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The surface of ceremonies and rituals celebrating the coronation of King Claudius (Mikhail Nazvanov) and his marriage to Hamlet's mother (Elza Radzina) leaves the young prince indifferent. Hamlet's melancholic nature finds no relief from his brooding, not even in his courtship of Ophelia (Anastasiya Vertinskaya). However, a nocturnal visit from his father's ghost changes everything. Claudius treachery having been brought to light, Hamlet conducts a quest to avenge his father's death.
Grigori Kozintsev's renowned Soviet production ranks among the finest adaptations of Shakespeare on film. His strong visual style places the characters on a rich widescreen canvas while preserving the inward dimension of Hamlet's character. Laurence Olivier, director and star of Hamlet, the Oscar-winning 1948 English production, praised Kozintsev's Hamlet, singling out Innokenty Smoktunevsky's performance as the definitive screen performance of the Prince of Denmark.
Review
A spectacle...a large, mobile, realistic rendering of the melodramatic action of the play that depends entirely for its impact upon its striking scenery, the physical sweep of its performance and the grand effects that the camera achieves --New York Times
Kozintsev has thought his interpretation right through to the end with complete consistency, and gives the film a genuinely exciting epic sweep...There's a genuine cinematic imagination at work here --Time Out
Kozintsev has thought his interpretation right through to the end with complete consistency, and gives the film a genuinely exciting epic sweep...There's a genuine cinematic imagination at work here --Time Out
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The most obvious and immediate comparison here is with the Olivier Hamlet of 1948, both proving singularly atmospheric with excellent black-and-white photography and music - by William Walton for the British film, by Shostakovich for the Russian version. Obviously, the British film has the advantage of original dialogue spoken in English and an exemplary protagonist, while in the Russian film we follow Shakespeare's original dialogue in the subtitles. Nevertheless, the Russian film has certain advantages, too. Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are entirely missing from Olivier's film, which is a loss in terms not only of drama but also of the fundamental theme of control and the attempt to manipulate an individual's innermost being - a theme the Russians respond to as deeply as the Elizabethans must have felt it. The Russian film finds room not only for all the major characters, but also for the most essential of Hamlet's speeches redolent with a sense of existential disgust. In other words, the sense of what "Hamlet" is about (pardon the simplification) comes through eloquently and compellingly in this Russian film, which is also extremely dramatic thanks to the superb photography and powerful soundtrack, while the actors seem to have taken to heart Hamlet's warning against overacting. In short, both black and white Hamlets are films to have and to return to, by far surpassing any of the more recent versions I have seen.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By Nicholas Casley
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Detailed and impressive sets in haunting black and white are a feature of both Kozintsev's Shakespeare films. Here, Elsinore is perched sublimely above the ocean's breakers, providing a fiercely naturalistic background to scenes of hypocritical charm and bonhomie involving family and court at the heart of Denmark. Critics have drawn attention to how the director has populated the scenes with lurkers and scribes to represent the feel of a police state.
Bad points? Well, the subtitles are annoying. The English is a translation of Boris Pasternak's period retranslation into Russian of Shakespeare's original words. The result can be farcical in places. Also, the camerawork can be a little unsteady at times.
But don't let these small issues put you off experiencing this haunting Russian interpretation of Hamlet.
Bad points? Well, the subtitles are annoying. The English is a translation of Boris Pasternak's period retranslation into Russian of Shakespeare's original words. The result can be farcical in places. Also, the camerawork can be a little unsteady at times.
But don't let these small issues put you off experiencing this haunting Russian interpretation of Hamlet.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Grigori Kozintsev's rendition of Shakespeare's Hamlet is quite remarkable. Although at first it may seem a little odd watching this great work of Shakespeare in Russian, one quickly forgets this fact as the story draws its viewers in. The settings and costumes have an amazing visual impact because they look so authentic. The castle is monstrous and foreboding. The grounds outside of the castle invoke much of the same feelings as one side faces the ocean with waves that lap up on the shore littered with massive boulders. On the opposite side, an old graveyard provides Hamlet with the perfect setting to ponder "to be, or not to be."
