The Hamlet Business

I've been hungry for some Shakespeare lately so when I saw Criterion has a playlist for "Pop Shakespeare" up this month I went ahead and watched the 2000 Hamlet with Ethan Hawke. The cast was mostly good, with Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius and Bill Murray as Polonius. I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to but I'd still prefer to watch the Nichol Williamson, Laurence Olivier, or Kenneth Branagh versions (in that order). I hate it when Shakespeare plays are put in modern settings.

This one's set in the world of contemporary corporate takeovers, which recalls Kurosawa's loose adaptation of the play called The Bad Sleep Well, a far more effectively gloomy take. There were two things I really liked about the 2000 film, though. I liked how Ophelia is wearing a wire when she confronts Hamlet and I liked how the performance of Sam Shephard is allowed to carry the impact of the ghost's words to Hamlet. There's minimal makeup and optical effects, it's mostly just Sam Shephard standing there in a suit.

Somehow he made this bit particularly chilling:

But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood,

Julia Stiles plays Ophelia and the filmmakers seemed to have not had much faith in her because a lot of her lines are cut. But I liked when Hamlet discovered she was wearing a wire and was enraged by it. It was a nice way of showing the nature of Ophelia's madness, how hopeless she must feel after the incident demonstrates to Hamlet that he can't trust her even though she truly loves him. So here's some advice for young lovers--don't wear hidden microphones.

Hamlet (2000) is available on The Criterion Channel.

X Sonnet #1859

The boat concealed a zero deep below.
But people knew balloons were full of air.
The salvage crew disdained a bag to stow.
A level deck remained to smooth the dare.
A beastly boy would watch the wasted books.
As copper daggers gather dust, he waits.
No killer sought to tame the Devil's hooks.
The wounded climb in vain behind the Fates.
A worthy man may yet not ev'ry role befit.
A hasty word would dwell a lengthy space.
Reflections fail to stop the bullet's hit.
Implore, but don't presume, an act of grace.
The footage shows a ghost in guise of man.
The demon building housed the guts of Pan.