“Flurries of dark stone, vague impressions of courtiers and rich hangings; but mostly faces lower obsessively from the screen ... the result is an extraordinarily naked emphasis on the words and their meaning ... it’s interesting, imaginative, and certainly Richardson’s best film.”
Screened in tribute to Marianne Faithful (1946 - 2025)
Nicol Williamson stars as Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who is thrown into disarray when he learns that his father was murdered by his uncle Claudius (Anthony Hopkins), the current king, who is now married to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude (Judy Parfitt). Meanwhile, Hamlet's increasingly unhinged behaviour troubles his love, Ophelia (Marianne Faithfull) … Made with a small budget with a very minimalist set, Tony Richardson’s economic adaption of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy is a welcome departure from big-budget Hollywood Shakespeare adaptations.
