Hamlet, also referred to as
Hamlet 2000, is an
AmericanThe cinema of the United States has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
film by
Michael AlmereydaMichael Almereyda is an American film director. His most well known work is Hamlet , starring Ethan Hawke.-Early life:...
, released in
2000The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.-Top-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the United States and Canada in 2000...
, set in contemporary
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, and based on the
ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's
play of the same nameThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then...
.
Ethan HawkeEthan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and film director. He made his feature film debut in 1985, opposite River Phoenix in the movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
plays
HamletPrince Hamlet is a fictional character, the protagonist in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius and son of the previous King of Denmark, Old Hamlet. Throughout the play he struggles with whether, and how, to avenge the murder of his father, and...
as a film student,
Julia StilesJulia O'Hara Stiles is an American stage and film actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
co-stars as Ophelia, Laertes by
Liev SchreiberLiev Schreiber is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of horror films. Schreiber is also a respected stage...
,
Uncle ClaudiusKing Claudius is a fictional character and the antagonist from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle to Hamlet. He obtained the throne by murdering his own brother with poison and then marrying the late king's widow...
is played by
Kyle MacLachlanKyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor.He graduated from the University of Washington in 1982 and, shortly afterward, moved to Hollywood, California to pursue his career...
, and
PoloniusPolonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is King Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet...
by
Bill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, and went on to star in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.-Early years:Murray, the fifth...
.
In this version of
Hamlet, Claudius becomes King and CEO of "Denmark Corporation", having taken over the firm by killing his brother,
Hamlet's fatherKing Hamlet is a character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, also known as The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. He should not be confused with his son, Prince Hamlet, who is the central figure of the play...
.
This adaptation keeps the Shakespearean dialogue but presents a modern setting, with technology such as
video cameraA video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
s, Polaroid cameras, and
surveillance bugsA covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone...
. For example, the
ghostA ghost has been defined as the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person, although in popular usage the term refers only to the apparition of such a person...
of Hamlet's murdered father first appears on
closed-circuit TVClosed-circuit television is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors.It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted, though it may employ point to point wireless links...
.
Adaptations
- Elsinore Castle
Kronborg is situated near the town of Helsingør on the extreme northeastern tip of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between Denmark and Sweden...
, the seat of power of DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
's crown in the play, is re-imagined as Hotel Elsinore, the headquarters of Denmark Corporation.
- The "Mousetrap" play takes the form of a video
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data....
montage, made by Hamlet himself.
- The character of Marcellus, one of the soldiers, is re-imagined as Marcella, Horatio's girlfriend.
- The Captain in Fortinbras
Fortinbras is the name of two minor fictional characters from William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. The more notable is a Norwegian crown prince with a few brief scenes in the play, who delivers the final lines that represent a hopeful future for the Danish monarchy and its subjects. Fortinbras is...
' army is replaced by a flight attendantFlight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety but also the comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights as well as on select business jet aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant ultimately derives from that of similar...
in Hamlet's flight to EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
- Instead of carrying around actual flowers, Ophelia carries polaroid photographs of various flowers. In the film, Ophelia is an amateur photographer.
- Fortinbras' conquests are not military, but corporate takeovers with the aid of his "armies" of lawyers.
- Laertes doesn't organize a revolution. He merely confronts Claudius.
- As opposed to drowning in a brook, Ophelia is found to have drowned in a fountain in front of the Hotel Elsinore.
- The Ghost of King Hamlet appears in Horatio's apartment, sitting in his bedroom as Marcella sleeps, before Hamlet and Horatio enter it.
- The first intervention of Osric is re-imagined as a fax machine in Hamlet and Horatio's apartment, delivering Laertes' message right before the duel. However, Osric does appear during the duel between Hamlet and Laertes.
- Laertes doesn't kill Hamlet with a poisoned rapier. Instead he shoots Hamlet with a pistol, then is shot himself. Hamlet then uses the same pistol to shoot Claudius.
Cast
- Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and film director. He made his feature film debut in 1985, opposite River Phoenix in the movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
as Hamlet
- Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American stage and film actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
as Ophelia
- Diane Venora
Diane Venora is an American stage, television, and film actress.-Early life:Venora was born Diana Venora in East Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Marie and Robert Venora, who owned a dry cleaning establishment. She left Connecticut for a scholarship at Juilliard School...
as Gertrude
- Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, Buried Child...
as Ghost
- Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of horror films. Schreiber is also a respected stage...
as Laertes
- Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan is an American actor.He graduated from the University of Washington in 1982 and, shortly afterward, moved to Hollywood, California to pursue his career...
as Claudius
- Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live, and went on to star in films including Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.-Early years:Murray, the fifth...
as Polonius
- Karl Geary
Karl John Geary , is an actor and club owner. He moved to the U.S. at the age of fifteen in 1987; he later got a green card in a lottery, and ultimately became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. He has seven brothers and sisters.He appeared in Madonna's Sex book...
as Horatio
- Steve Zahn
Steven James "Steve" Zahn is an American comedian and actor of both film and stage. He has appeared in many films, usually playing the role of a goofy comic relief sidekick.-Early life:...
as Rosencrantz
- Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck is an American actor. He has acted in films such as Good Will Hunting, Ocean's Eleven, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Gone Baby Gone. He has been nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe awards...
as Fortinbras
Critical reception
The reviews of this film have been somewhat divisive.
MetacriticMetacritic is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, a review collection website, assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 32 critic reviews. According to
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films. The name derives from the historical cliché of throwing tomatoes and other produce at stage performers if a performance was particularly bad.- History :...
, 55% of critics gave positive reviews based on 82 reviews, while 67% of major critics (listed as "Top Critics") gave favorable reviews.