Film Review – Hamlet (2024)

I think every theatre kid has a soft spot for Shakespeare and very strong opinions on which one of his 38 plays is the best: personally, Hamlet has always been one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Naturally, I was very excited to hear there would be a film version of what is arguably one of Shakespeare’s best plays with none other than Ian McKellen as the lead. The actor had previously played Hamlet in the 2021 stage production of the play and is now reunited with many cast from the age and gender-blind production of the play for this film version.

Much like the aforementioned and well-known play, this version follows his titular character Hamlet (Ian McKellen), the prince of Denmark, as he returns home from university to find out that his father has died, and his mother Gertrude (Jenny Seagrove) has now married Hamlet’s uncle Claudius (Jonathan Hyde) who is now the new King of Denmark. In the beginning, an encounter with the ghost of the old king (sca Annis) prompts him to believe his late father was murdered and he must now avenge him. As the play goes on, Hamlet slowly descends into madness, taking his loved one like Ophelia (Alis Wyn Davies) with him, as he seeks his revenge that will lead to his tragic fate.

The acting undoubtedly is the most impressive element here: needless to say, Ian McKellen stands out as a tortured Hamlet in a film that conveys the prince of Denmark’s madness particularly well with a quiet and sombre version of the famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy. Acting opposite one of the most famous and brilliant actors of his generation in a rendition of Shakespeare was surely no easy task but the rest of the cast managed to stand out, particularly Alis Wyn Davies as Ophelia who delivers a heartbreaking portrayal of her character’s tragic fate.

I also really liked the setting here, which manages to bring a timeless classic into modern times with a direct reference to the pandemic and its impact on the theatre industry. The use of theatre spaces was also particularly impressive: in this production, the state of Denmark becomes the world of the stage where the audience can play pretend with the actors as the royal court of Denmark becomes the actors’ changing room. If the play itself originally had a clever reference to the world of the theatre with the play within the play, the film takes this to another level, never letting us forget that we are watching a play being put on in a theatre. As the Bard himself would say, “all the world is a stage and the men and women merely players.”

It also successfully mixes the art of the theatre with the world of filmmaking, creating an end product where the two art forms work to each other. Most notably, all the monologues are delivered by the actors staring directly at the camera in medium close-ups, making the audience feel emotionally and physically close to these characters in their most vulnerable moments. Is it, however, able to stand on its own as a film? I am not sure. I do not doubt that fans of the original play will enjoy it in all its new, fascinating complexities but the constant references to the tragedy of Hamlet make it a companion to Shakespeare’s longest play rather than a product in and of itself.

Hamlet is a film Shakespeare fans will love. ittedly, it is a very good translation of one of the most famous and beautiful theatre plays for the screen, creating a successful union between the two mediums. It is also a much-needed reminder of the power that film and television have, especially in this day and age when both industries have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as the film so poignantly reminds us. It is a testament to the key role that any art form plays in our daily life, even during – or especially during – such life-changing events.