MovieChat Forums > Hamlet (2010) Discussion > I never understood what hamlet was going...

I never understood what hamlet was going on about before.

posted 14 years ago by little-miss-chocolate
19 replies | jump to latest

It's amazing how a good rendition can make sense of seeming gobbledegook.

I watched this, I will admit, mainly for David Tennant. I like Shakespeare's comedys, but since I was forced to study Macbeth, and was utterly depressed by Romeo and Juliet, I wasn't expecting to like this that much.

I really enjoyed it. Apart from a few glaring continuity errors, I thought it was really good. And I was amazed by how much of it made sense to me. Whilst I may be one of the people in the theatre to laugh out loud at Tweltfh Night, I still find it tricky to understand the language at times. I thought all the actors were superb, particularly Tennant and the guy that played Laetes. They made the dialogue as real as if it had been written yesterday, and it did not seem to jar with costumes, as I had expected it to.

I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations...

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[–] little-miss-chocolate 14 years ago

When Hamlet first sees his father's ghost, his shirt becomes untucked in the scramble along the corridor. It then becomes retucked and then again untucked during that scene.

During the scene where he is yelling at Ophelia, his fly is unzipped and then rezipped.

At the start of the scene with the "To be or not to be" speech (when we first see him enter, and as he walks to the leaning wall) his hair is messy. As in, just climbed out of bed messy. All over the place. When we pull away for a longer shot from the front during the soliliquy, his hair is 'styled-messy' - very similar to his Doctor Who look.

And the smashed mirror seems to move all around the palace to whatever room the action happens to be in.

It's very annoying that ever since I picked up the habit of error spotting, I can't get rid of it.

I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations...

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] little-miss-chocolate 14 years ago

I tune out as soon as the conversation turns to symbolism. As far as I'm concerned, the mirror shattered. Because it was representing a stage set, it stayed at the back of the stage the whole time. People can still use mirrors when they are cracked, so that would be why they didn't seem to use them any differently. And it did allow for some brilliant shots with reflections (when Ophelia first went to see the Queen after her dad was killed, for example). It must have been a nightmare to set up all the shots so that none of the crew were reflected!

I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericumbobulations...

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[–] kassipoeg 14 years ago

"Whilst I may be one of the people in the theatre to laugh out loud at Tweltfh Night"

Not at all. Done well, it's an exceptionally funny play - I saw it years ago at the Old Vic in Bristol and the whole audience was in stitches :)

[–] kassipoeg 14 years ago

I finally saw it. An exceptionally clear production, I've not seen the play before I have to confess (though I have read it, so as to make sense of Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead) and only knew the bare bones of the story, but it was incredibly easy to follow... no mean feat when I was watching it at 3am (couldn't sleep, started watching it, got absolutely hooked!) And I love the Bard but I'm no Shakespeare Scholar.

The only bit that confused me was that I missed, or they cut, the explanation of said R&G's death - memory says that Hamlet switches the letter or something? It's been a long time since I read it. But if it was explained in this version then I missed it (entirely possible). Any clarification? If anyone has the faintest idea what I'm on about, of course...

edit: it's occurred to me I may well be misremembering it because it's explained to some degree in the RAGAD play. I'll have to look into it. Still, anyone who can clarify, please do... :)

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