Hamlet (1991)

 Mel Gibson's Hamlet
This is Hamlet the movie, not a filmed version of the stage play. Having said that , it is very well done. Mel Gibson's early Shakespearean training (yes, he was a Shakespearean actor before he ever was Mad Max, who let's face it was fairly Shakespearean in concept) shows clearly in this rendition of the ever popular tragedy. I thought it was terrific and am tired of uninformed prejudgemental critics not giving credit where its due and yet touting questionably talented boy/men like Tom Cruise.There is real depth to Mel's portrayal of Hamlet along with the confusion and despair the character goes through after betrayal of family and friends alike. Highly recommended! May 12, 2008

 YEA, MEL
This is the first time I ever like Mel Gibson. There are many great folks in this, of course. This isn't my favorite version. Kenneth Branagh's takes first place, for me. This is still very good. I like to see all ideas of Shakespeare. Worth the time to watch. May 5, 2008

 Shakespeare for everyone
This is my favorite version of any Shakespeare play. Gibson is pitch perfect in the role. I actually think he does a better Hamlet than Laurence Olivier! I have never seen Gibson act so well. This is a robust Hamlet that anyone can understand. Gibson makes Hamlet a man of action who is tortured by what has happened to his family. Although madness creeps up on him, he struggles to act honorably. Forget tedious school days trudging through Shakespearean text. This movie is what it is all about. The quip is that you already know the play because most of it has been pilfered for quotations by just about everyone. The English has been updated but not simplified in the movie. Great film, great acting, what a script! This is memorable stuff, just like a Beethoven symphony or Jimmy Page playing the guitar. April 23, 2008

 Shakespeare on film
Excellent film for classroom use to accompany the play. It is only half of Shakespeare's drama, but it gives students a chance to grasp the plot and mood that the writer so masterfully pens. March 29, 2008

 A HAMLET for all audiences
As a very outspoken theatre and Shakespeare buff, I should favor Kenneth B.'s 1996 version of the tale, what with its full text of the original play and so on. However, I find this version of HAMLET to be far superior to Kenneth's long, overdrawn, melodramatic, and slightly TOO epic version of the story. My main reason for prefering this version is the fact that Mel Gibson is a much more relateable and multi-faceted Hamlet than Kenneth, who's Hamlet goes through out the course of the film whinning, brooding, speaking eloquently, and then...well, whining some more. I was annoyed with his performance, but very refreshed by Mr. Gibson's. He doesn't play the character as a medieval Goth punk boy, he plays him as a relatively normal young man who has been thrust into a situation that is far from average. The supporting cast is also suberb, especially the regal Glenn Close as Queen Gertrude, portraying very boldly the sexual longings of the character, a very rare find in most productions of the play. Helena Bonham Carter turns in the most modern and strong Ophelia that I have ever seen on screen or on stage. Her Ophelia is obedient, yes, but passive, whiny, and weak, she is not. She gives the impression that she is obedient for one reason only: given her sex and the time period, she has no other choice, but she doesn't give in without a fight. Even her insanity is strong rather than weak - she is a very angry Ophelia, and her madness seems to almost be her way of rebeling against what has happened to her and how her fellow characters have abused and walked over her, rubbing in their faces the fact that her decent into madness is the result of their depravity, selfishness, and manipulation. I love Kate Winslet, but her Ophelia in Kenneth's version was too weepy, too whiny, and too converntial. Helena breaks all the barriers with her portrayl. The atmosphere of this film is very fitting for the story: it is a very remote, earthy, dark, dank Denmark, and even though we see many beautiful European locations and sweeping staircases and large royal halls, Zeffereli manages to artfully make his audience feel as Hamlet feels: anxious and claustrophobic. March 28, 2008

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