Hamlet

Looking at this stage performance on dvd (and thank goodness it is available !!!) you will probably start with thinking: well, this is a relic, and so it will be great. The start will confirm that. Lighting is crude, and camera-angles give purely the idea of being inside a theatre (which is marvelous !! why don't they do this more often ? Why not make more dvd's of glorious stage performances ?!) After a while though, the performance takes over. This is Shakespeare, but quick-paced and lucid, never heavy or dull. This is Shakespeare in the 60ies. And it is true magic. It is just what we need nowadays ! Magnificently acted and paced and just that touch of humor, openness and charm ... All what we are lacking today. Look around us !! We can do with another shot of the cocktail we call 60ies ! Look around us ! Within this HAMLET, so classical and so brilliantly played, breathes the 60ies. Only the undertone, yes. But is there. How refreshing.

Difficult to find since it is essentially a video taping of a Broadway performance, but this is a Hamlet not to be missed! Under the firm directorial hand of John Gielgud, Richard Burton creates one of the memorable Hamlets. He rivals Olivier in a very different interpretation. It is important to remember when watching this one that it is not a movie! Still, Burton vividly demonstrates that he could have been the first classical actor of his generation had he focused on that phase of his career. Gielgud appears as the Ghost of King Hamlet and is magnificent in the role. Hume Cronyn is perfection as Polonius. The remainder of the cast is good but not breathtaking. Trivia Buffs!! Who plays the Player Queen in this version (yes, Player Queen)-- a very young Christoper Culkin. Long before he shortened that first name to Kit and fathered MacCauley.

Burton had instructed that after a limited theatrical release all copies of this were to be destroyed. It is fortunate for those of us who love this play and love great classical acting that somewhere someone failed to follow instructions. If you can find a copy by all means rent it.

Filmed, or rather videotaped, performance of the Broadway production of Shakespeare's play. Richard Burton stars as the Danish prince who plots revenge against his mother and uncle for the murder of his father. Also featuring Hume Cronyn as Polonius, Alfred Drake as Claudius, Eileen Herlie as Gertrude, Linda Marsh as Ophelia, John Cullum as Laertes, George Voskovec as the Player King, William Redfield as Guildenstern, Clement Fowler as Rosencrantz, and Barnard Hughes as Marcellus. John Gielgud, who staged and directed the play, also provides the off-stage voice of the Ghost.

Running a cool 3 hours and 10 minutes, this presentation is the opposite of the Russian version I watched last night. This strips away the visual, and focuses completely on the text. It's presented as a sort of dress rehearsal, with the performers wearing street clothes, and the sets bare and virtually nonexistent. Burton is good, although he's said to have detested this recording, made over several days from several performances in front of live audiences, and then edited together seamlessly. I thought Hume Cronyn stole the show, and wasn't surprised to learn that he won the Tony that year for his performance. For some reason, there was a contractual stipulation that after the theatrical run, all prints and negatives of this were to be destroyed, and the film was thought lost for a long time, until a single copy was found in the possession of...Richard Burton.

I suppose, provocative is the fair term to define it. For rehearsal, street clothes. For splendid acting of Richard Burton , deserving , no doubts, his Hamlet. For the high loyalty to text. For Hume Cronyn as impressive Polonius.

Sure, many adaptations, some more than ambitious.

Indeed, I see as the best Gamlet of Kuznetsov and the acting of Innokenti Smoktunovski remains, for me, the unique one to perfect. But this version has the precious gift of entire honesty , the wise perspective of Sir John Gielgud and a smart driven minimalism .

Each of them works in admirable manner and, in essence, this is the main virtue of it.

The fact that you are even thinking about watching this means that there is a high probability that you will like it, since you either like the play or like Burton or both. Any fan of Burton will delight in his performance and any lover of the play should appreciate the no-frills approach. The text is closely followed and not much is deleted. This is not really a movie, but the filming of an actual stage performance presented in front of an audience. By design the production is carried out as though it were a dress rehearsal, with minimal props and most actors appearing in street clothes.

The filming was done in "Electronovision" which appears to be an early method of filming directly from an electronic camera. Several of these cameras were used, providing scenes viewed from different angles and distances. The quality is much higher than the kinescopes of early TV (which were obtained by filming from a camera monitor) but markedly lower than black and white film of the period. Close-ups are good and actually have a quality that is reminiscent of certain contemporary independent films, but shots of the stage filmed at a distance are not as satisfactory. In any case, since Electronovision seems to have met an early death, you are not likely to see anything like this again.

Burton's Hamlet is not so melancholy, but rather angry, sardonic, and impish. He also brings a nimble athleticism to the role. The sword play is well done; it made me nervous watching it. It's hard to think of a contemporary actor who could pull this off. Hume Cronyn turns in a memorable performance as Polonius.

It is interesting to contrast this with Branagh's complete-text film which is in color and very much a movie and not the filming of a stage play. Burton's Hamlet is another example of how every production of this play is unique.

The DVD is available from Amazon.