Review of Hamlet

Hamlet (1960 TV Movie)
How can one miss with Hamlet?
13 December 2003
It's astonishing that anyone could create so poor a production as this. Maybe it would have been passable in its original Germany, where Shakespeare is almost as big a literary figure as in the English-speaking world, but this is a sheer flop in the English-speaking world. If a German audience gets something out of this that we Americans (or the Brits, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Indians, or others miss due to translation) in the German of the actors, then they are excused.

I saw only the ending, but I thought that the actors had tics. That is horrible! Mannerisms should not detract from this play which, more than any other, depends upon words above all else. Gestures must be subordinate to the meaning of words. Exaggerated gestures that might enhance another play are inexcusable in Hamlet.

Sure, I saw this on MST3K, which isn't very reverential to the final product as dubbed into English. Would it be better in German? Possibly -- with the caveat on the acting. There must be a dozen alternatives. Choose wisely -- which means, NOT THIS ONE!
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