3 Stars (out of 4)
Hamlet opens in US theaters April 10
Director Aneil Karia’s new version of Hamlet re-imagines Shakespeare’s tragedy as a modern-day business succession drama. Riz Ahmed’s bold turn as Hamlet enlivens the drama for a contemporary audience, even as it retains the play’s original dialogue.
Karia’s interpretation of a screenplay by Michael Lesslie sets the story in present-day London. Hamlet (Ahmed) returns home from abroad for his father’s funeral. His father was the owner of a firm called Elsinor, a wealthy construction company that builds high-rises. The night of the funeral, Hamlet’s paternal uncle Claudius (Art Malik) announces that he’s going to marry Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha): his brother’s widow and Hamlet’s mother.
The wedding news comes as a shock to Hamlet, and he’s even more troubled by the fact that no one seems bothered by it but him. We don’t know where Hamlet was before his father died or how much he knew about his condition, but multiple people point out that his dad had been ill for several months. His father’s mattress still bears his silhouette in the form of a deep indentation created over his long convalescence. Everyone else has had time to mourn him and make plans for what comes next. Hamlet is the only one who experiences all this as breaking news.
In this fragile state, drugs and booze are the last things Hamlet needs, but his friend Laertes (Joe Alwyn) takes him out clubbing. Buzzing and overstimulated, Hamlet stumbles into an alley and sees the ghost of his father (played by Avijit Dutt). The ghost leads Hamlet to the top of one of Elsinor’s buildings under construction where he reveals that he was murdered by Claudius via poison dropped into his ear.
Hamlet believes the ghost and intends to prove his uncle’s guilt. The only person he confides in is Ophelia (Morfydd Clark), his former flame and Laertes’ sister. She’s concerned about Hamlet’s increasing agitation but agrees to keep his supernatural encounter a secret.
Thus Hamlet sets about trying to confirm his uncle’s guilt via a convoluted plan that involves a very direct piece of performance art at the wedding. It isn’t until the night of the wedding that Hamlet finally gets to speak privately with his mother, even though she’s been shooting him pointed looks that communicate variations on “I need to talk to you” and “We’ll talk about this later.” Chaddha is an elite talent when it comes to sending messages with her eyes.
The conversation goes poorly and comes too late to prevent the tragedy that follows, particularly when family advisor Polonius (Timothy Spall) — father of Ophelia and Laertes — interrupts mid-argument. The violent climax to the story is visceral and shocking.
Lesslie’s screenplay cuts out some major parts of the play, including Hamlet’s “Poor Yorick” speech and the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Anyone who didn’t know about them before won’t miss them, as their absence makes for a quicker narrative pace and keeps the film’s runtime under two hours.
The famous “To be or not to be” monologue is shot in a really inventive way, with Hamlet delivering it while driving. The screenplay ads a nice contemporary hook by blaming Elsinor Corporation for displacing homeless people, a variation on the “something rotten in the state of Denmark” line from the play. Hamlet only realizes this after he returns home, a further indictment that he’s been neglecting his duties as heir to the family business.
Ahmed vibrates with intensity the entire film, effectively conveying Hamlet’s sense of disconnection and his declining mental state. The casting all around is solid, with Chaddha being an inspired choice for Gertrude. Even Malik is quietly good as Claudius, who’s trying to give off “just a regular guy” vibes after killing his brother and marrying his wife.
My biggest complaint about Hamlet could be due to the fact that I watched it on a digital screener and not in a theater or on Blu-ray, but it’s worth mentioning in case it’s simply how the audio is designed. It’s very hard to hear the dialogue at times. There’s a constant murmur of background noise — whether its music or chatter — that’s meant to indicate that locations are busy and populated. In order to have a private conversation under these conditions, Hamlet whispers a lot, which is hard to hear over the background noise. Not to mention, these lines were originally written to be delivered from a stage by an actor without a microphone (because they hadn’t been invented yet). They weren’t meant to be whispered. I wish I didn’t have to spend as much time adjusting the volume as I did.
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