''Hamlet'' is a 2011 Canadian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by

Bruce Ramsay Bruce Ramsay (born December 31, 1966) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. Career Ramsay's screen debut was opposite fellow Montrealer Elias Koteas in the film '' Malarek'' (1988). Ramsay and Koteas went on to appear in two other fi ...

in his directorial debut. It is a condensed retelling of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' set in 1940s England. Ramsay stars alongside

Lara Gilchrist Lara Gilchrist is a Canadian actress who voiced the role of Susan Storm (Invisible Woman) in the Cartoon Network's animated TV show '' Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes''. She also provided the voice for the character Angela in the movie '' ...

Peter Wingfield Dr Peter Wingfield (born 5 September 1962) is a Welsh-born television actor, well known for his television roles as Dan Clifford in ''Holby City'', Dr. Robert Helm in ''Queen of Swords'' and Inspector Simon Ross in ''Cold Squad'' but he is int ...

, Gillian Barber, and Duncan Fraser. It premiered at the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

and was theatrically released in 2014.

Plot

In 1940s London, Hamlet attempts to resolve the murder of his father.

Cast

Prince Hamlet A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...

King Claudius King Claudius is a fictional character and the main antagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle and later stepfather to Prince Hamlet. He obtained the throne of ...

* Gillian Barber Gertude * Duncan Fraser as

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the course of ...

* Haig Sutherland as Laertes * Stephen Lobo as

Horatio Horatio is an English male given name, an Italianized form of the ancient Roman Latin '' nomen'' (name) '' Horatius'', from the Roman ''gens'' (clan) '' Horatia''. The modern Italian form is '' Orazio'', the modern Spanish form '' Horacio''. It ap ...

* Russel Roberts as

King Hamlet The ghost of Hamlet's father is a character from William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. In the stage directions he is referred to as "Ghost". His name is also Hamlet, and he is referred to as ''King'' Hamlet to distinguish him from the Prince, ...

Release

''Hamlet'' premiered on October 11, 2011, at the

. It received a limited release in January 2014.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, reports that 0% of five surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 2/10. Joe Leydon of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film "seldom rises above the level of a good try" but may intrigue fans and scholars with the decisions made in compressing the narrative to 90 minutes. Nicolas Rapold of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "While Mr. Ramsay accomplishes some kind of a trick in streamlining the play, his trimming of corners feels more like a taking away of the center." Annlee Ellingson of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' negatively compared its creativity to ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'' and called it "a focused, if at times melodramatic, take on the play's beating heart".

References

External links

* {{Hamlet 2011 films 2011 drama films Canadian drama films Canadian independent films English-language Canadian films 2010s English-language films Films based on Hamlet Films set in the 1940s Films set in London 2011 independent films Canadian films based on plays 2010s Canadian films