It's Hamlet. Hamlet's dad, the king, was killed by his uncle Claudius who then married the widowed queen, Gertrude. Hamlet's ghost dad visits him and tells Hamlet what happened, so Hamlet swears revenge. He pretends to be crazy and that worries the new King & old Queen, and Polonius, who is Ophelia's Dad. Hamlet kills Polonius by mistake, so the new king sends him to England to be murdered. Ophelia goes mad because her dad's dead, then she drowns in a river. Hamlet doesn't get murdered and returns from his trip to England. Ophelia's brother Laertes challenges Hamlet to a duel, but he poisoned the sword. Claudius also poisons some wine for Hamlet, but the queen drinks it instead. Hamlet gets stabbed with the poisoned blade but kills Laertes and Claudius before he dies.
The film, a departure from big-budget Hollywood renditions of classics, was made with a small budget and a very minimalist set, consisting of Renaissance fixtures and costumes in a dark, shadowed space. A brick tunnel is used for the scenes on the battlements. The Ghost of Hamlet's father is represented only by a light shining on the observers. The film places much emphasis on the sexual aspects of the play, to the point of strongly implying an incestuous relationship between Laertes and Ophelia. Williamson was only one year younger than Parfitt, who played his mother, and was one year older than Hopkins, who played his uncle.
Reception
Nigel Andrews wrote in The Monthly Film Bulletin: "Nicol Williamson intelligently conveys Hamlet's own ambiguities. "What a piece of work is man" has the forced mechanical ring of a humanist creed sapped of all conviction, while the fatalism of the later "Providence" speech rings quietly sincere. And although soliloquy transfers uneasily to the screen – camera here is no substitute for live audience – Williamson's intense absorption and driving intelligence make them seem more than usually like spoken thoughts."[6]
Sight and Sound wrote: "At first glance, Nicol Williamson, bearded and unprincely, seems an unlikely lead, but he gives a superb performance. Anthony Hopkins as Claudius is clearly too young to be his uncle, but matches Williamson for intensity. Richardson films almost entirely in close-up, sets a relentless pace, and is utterly clear in his exposition. Powell and Pressburger fans will appreciate Roger Livesey as the player king and the gravedigger."[7]
Home media
Hamlet was released to DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on 3 July 2012 via the Choice Collection DVD-on-demand setup from Amazon.
References
↑ Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974 p452
↑ "Hamlet". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
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