Hamlet (1969 film)

Hamlet
Film poster
Directed byTony Richardson
Written byTony Richardson
Based onHamlet
1599 play
by William Shakespeare
Produced byHans Gottschalk
Neil Hartley
Leslie Linder
Martin Ransohoff
StarringNicol Williamson
Marianne Faithfull
Anthony Hopkins
Judy Parfitt
CinematographyGerry Fisher
Edited byCharles Rees
Music byPatrick Gowers
Color processTechnicolor
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
  • 21 December 1969 (1969-12-21) (New York City)
  • 9 April 1970 (1970-04-09) (United Kingdom)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$350,000[1]

Hamlet is a 1969 British tragedy period drama film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Nicol Williamson, Anthony Hopkins, Judy Parfitt, Marianne Faithfull, Mark Dignam, Gordon Jackson and Michael Pennington.[2][3] It is a film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Hamlet.[4] It was written by Richardson based on his stage production at the Roundhouse theatre in London.[5]

Plot

Cast

Production

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

  1. ^ Alexander Walker, Hollywood, England, Stein and Day, 1974 p452
  2. ^ "Hamlet". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Hamlet (1969) - Tony Richardson | Cast and Crew | AllMovie". AllMovie.
  4. ^ "Hamlet (1969)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Production of Hamlet | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  6. ^ "Hamlet". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 37 (432): 98. 1 January 1970. ProQuest 1305828865.
  7. ^ "Hamlet". Sight and Sound. 16 (2): 91. February 2006. ProQuest 237115891.
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