Hamlet

Director: Michael Almereyda Michael Almereyda

Overview

William Shakespeare's classic tale is brought to the screen for the third time in ten years in this modernized interpretation. Writer/director Michael Almereyda updates the story to the present day, where Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) is a struggling filmmaker whose personal and familial trials are set against the machinations of a huge production firm called the Denmark Corporation. Joining Hamlet as he seeks revenge for the death of his father and the wedding of his mother to an enemy are Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius, Julia Stiles as Ophelia, Bill Murray as Polonius, Sam Shepard as the ghost of Hamlet's father, Diane Venora as Gertrude, Steve Zahn as Rosencrantz, and Dechen Thurman as Guildenstern.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/2021
UPC:	0810072543233
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	R
Source:	Miramax
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	50,471

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ethan Hawke	Hamlet
Kyle MacLachlan	Claudius
Diane Venora	Gertrude
Liev Schreiber	Laertes
Julia Stiles	Ophelia
Steve Zahn	Rosencrantz
Sam Shepard	Ghost
Bill Murray	Polonius
Jeffrey Wright	Gravedigger
Paul Bartel	Osric
Karl Geary	Horatio
Paula Malcomson	Marcella
Dechen Thurman	Guildenstern,Priest
Casey Affleck	Fortinbras
Rome Neal	Barnardo
Tim Blake Nelson	Flight Captain
John Martin	Claudius' Bodyguard
Bernadette Jurkowski	Blockbuster Clerk
Robin MacNeil	Player King
Carter Burwell	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Almereyda

Michael Almereyda	Director,Screenwriter
Jason Blum	Executive Producer
Andrew Fierberg	Producer
Amy Hobby	Producer
Jennifer McNamara	Casting
Manny Siverio	Stunts
John Sloss	Executive Producer
Noah Timan	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

William Shakespeare's melancholy Dane is a scruffy downtown video artist with a goatee in Michael Almereyda's stylish adaptation of the famous tragedy. In the original, of course, the Prince of Denmark is visited by the ghost of his murdered father, the king, and urged to avenge his father's death. Here Hamlet's dad is not the King of Denmark but the CEO of something called the Denmark Corporation, and the drama plays out amid the skyscrapers and neon lights of present-day New York City. The atmosphere is contemporary and metropolitan -- all big black limousines and nightclubs, cell phones and video cameras. But this Hamlet is more than just style: Ethan Hawke is nicely brooding as the indecisive protagonist, and he's surrounded by an effective cast that includes Kyle MacLachlan as Hamlet's uncle, Claudius; Diane Venora as his mother, Gertrude; Bill Murray as Polonius; Liev Schreiber as Laertes; Julia Stiles as Ophelia; and Sam Shepard as Hamlet's father. Underlying it all is a brilliant score by Carter Burwell interlaced with music that ranges from Brahms and Mahler to Morcheeba and Primal Scream. The result is an engrossing update of a classic, with a hip sensibility and urban sophistication that places it firmly in the 21st century.

Barnes & Noble - Gregory Baird

Setting Hamlet in modern times wasn't exactly a new idea, on the heels of Baz Luhrmann's MTV-ready Romeo+Juliet and such loose updates as 10 Things I Hate About You, which tried to inject literary hipness into bland teenage fare. But Michael Almereyda's film is quite different from these in both substance and style -- it's quiet and starkly fascinating, with none of Luhrmann's busy color blasts or Gen-X hooks, although it does star teen-friendly Ethan Hawke and Julia Stiles. This 2000 version is a thoughtful re-imagining of Hamlet in a washed-out New York City run by corporate raiders instead of kings, in which iambic pentameter is spoken over cell phones, and information transferred via fax rather than messenger. What saves this setup from mere gimmick is that it gives viewers a vastly improved understanding of the issues at the heart of the play. As portrayed by Hawke, Hamlet is a shiftless trust fund baby with artsy ambitions, who thinks too much while sitting around his apartment or leaving on world travels that utterly bore him. Rarely is Hamlet's essence distilled in a way so familiar to modern audiences. Detractors might criticize the decision to stage the classic "To be or not to be" speech in a Blockbuster video store -- and truth be told, it is a rather cheeky comment on consumerism. But many of Almereyda's decisions are brilliant, such as having Steve Zahn's Rosencrantz act like a lethargic stoner, and giving the chorus lines to news anchors commenting on takeover rumors. It's clear that the actors, including a stand-out Bill Murray, relish the opportunity to work with the material. They bring credibility to the smart concept, making for a thoroughly engrossing film.

All Movie Guide