As you may know, Hamlet is a story about the Danish prince Hamlet that takes revenge on his uncle for killing his father. Hamlet's mother remarries his uncle much to Hamlet's disliking. Unquestionably, it is a sad story with a twisted side. Revenge, murder and death never seem to go away, so there is something timeless about this tale. We may feel sympathetic toward Hamlet at first, but as the story progresses, we see the whole situation is such a mess that there are no easy answers or solutions to the quagmire Hamlet finds himself in. No other word but tragedy describes this story.
The black and white images in this movie are unforgettable. I am sure others would agree that the actors are just as exceptional. In a way, the images being devoid of colour add some extra level of grimness to the overall feeling of the movie. I would say this film is one of those that works amazingly well in black and white, but wouldn't have as much power if it were in colour. If you are into Shakespearian cinema, this Russian version of Hamlet is worth checking out.
As you may know, Hamlet is a story about the Danish prince Hamlet that takes revenge on his uncle for killing his father. Hamlet's mother remarries his uncle much to Hamlet's disliking. Unquestionably, it is a sad story with a twisted side. Revenge, murder and death never seem to go away, so there is something timeless about this tale. We may feel sympathetic toward Hamlet at first, but as the story progresses, we see the whole situation is such a mess that there are no easy answers or solutions to the quagmire Hamlet finds himself in. No other word but tragedy describes this story.
The black and white images in this movie are unforgettable. I am sure others would agree that the actors are just as exceptional. In a way, the images being devoid of colour add some extra level of grimness to the overall feeling of the movie. I would say this film is one of those that works amazingly well in black and white, but wouldn't have as much power if it were in colour. If you are into Shakespearian cinema, this Russian version of Hamlet is worth checking out.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The best Hamlet EVER!As an actress and director myself, with a specialty on Shakespeare, I admire both Smoktunivski's acting-I think he was the best ever by far-human dignity, a prince, simplicity, We can read all the role in his eyes, A prince philosopher deeply human. And the directing of Kozintsev was superb even in the small details acting at the subconscience of the public.For example : Beautiful birds in a cage and then Ophelia appears, later Ophelia appears again in an iron dress like a cage. The dogs and then the guardians-human dogs guarding Claudius. A crane bird all alone-which is unusual, they go on groups-searching all around in circles and then Hamlet has returned from the pirates and Ophelia is dead in the water. The great gate of the castle opening and falling just as in a prison, Hamlet goes out to die in the fresh clean air (because "something is rotten inside the prison-castle-country-world-etc..So many things if you have some theatre knowledge..True masterpiece. All theatrical people must study.
6 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This production is an adaptation. The text has been modified. The director is trying all he can to visualize as much of the text as possible. You then have long sections of movement, action, with no speech and all the famous scenes have had their text severely reduced. What's more the film is in Russian with French subtitles. You can imagine the result: the subtitles are too fast and you can't read them, and you approach Shakespeare's text through two levels of translating. Pathetic. But the film has an originality. It is this desire to visualize things and to make us grasp a situation in one glance, at first glance if possible. The director thus privileges action, collective movements and we most of the time have some walking choreography. In other words you find the characteristics of films that were still to come like Star Wars. But I must admit we lose a lot because of the language and the general feeling is that this situational and choreographic directing erases a lot of the deep humane and frantic passion that is Hamlet's both for vengeance, the lower side of the man, and for justice, the shinier side of the man. The film, it is true, shows how the rat nest created by the disturbance brought by the rash assassination of a king by his brother and the re-marriage of the Queen with the assassin leads to the total destruction of all the active elements in this situation and the only possible regeneration coming from outside and re-establishing a new balance of power. We wonder what this film is a metaphor of or a parable for. Is he speaking of the shifting of power from one group to another, from one generation to another? Is he speaking of Stalin or Khrushchev in 1964? Does he have a more general discourse on power and how it floats from one group to the other via assassinations and violence?... Read more ›
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