Hamlet (2003 film)

Last updated

Hamlet
Directed byMike Mundell [1]
Based on Hamlet
by Shakespeare
Produced byLara Lowe
Starring
Edited byJulian Overall
Music by Paul Farrer [2]
Production
companies
Cromwell Films
Lamancha Productions
Distributed byEdgehill
Release date
2003 (filmed 2001) [2]
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Hamlet is a British drama film of 2003 starring William Houston in the title role, with Gareth Thomas, Christopher Timothy, Iain Cuthbertson, Paul Curran, Lucy Cockram, and Jilly Bond.

Contents

Production

This adaptation keeps the Shakespearean dialogue, while leaving much out to shorten the overall length. It presents the action in a 17th-century setting, with costumes and props hired from the Royal Shakespeare Company.

In 1997, Houston had been understudy to Alex Jennings when he played the part of Hamlet in a RSC production of the play. [3]

The film was released on DVD in 2013. [4]

Cast

Reception

Small-Screen Shakespeare says of Houston that he offers "a dangerous, unbalanced-looking Hamlet". Of Iain Cuthbertson's Ghost, it notes that Cuthbertson may indeed be playing the part, but "the weird photography makes it impossible to tell". [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peter Cochran, Small-Screen Shakespeare (Cambridge Scholars, 2014), p. 216
  2. 1 2 Shakespeare Quarterly, Volume 52, Issues 4-5 (Folger Shakespeare Library, 2001) p. 686
  3. "William Houston", Official London Theatre, 17 April 2008
  4. Robert Diamond, "Shakespeare's Hamlet, the film starring Will Houston, available on DVD July 30", Broadway World, 4 July 2013, accessed 1 December 2025