Comments on: To Be Or Not To Be… Excited For Catherine Hardwicke’s Hamlet

By: Book Review: Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions by Barry Edelstein | Lair of the Green Knight

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:57:57 +0000

[...] To Be Or Not To Be… Excited For Catherine Hardwicke’s Hamlet (screenrant.com) [...]

By: Twilight Director To Helm ‘Gothic’ Little Red Riding Hood - Screen Rant

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:43:03 +0000

[...] is in high demand as a director right now, being attached to Hamlet, 21 Jump Street, If I Stay and Maximum Ride. Her previous directing credits, along with the [...]

By: The Big Dentist

The Big Dentist — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:06:08 +0000

Just dug out and watched another Shakespeare expansion that I’d totally forgotten about: Peter Greenaway’s Prospero’s Books, based on The Tempest. Visually, not unlike seeing Dave McKean’s montage Sandman covers come to life.

It just occurred to me that I could have misinterpreted Hardwicke and she might not be talking about adding written scenes, but rather just portraying offstage stuff with a voiceover from the original text, but that’s exactly what Branagh did with his version, surely?

By: Claire

Claire — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 03:33:25 +0000

I don’t really care. I like Emile Hirsch, so will probably go see it. Hardwicke is kinda good at these dramas, horrible at CGI so there better be none but how would CGI fit in with Hamlet? (I wouldn’t know, haven’t read it yet.)

I’ll definitely go see also because I like things based on Shakespeare. There are a lot of excellent teen movies based on Shakespeare like 10 Things I Hate About You or She’s The Man.

By: Robert Palmar

Robert Palmar — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:06:53 +0000

More matter with less art.

»Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 92–99

By: JJ

JJ — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:18:42 +0000

I am interested in Hardwicke as a director (Thirteen is fantastic), and I love the Bard, so I’ll definitely see it in the theatre. I’m of two minds about this action-thriller talk, though. On one hand, I always disliked how Hamlet has usually been portrayed as a weak-willed quisling for most of the story; it’s not that simple. On the other hand, I was unimpressed with the action scenes in Twilight, so I’m not sure Hardwicke can execute an intriguing interpretation properly.

By: Rob Frappier

Rob Frappier — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:31:53 +0000

@The Big Dentist

Thanks for catching that mistake. The Ethan Hawke version was interesting, but I think my favorite is the Branagh version, which used the full text of the play.

By: The Big Dentist

The Big Dentist — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:02:19 +0000

And that’s McKellEn. Damn. I haven’t seen the Ethan Hawke version but apparently even that used the original text. The only instance I can think of where another writer “expanded” upon Shakespeare was Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, about two of the supporting characters in Hamlet.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:28:39 +0000

It depends on how they pull off the modernized version of it.
But I am curious about it.
We shall see.

By: The Big Dentist

The Big Dentist — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:24:22 +0000

Branagh: 19th century I meant. That’ll teach me to point out other people’s mistakes!

By: The Big Dentist

The Big Dentist — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:22:08 +0000

I have no problem with “contemporising” Shakespeare. I thought Romeo + Juliet was going to be a nightmare and ended up thoroughly enjoying it; Kurosawa set his Macbeth adaptation Throne Of Blood in feudal Japan; Ian McKellan’s Richard III was set in some 1930s fascist England that never existed, and worked perfectly; likewise, Branagh’s own Hamlet played out in some fictional version of the 18th century. Even in Shakespeare’s own time plays set in the past were often performed in contemporary costume (as suggested in the intro to Olivier’s Henry V). However, “off-stage” events are by definition going to be written by someone who ain’t Bill. That IS going to be a problem.

Rob, I think you meant “…which set the original language of Romeo And Juliet…”! Hamlet set on a Miami beach could be interesting though…