I have no idea why this film has been so disgracefully ignored. It was one of the most important films in the London Film Festival at the NFT in 1976, along with Pasolini's ' Salo ', Oshima's ' Empire of the Senses ', and Wim Wenders ' Kings of the Road ' to name a few. It was brought out on video by the film distributor's ' Dangerous To Know ' label ( they basically initiated the concept of distributing Gay/ Queer film in the UK, and lasted many years. ) The cast includes not only Helen Mirren and Quentin Crisp, but two incredible young brothers Anthony and David Meyer playing Hamlet, Hamlet's father and Laertes, and their dual performances in my opinion have not been surpassed on film. So why is this film lost, and virtually unfindable ? I would urge strongly for the British Film Institute to reclaim it, and its running time of only just over an hour should not make them afraid. Celestino Coronado was/is a visionary director, and the hour consists of an hallucinatory night where Hamlet in his dreams plays out ( as if in rehearsal for waking action ) essential parts of the drama. Quentin Crisp plays Polonius to perfection, and in the scene where Hamlet confronts his mother Helen Mirren was equally excellent. I will give no other spoilers, only to say that the images are startling, brutal and utterly beautiful; an eye seen through a magnifying glass, a hand pounding down on nails and a love/hate fight between Hamlet and Laertes, erotic and finely choreographed. Is it Laertes that Hamlet loves instead of Ophelia ? Make up your own minds if by luck you find an old video of this great film, or if by some miracle it is rightly released again. My copy is almost worn out, and I hope to see this truly original ' Hamlet ' restored in my lifetime.
