Prince Hamlet (Laurence Olivier) struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
"Hamlet" was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also the first sound film of the play in English. That seems pretty hard to believe, but it is true. Stranger still, the first sound version was actually in Urdu.
Olivier excised the "political" elements of the play (entirely cutting Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) in favor of an intensely psychological performance, partly to save time. Olivier himself stated that "one great whacking cut had to be made", and the cut he chose to make was the omission of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This was not much criticized at first, but later critics did take more notice of it, especially after shorter productions of Hamlet that did not leave out these characters were presented on television.
Olivier also played up the Oedipal overtones of the play by having Hamlet kiss his mother lovingly on the lips several times during the film. Film scholar Jack Jorgens has commented that "Hamlet's scenes with the Queen in her low-cut gowns are virtually love scenes." In contrast, Jean Simmons' Ophelia is destroyed by Hamlet's treatment of her in the nunnery scene.
Changes or not, this is the "Hamlet" that all others should be compared to. Whether longer or shorter, political or not, this was the one that broke ground. And for that, it is a valuable contribution to film history.
"Hamlet" was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is also the first sound film of the play in English. That seems pretty hard to believe, but it is true. Stranger still, the first sound version was actually in Urdu.
Olivier excised the "political" elements of the play (entirely cutting Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern) in favor of an intensely psychological performance, partly to save time. Olivier himself stated that "one great whacking cut had to be made", and the cut he chose to make was the omission of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This was not much criticized at first, but later critics did take more notice of it, especially after shorter productions of Hamlet that did not leave out these characters were presented on television.
Olivier also played up the Oedipal overtones of the play by having Hamlet kiss his mother lovingly on the lips several times during the film. Film scholar Jack Jorgens has commented that "Hamlet's scenes with the Queen in her low-cut gowns are virtually love scenes." In contrast, Jean Simmons' Ophelia is destroyed by Hamlet's treatment of her in the nunnery scene.
Changes or not, this is the "Hamlet" that all others should be compared to. Whether longer or shorter, political or not, this was the one that broke ground. And for that, it is a valuable contribution to film history.