1948--Hamlet, Laurence Olivier

1948--Hamlet, Lawrence Olivier
Nominated: Johnny Belinda, The Red Shoes, The Snake Pit, The Treasure of Sierra Madre,
Should Have Won: Red River
Be Sure to See: Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Buccaneer Bunny, Bugs Bunny Rides Again, Key Largo, Rope
"Justly killed with my own treachery,"--Laertes

    If you read Hamlet in high school you will remember in fifteenth century Denmark, Prince Hamlet schemes to avenge his father's death when his uncle murders him and weds the queen. If not, Laurence Olivier reminds you in this film. Olivier, reputed to be one of the finest stage actors of all time, directed and starred in the role. Olivier is certainly the high point in this rather dull movie. I learned in the documentary for Marathon Man (which Olivier was nominated for best supporting actor) that he had to be reminded to be more quiet. When he spoke his lines he would want to belt them louder. This comes from his days on the stage when an actor had to get the people in the balcony to hear him as opposed to a boom mic hanging just out of frame in a movie. 

  

     Other than Olivier's performance, I didn't care for the film. It had some interesting moments like when Hamlet's father's spirit visits in a pretty creepy image, when the gravedigger finds a skull, and the sword/dagger competition. I did enjoy how that scene turned out; who wins and how things were pretty calm until the eventual winner gets cut and goes bonkers. But at one point, I realized the famous soliloquies that begins "To be or not to be..." brushed past me and I had to rewind to take note. 

     The story is great, Olivier is fantastic, and I bet it would be amazing to see on stage. But this movie just felt wrong. It didn't feel like a film at all. It felt like someone put on a stage play and a couple of people were in the audience filming it, then edited their footage together to get a cohesive flow and different angles. I admit this is probably the least complex review I've done. The movie is simply forgettable. Sure the performances were great, but are they great enough to watch on the screen and to win the Oscar? Now that is the question.