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| 27 Dec 09, 6:55 PM rodm99 UK(CB), 7 yrs  |
Ophelia's an impossible part! The trajectory, as we say these days, of her emotional collapse, is so rapid that it's very hard to convince the audience that it's real. But I thought this Ophelia was a good as any I've ever seen, apart from the one in the video version of the play I directed many years ago (ahem). Trish did the 'What a noble mind is here o'erthrown' speech as I've never heard anyone else do it - a mixture of voice-cracking grief and rage (all her ideas, not mine!) with a solitary tear running down her cheek. Overwhelming. Hamlet has, though, been *very* brutal to Ophelia. He's insulted her deeply, (the 'nunnery' he bids her go to is a brothel, just as when he describes Polonius as a 'fishmonger', the word means 'fleshmonger', ie pimp) because he suspects she's betrayed him, and has rejected her savagely. And life with the increasingly senile (and sexually obsessed) Polonius and over-controlling Laertes can't be easy. Going back to Tennant, I thought his over-emphasis on 'count-try matters' went far beyond adolescent delight in smut into mis-judged acting... 'Twosies beats onesies, but nothing beats three...' | |
| 28 Dec 09, 10:59 PM Clyde1 UK(NW), 5 yrs  |
There is another possibility here. The whole genre of "revenge tragedy" explores the realms of theatricality, with plays within plays, role playing etc inherent. The exagerated facial expressions could have been deliberate choices reflecting Hamlet's "antic disposition" and/or theatrical self-awareness. I agree that stage productions rarely transfer well to screen. The mediums are very different and most plays don't make good films hence the need for adaptations... Look at how Austen's novels are treated. Shakespeare however is also notoriously difficult to adapt. He is a poetic writer and many of his images are visual. In film typically we are shown images and less words are used. My twopenny worth, this was a fairly good film of a fairly good production, not the best I've seen but certainly not the worst. Clyde Edited 29 Dec 09, 6:05 AM by Clyde1 |
