The Play's the Thing...
At shortly after midday today I unplugged the phone, turned off my laptop, then bolted my door before sitting down to three hours and three minutes of the RSC/Illuminations film of David Tennant's 'Hamlet'. Below the cut are my thoughts on it (I missed the live television broadcast, unfortunately, owing to family Christmas commitments, so this is the first time I've seen the film version).
Nothing, of course, can compare to seeing a live stage production of a play, but if the only way you can see it is to watch a DVD, then this is an excellent production, particularly as Illuminations (the media company responsible for filming it) were able to get the involvement of all the original actors in their original roles, including David Tennant as Hamlet, Sir (now!) Patrick Stewart as Claudius/the Ghost, and Penny Downie as Gertrude, with Gregory Doran again directing. The location used for the shoot was St Joseph's College, Mill Hill in North London (you can find out more here on the Illuminations blog, and there are further lnks there).
I have to say, I think that Illuminations made excellent use of the location, while still setting up the main hall to look very similar to the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford (where I saw the play).
What particularly struck me about the film version of the play is the meta-use of cameras and the sensation of Hamlet, in particular, being watched constantly even when there's apparently no one else in the room: the use of CCTV cameras on the battlements of Elsinore, and in the main 'throne room', adds a level of intensity to the film version that wasn't in the stage version. In addition, Hamlet uses a digital camcorder to record what happens when the Players stage their play for Claudius and Gertrude, so that he can record their reactions to the play-within-the-play, and he also does a couple of his monologues direct to the camcorder.
When I saw the stage version I was seated to the side of the stage, which meant that I was unable to see David Tennant's face a fair bit of the time which, given how expressive is Tennant's face, was seriously disappointing. So it was a great relief to be able to watch the full range of emotions on his face as he was performing.
I don't have time, today, to explore the extras on the DVD; Greg Doran provides an audio commentary, along with Sebastian Grant and Greg Seager of Illuminations, and there's also a 'Making of' documentary produced by, Gillane Seaborne, who's the person behind the Doctor Who Confidential and Merlin: Secrets and Magic shows, but other viewers' comments on the Illuminations blog lead me to believe that I'll find both extras fascinating and worthy of my time.
Whether or not you got the chance to see the staged version of 'Hamlet', I think anyone with an interest in Shakespeare would find this version of the play to be accessible, interesting and enjoyable.
Nothing, of course, can compare to seeing a live stage production of a play, but if the only way you can see it is to watch a DVD, then this is an excellent production, particularly as Illuminations (the media company responsible for filming it) were able to get the involvement of all the original actors in their original roles, including David Tennant as Hamlet, Sir (now!) Patrick Stewart as Claudius/the Ghost, and Penny Downie as Gertrude, with Gregory Doran again directing. The location used for the shoot was St Joseph's College, Mill Hill in North London (you can find out more here on the Illuminations blog, and there are further lnks there).
I have to say, I think that Illuminations made excellent use of the location, while still setting up the main hall to look very similar to the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford (where I saw the play).
What particularly struck me about the film version of the play is the meta-use of cameras and the sensation of Hamlet, in particular, being watched constantly even when there's apparently no one else in the room: the use of CCTV cameras on the battlements of Elsinore, and in the main 'throne room', adds a level of intensity to the film version that wasn't in the stage version. In addition, Hamlet uses a digital camcorder to record what happens when the Players stage their play for Claudius and Gertrude, so that he can record their reactions to the play-within-the-play, and he also does a couple of his monologues direct to the camcorder.
When I saw the stage version I was seated to the side of the stage, which meant that I was unable to see David Tennant's face a fair bit of the time which, given how expressive is Tennant's face, was seriously disappointing. So it was a great relief to be able to watch the full range of emotions on his face as he was performing.
I don't have time, today, to explore the extras on the DVD; Greg Doran provides an audio commentary, along with Sebastian Grant and Greg Seager of Illuminations, and there's also a 'Making of' documentary produced by, Gillane Seaborne, who's the person behind the Doctor Who Confidential and Merlin: Secrets and Magic shows, but other viewers' comments on the Illuminations blog lead me to believe that I'll find both extras fascinating and worthy of my time.
Whether or not you got the chance to see the staged version of 'Hamlet', I think anyone with an interest in Shakespeare would find this version of the play to be accessible, interesting and enjoyable.