There's probably a reason why no one's heard of this German version of Hamlet, or that no one's heard of anything else the director Mr. Wirth did, or as well why the only recognizable name here (acting-wise) is Maximillian Schell, the noted character/stage actor. That is, simply, because it stinks. It's not a horrible movie, it's just really turgid and boring and staged like at one of those stiff parties that your friend tries to tell you is something hip while you feel like gouging your eyes out with the monotony of the proceedings. Nothing is staged with invention or wit, the actors either are poorly staged or with nothing to express except blank SHOCK faces (or, as with the King during the final fencing duel a weird stoned expression), and as if that wasn't bad enough it's dubbed in such a way that I would very definitely nominate it as one of the worst dubbings in all humanity. Oh sure, Ricardo Montalban is there to carry some of the hammy weight of scenes, but overall it's such a drag that you end up wanting to insert words of your own.
Which leads me as to why you should see it: the only way to watch it now is in a truncated version via the guys at Mystery Science Theater 3000. Never thought they could tackle the Bard? Guess again! It's one of their funniest with Mike Nelson, with many of the lines going not just for the horrid acting and weird staging in some instances (there's one particularly dancing type of scene that gives them plenty of good ammo to shoot at the screen) but the actual Hamlet dialog itself. As usual they make the drekkiest drek to ever drek on crap street more than tolerable, but with an added appreciation that for all of the effort, whatever it was, it comes out swell such as that really, really bad death scene with Schell (I'm not spoiling Hamlet! read the darn thing!) where he tops Donald Sutherland's death scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the longest and most ridiculously awful in movies.
Which leads me as to why you should see it: the only way to watch it now is in a truncated version via the guys at Mystery Science Theater 3000. Never thought they could tackle the Bard? Guess again! It's one of their funniest with Mike Nelson, with many of the lines going not just for the horrid acting and weird staging in some instances (there's one particularly dancing type of scene that gives them plenty of good ammo to shoot at the screen) but the actual Hamlet dialog itself. As usual they make the drekkiest drek to ever drek on crap street more than tolerable, but with an added appreciation that for all of the effort, whatever it was, it comes out swell such as that really, really bad death scene with Schell (I'm not spoiling Hamlet! read the darn thing!) where he tops Donald Sutherland's death scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as the longest and most ridiculously awful in movies.