Gamlet (1964)

Director:

Grigori Kozintsev

Writers:

Grigori Kozintsev (writer)
Boris Pasternak (1941 Russian translation)

Release Date:

24 June 1964 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Foreign Language Adaptation | Shakespeare's Hamlet | William Shakespeare | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Innokenti Smoktunovsky	...	Hamlet
Mikhail Nazvanov	...	King
Elza Radzina	...	Queen (as Elsa Radzina-Szolkonis)
Yuri Tolubeyev	...	Polonius
Anastasiya Vertinskaya	...	Ophelia
Vadim Medvedev	...	Guildenstern
Vladimir Erenberg	...	Horatio
Stepan Oleksenko	...	Laertes
Igor Dmitriyev	...	Rosencrantz
Grigori Gaj
Rein Aren	...	Second Player
A. Krevalid	...	Fortinbras
Yuri Berkun	...	Third Player
Ants Lauter	...	Priest
Viktor Kolpakov	...	Gravedigger

Also Known As:

Гамлет (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Hamlet (USA)

Runtime:

140 min | France:148 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-8

Filming Locations:

Estonia

Company:

Lenfilm Studio

Movie Connections:

Featured in Kino (1971)

reviewing Kozintsev's film 43 years after seeing it for the first time

I have first seen Kozintsev's Hamlet back in 1963 and saw it again yesterday, as part of my job as music critic in a São Paulo newspaper, for the commemoration of Shostakovich's centennial -- he is the author of the soundtrack. The film has not aged, it is still one of the most beautiful adaptations of Shakespeare tragedy, Smoktunovsky's acting is thrilling and Shostakovich's soundtrack is marvelous. His irony reveals itself in the way he accompanies the scene at the graveyard: Hamlet's bittersweet dialog with the gravedigger (what an actor!) and his sad monologue about frailty having in his hand's Yorick's skull. A great film!