Hamlet

Hamlet is a film Shakespeare fans will love. Admittedly, it is a very good translation of one of the most famous and beautiful theatre plays for the screen, creating a successful union between the two mediums.

McKellen is impressive as ever, having first played Hamlet half a decade before, the camera allowing for a more subtle performance at times alongside his spritely physicality at others.

...not a filmed version of the play so much as a reimagining of it using a theatre as its location, taking advantage of the flexibility afforded by film while foregrounding the skill of the actors delivering the roles.

This Hamlet is a fine entry point into the text. It may not have the straightforward staging of Olivier, Zefferelli, or Branagh, but there is a pithiness here that cuts clean through the abstraction used to render this portrait.