Hamlet, now free to act, mistakenly kills Polonius, thinking he is Claudius. To confirm Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet arranges for a play that mimics the murder Claudius’s reaction is that of a guilty man. When the councilor Polonius learns from his daughter, Ophelia, that Hamlet has visited her in an apparently distracted state, Polonius attributes the prince’s condition to lovesickness, and he sets a trap for Hamlet using Ophelia as bait. When the king of Denmark, Prince Hamlet’s father, suddenly dies, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, marries his uncle Claudius, who becomes the new king.Ī spirit who claims to be the ghost of Hamlet’s father describes his murder at the hands of Claudius and demands that Hamlet avenge the killing. Curious.Events before the start of Hamlet set the stage for tragedy. The First Player (incidental in this version) is the excellent Friar in the other (macho thug MTV) Romeo + Juliet around whom that whole version revolves. Trivia: The incidental Osric here is the wonderful Mercutio in Zefferelli's much earlier Romeo and Juliet around whom the whole play revolves.

Her start-double take-astonishment-puzzlement after the play within the play is a moment which will last in your mind. Ophelia is very pretty, and in her greatly reduced role does well. The language is fittingly conversational not stentorian, so that the players can manage it.

If you want a similar, masterful piece of filmwork, look here. Result: If you want Hamlet, seek him elsewhere. You'll need Branagh for that, but his story doesn't flow effortlessly as this does. That's just the skeleton on which some life altering metaphoric structure is built. But the problem is that Shakespeare's play is not at all about the story. It moves and moves well from beginning to end. He's chopped and dropped and rearranged to create a story that makes sense. Moreover, this Hamlet has the very best set, and also to my mind the best Gertrude.

He has a fine sense of color and its movement. Zefferelli is an unappreciated master: he knows how to stage a crowd (essential to his Romeo and Juliet), and move people how to frame and light a sequence so it flows.

1990 hamlet full movie