Three Days of Hamlet

Pacino's "Looking for Richard" documentary was an amazing film and an inspiration to try Shakespeare for me so I was very interested to see another documentary/film about putting on Shakespeare. While not the deep exploration of the Bard that Pacino's film was Three Days of Hamlet brought a surprising personal touch that turned into a touching reflection on family and show biz.

In my experience the film had a gradual start that didn't quite capture the crazy pressure of putting up Hamlet in three days however it builds nicely and you really connect with the experience as the days progress. The parallels of Hamlet haunted by the ghost of his father and the actor performing the role living in the shadow of his was particular powerful.

As an actor I was particularly interested in the performances challenges of such a large undertaking with so little preparation. Some performances come together more than others, Iva Hasperger the "over achiever" who memorizes all her lines really connects with the material and goes all in. Alex Hyde-White's passion as the creator of the project really shows in his acting. Despite being burdened with a huge amount of text and having to work off the page, his smooth naturalism punctuated by spontaneous outbursts of energy is very engaging.

The film concludes with very honest and heart warming moments. I don't like a lot of documentaries but this one was very enjoyable.