Post by MsDirector on Oct 19, 2002 0:11:08 GMT -5
I wasn't sure whether this goes in the film catagory, since it is a TV production of a stage play, but it didn't seem to fit anywhere else so...
Has anyone seen the 1980 BBC production of "Hamlet" starring Derek Jacobi as Hamlet, Patrick Stewart as Claudius, and Claire Bloom as Gertrude? It was just recently released at a relatively reasonable price as part of the 5 DVD set of BBC Tragedies which include not only "Hamlet", but also "Julius Caesar", "Romeo and Juliet", "Macbeth", and "Othello" (with Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins).
Sir Derek Jacobi is a consummate Shakespearean actor who can handle anything thrown at him, with an incredible range, a beautiful, clear and amazingly versatile voice, and the ability to communicate every nuance of emotion and thought in the slightest movement. He has long been one of my favorites, and I have waited eagerly for his "Hamlet" to be released in a US format. Well, it's here and I am SOOOO not disappointed.
This has got to be one of the clearest, most understandable, most enthralling and expressive Hamlets I have ever seen - and I've seen alot. The man is absolutely amazing. The play runs 222 minutes - there are a few judicious cuts but not many. But the difference between this version and that of Sir Derek's protegy, Kenneth Branagh, is palpable. Never for a moment was I anything less than totally absorbed in the story. I understood everything - even things I had missed before (and I've studied the play in depth, as I'm working on my own interpretation). I felt for the characters, rooted for them (all of them - even Claudius). I laughed and cried and was totally astonished at my reaction. The nunnery scene was riviting and heart-rending (I finally understood what Ophelia was grieving over). Hamlet and Gertrude's confrontation scene was a verbal rape that came damn close to being the real thing. And Jacobi's "Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" soliloquy made it, once and for all, my favorite. Even Sir Derek says there is no such thing as a definitive "Hamlet", but I must say that for me his performance comes about as close as I think I'll ever see.
Other than Jacobi, Patrick Stewart was excellent as Claudius - very different from Jacobi, more subdued, more regal, but with a very strong undercurrent of emotion - remorse at his actions, but caught up in the web he had woven and unwilling to give up what he had killed for. Claire Bloom was a little stiff at the beginning but her "closet scene" was outstanding. Lalla Ward seemed a bit old for Ophelia, but did a nice job. Eric Porter as Polonius was wonderfully officious, political, know-it-all yet totally unaware - and in his scenes with Hamlet, each of their reactions to the other were just delightful.
If you haven't seen this "Hamlet", find a way to see it! If you have, I'd love to hear your reactions. I realize that everyone had their own tastes, and I know there will be many who were not so overwhelmed as I was, and may find that it did not measure up to their particular favorites. But if you've seen it, I'd really like to know what you thought of it. This was no Kenneth Branagh fashion show. In Jacobi's "Hamlet" the play, indeed, is the thing...
Has anyone seen the 1980 BBC production of "Hamlet" starring Derek Jacobi as Hamlet, Patrick Stewart as Claudius, and Claire Bloom as Gertrude? It was just recently released at a relatively reasonable price as part of the 5 DVD set of BBC Tragedies which include not only "Hamlet", but also "Julius Caesar", "Romeo and Juliet", "Macbeth", and "Othello" (with Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins).
Sir Derek Jacobi is a consummate Shakespearean actor who can handle anything thrown at him, with an incredible range, a beautiful, clear and amazingly versatile voice, and the ability to communicate every nuance of emotion and thought in the slightest movement. He has long been one of my favorites, and I have waited eagerly for his "Hamlet" to be released in a US format. Well, it's here and I am SOOOO not disappointed.
This has got to be one of the clearest, most understandable, most enthralling and expressive Hamlets I have ever seen - and I've seen alot. The man is absolutely amazing. The play runs 222 minutes - there are a few judicious cuts but not many. But the difference between this version and that of Sir Derek's protegy, Kenneth Branagh, is palpable. Never for a moment was I anything less than totally absorbed in the story. I understood everything - even things I had missed before (and I've studied the play in depth, as I'm working on my own interpretation). I felt for the characters, rooted for them (all of them - even Claudius). I laughed and cried and was totally astonished at my reaction. The nunnery scene was riviting and heart-rending (I finally understood what Ophelia was grieving over). Hamlet and Gertrude's confrontation scene was a verbal rape that came damn close to being the real thing. And Jacobi's "Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" soliloquy made it, once and for all, my favorite. Even Sir Derek says there is no such thing as a definitive "Hamlet", but I must say that for me his performance comes about as close as I think I'll ever see.
Other than Jacobi, Patrick Stewart was excellent as Claudius - very different from Jacobi, more subdued, more regal, but with a very strong undercurrent of emotion - remorse at his actions, but caught up in the web he had woven and unwilling to give up what he had killed for. Claire Bloom was a little stiff at the beginning but her "closet scene" was outstanding. Lalla Ward seemed a bit old for Ophelia, but did a nice job. Eric Porter as Polonius was wonderfully officious, political, know-it-all yet totally unaware - and in his scenes with Hamlet, each of their reactions to the other were just delightful.
If you haven't seen this "Hamlet", find a way to see it! If you have, I'd love to hear your reactions. I realize that everyone had their own tastes, and I know there will be many who were not so overwhelmed as I was, and may find that it did not measure up to their particular favorites. But if you've seen it, I'd really like to know what you thought of it. This was no Kenneth Branagh fashion show. In Jacobi's "Hamlet" the play, indeed, is the thing...