Hamlet (1948)

Written by William Shakespeare & Laurence Olivier

Directed by Laurence Olivier

I’m gonna come right out with it: I really didn’t like this film.

Olivier as Hamlet

Maybe it’s because, and I know this is blasphemous, especially for an actor, but I’m not a fan of Shakespeare. There’s a few plays here and there that I consider merely okay, but overall, I don’t like his works. I think he’s an important addition to the history of theater, but I rarely enjoy a performance of his works. It’s like how I feel about The Beatles: I respect the contribution to the art form, but I don’t like the material.

Jean Simmons (as Ophelia) with Olivier

It’s very hard to find a redeeming attribute to Olivier’s Hamlet...the acting is pretty over the top, the cinematography is trying to be greater than it is, the music is un-memorable. The film pares down the nearly four-hour play to about two-and-a-half hours, and it still drags. It took me two attempts to watch it, and I still struggled to stay awake and pay attention.

The cinematography I mentioned highlights the biggest flaw in the film, for me: from the beginning, the film just FEELS pompous and overblown. It feels very much like a project for Olivier to show just how amazing he is at everything he does, not that it’s a work he has a lot of passion for. I know I’m probably being very cynical, and that it most likely couldn’t be further from the truth, but I have no other way to explain it.

There is a slightly positive note to how the ghost of Hamlet’s father is portrayed, with altered audio and visuals. It’s a stroke of brilliance in a film that seems to lack any. And while the camera work doesn’t do it any favors, the bulk of the set pieces are quite grand, even if it’s difficult to understand the physical relationship between the rooms.

Am I biased against this film? Maybe. I’ve tried to have a bit of objectivity when viewing these films, but I’ll be the first to admit that it was very difficult on this film. Sorry, Shakespeare fans, this one is a big no from me.

FINAL GRADE: D-