Campbell Scott deserves an award for his acting and directing in this adaptation. I've never seen an actor who so emphasized Hamlet's youth and youthful insecurities. SPOILERS...For instance, in one of the first scenes, Claudius strongarms the young prince, who looks weak and vulnerable next to his experienced uncle, by ripping off his mourning band and aggressively embracing him. Then, at the end of one soliloquy, when Hamlet is screaming "Vengeance!" he tries to rip his uncle's portrait from the wall, only to have it fall on him.
Yet Scott does not render the tragic hero absurd by stopping here. Instead, his Hamlet achieves a hard-won victory over the awkwardness and self-doubt of youth. This victory is beautifully portrayed in the confrontation scene between Hamlet and Gertrude. Gertrude tries to cow her son into filial submission by slapping his face, not once but twice. Scott's acting at this point really captures Hamlet's struggle to assert his manhood, and in the end he wins the struggle. The Hamlet of the last scenes differs very much from his earlier appearances. By the time he examines Yorick's skull, he has grown the beginnings of a beard and comes off wiser and stronger. By contrast, Claudius grows weaker, until Hamlet exerts complete mastery over him. (By the way, I have no idea what "kaaber-2" means when he suggests that Hamlet never avenges his father in this movie. In fact, he repeatedly slashes Claudius with a poisoned sword, impales him with same, and then pours a poison drink down his throat. Looked like revenge to me.)
Another complexity that Scott explores is whether Hamlet's insanity is at all genuine. Scott plays a Hamlet who, on account of his supernatural encounter, is actually on the verge of insanity, not simply "mad in craft."
Unfortunately, the supporting cast in this movie is weak. I found Ophelia totally unconvincing, particularly in the mad scenes, where she looks quite sane aside from having tangled hair. The rest of the characters are merely passable, and Jamey Sheridan can't hold a candle to Derek Jacobi's Claudius in Branagh's film. Also, the jazzy music, though one gets used to it, adds little or nothing, and the movie could have been improved by a more appropriate score.
Yet Scott does not render the tragic hero absurd by stopping here. Instead, his Hamlet achieves a hard-won victory over the awkwardness and self-doubt of youth. This victory is beautifully portrayed in the confrontation scene between Hamlet and Gertrude. Gertrude tries to cow her son into filial submission by slapping his face, not once but twice. Scott's acting at this point really captures Hamlet's struggle to assert his manhood, and in the end he wins the struggle. The Hamlet of the last scenes differs very much from his earlier appearances. By the time he examines Yorick's skull, he has grown the beginnings of a beard and comes off wiser and stronger. By contrast, Claudius grows weaker, until Hamlet exerts complete mastery over him. (By the way, I have no idea what "kaaber-2" means when he suggests that Hamlet never avenges his father in this movie. In fact, he repeatedly slashes Claudius with a poisoned sword, impales him with same, and then pours a poison drink down his throat. Looked like revenge to me.)
Another complexity that Scott explores is whether Hamlet's insanity is at all genuine. Scott plays a Hamlet who, on account of his supernatural encounter, is actually on the verge of insanity, not simply "mad in craft."
Unfortunately, the supporting cast in this movie is weak. I found Ophelia totally unconvincing, particularly in the mad scenes, where she looks quite sane aside from having tangled hair. The rest of the characters are merely passable, and Jamey Sheridan can't hold a candle to Derek Jacobi's Claudius in Branagh's film. Also, the jazzy music, though one gets used to it, adds little or nothing, and the movie could have been improved by a more appropriate score.