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Hamlet
Though Scottish actor David Tennant is best
known to audiences as the 10th eponymous incarnation of a
certain time travelling Doctor, as well as his role as Barty Crouch in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, his turn as Hamlet won his
near-unanimous critical praise and a rapturous audience reception both
live and following numerous television screenings of the modern-dress
adaptation.
Forget everything you know about Hamlet,
both the man and the play. This latest Royal Shakespeare Company
envisioning, directed by Gregory Doran, is extremely modern in its
visuals, a stylistic decision that at first appears somewhat jarring to
those of used to seeing out Shakespearean thesps adorned in period
dress, page boy haircuts and plenty of chiffon. Once you immerse
yourself in its somewhat atypical milieu, however, the language comes to
life as vividly as ever and the juxtaposition of modern costuming with
Elizabethan dialogue becomes at once inventive and remarkably
effective.
Tennant in particular is remarkable as the
beleaguered Prince of Denmark, haunted by guilt, madness and the ghost
of his father. His performance is alternately infused with pathos,
vitality and jags of wry humour, and has been described by more than one
critic as the definitive performance of one of the Bard’s best-known
creations. The supporting cast is strong too, with Patrick Stewart
winning an Olivier Award for his rather Olivier-like turn as Claudius,
and the highly experienced theatre actress Mariah Gale typically
excellent as the tragic, doomed Ophelia.
Roadshow’s new Region 4 DVD release runs
over 3 and a half hours, and in addition to a crystal clear 16:9
anamorphic widescreen transfer and a sturdy two-channel audio mix also
boasts a couple of truly worthwhile bonus features, namely an
illuminating Making Of Documentary and an Audio Commentary with Doran,
Producer Sebastian Grant and Director of Photography Chris Seagar. It’s
worthy treatment for such an enthralling release, and the best the Bard
has looked in a long long while. |
