Even as we laugh the horrific quality is harder and harder to deny. It's Hamlet's twisted "Goodnight, Mother!" and Gertrude's bitter laugh. It's jumping over the side of the staircase. It's petulantly jerking at the rolling chair you're tied to, impatiently crying "To England," knowing full well your death has been plotted there. It's fucking brilliant.
Unfortunately, I think the quality drops a bit thereafter. Don't get me wrong, it's still exceptional and my favorite production, but many subsequent scenes don't have quite the same magic as the rest. Perhaps that's just me, though. Ophelia's descent into madness and death just doesn't have the resonance it should. Mariah Gale doesn't pull it off believably. I really don't want to pick on her, though. Ophelia is an incredibly difficult character to play well, particularly by as young an actress as is required by the story. Any emotion for the character is solicited primarily from the play itself and PD's Gertrude. Edward Bennett's Laertes doesn't manage it for me either. He's decent enough as Laertes, I suppose, but a bit dwarfed by the giants he's surrounded with. I'm really surprised then that he was the choice to fill in as Hamlet when DT was out for his back surgery. Perhaps he has a quality that doesn't translate so well to film as live theater. I really don't know. Perhaps Laertes seems only good rather than great by force of the relative impossibility of playing the mirror to Hamlet when Hamlet is played by DT.
None of this criticism should be taken to imply that I was anything but riveted throughout, especially when watching the graveyard scenes and the final duel. I absolutely was. And I absolutely sobbed at the end. But, I'm getting ahead of myself again. If only I hadn't also gotten so behind. I've just taken a look above and realized the length of this (OMG!). As I've prattled on far too long, I'll try not to belabor the remaining scenes.
I think the graveyard scenes can be summed up with the pronouncement that DT's a virtual force of nature, PS is at his deviously slick best, Gertrude and Horatio are delightfully unusually affecting, and there's something wickedly snotty and cruel about the priest that struck me and I rather liked it. As for Hamlet's pre-duel scene, the messenger/referee makes me proclaim every time, "Is this whole kingdom full of fools?!" (Christ, by such subjects alone, if I was prince I'd be fucking suicidal, too), I love how DT's mockery has so little mirth now, and DT's fatalistic speech is far more moving than should be reasonable. Now, that gets us to the last scene. Who says I can't be concise? (umm, a little thing called reality, perhaps?)
I love that DT plays it straight here, a glimpse of the Hamlet that might have been. Eloquent, judicious, and temperate (barring sufficient provocation of course, which he gets). At the same time, there's those little touches, like the eyeroll at Claudius being grandiose, that mark him the same man. And DT never forgets this little touches of realism either, like loosening up as the bout begins or the glee of scoring hits. Another thing I love: that Gertrude is here portrayed as sensing the treachery of Claudius and drinking the cup fearfully and bravely, knowing full well she may be sacrificing herself for her son. This is a Gertrude whose eyes were opened by Hamlet's words at their confrontation. She's no fool. She's the kind of mother who could have raised so clever a son. And she gets a chance to prove her love for him. And, oblivious at the moment, Hamlet does as grown sons do and makes a face at her second doting wipe of his brow. Love it! Truly, save for a flat Laertes, the final scene is as close to perfect as any production I have yet seen. One by one they fall. Hamlet dies in his best friend's arms. And I weep for him, and for Horatio, and for Gertrude, too - the later two of which I'm not accustomed to doing, nor have I ever shed as many tears for Hamlet. God, but DT is heartbreaking! And brilliantly, they end it there, on "flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" and Horatio's sobs, with a beautifully haunting spare musical arrangement. Perfection!
So, short story long, I think I may have liked it just a wee bit.
Note: I totally need an icon like the Sam one that I used but with DT making one of his crazy faces for this post, and just for life in general really. Alas, I lack icon skills.
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