Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Rodney Bennett

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

10 November 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Hamlet comes home from university to find his uncle married to his mother, and his father's ghost haunting the battlements and scaring the watch...

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Revenge | Uncle Nephew Relationship | Craziness | Mother Son Relationship

Cast

Derek Jacobi	...	Hamlet
Claire Bloom	...	Gertrude
Patrick Stewart	...	Claudius
Eric Porter	...	Polonius
Lalla Ward	...	Ophelia
David Robb	...	Laertes
Patrick Allen	...	Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Robert Swann	...	Horatio
Jonathan Hyde	...	Rosencrantz
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Guildenstern
Emrys James	...	First Player (King)
Jason Kemp	...	Second Player (Queen)
Geoffrey Beevers	...	Third Player (Lucianus)
Bill Homewood	...	Player in the mime, King
Peter Richard	...	Player in the mime, Queen

Also Known As:

Hamlet
The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

USA:210 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Claire Bloom who plays Hamlet mother is only seven years older than her on-screen son.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Tragedy of Hamlet (2002) (TV)

The finest Hamlet

I've seen various Hamlets, and I've taught the play. As I watch Jacobi, I'm tempted to think that he's every bit as intelligent as Hamlet himself, so alive is he to every nuance of this character's wit. He deepens, rather than solves, every puzzle regarding Hamlet's character. He illuminates line after line, word after word, shining light into this sparkling mind. At the same time, however, we cringe at the horror Hamlet feels at his betrayal--far more than with any other actor--because Jacobi feels the pain more profoundly than anyone else. And we shudder at Hamlet's own betrayals, because Jacobi is not afraid of the baseness to which Hamlet can descend. In short, Jacobi gives us Hamlet in full, and Hamlet in full is the greatest character in literature. That's why I'm satisfied that Jacobi's Hamlet is the finest performance I've seen by an actor.