Hamlet (1948): 21st Winner for Best Picture

Date viewed: 23 February 2014

Hamlet (1948)

This black and white film adaptation of Shakespeare's play was quite well done. This was the first Shakespeare play put to screen out of the Best Picture winners so far. The scenes were well set out, the castle used was quite realistic and some scenes were quite effective. This was the first time I had ever seen any form of Hamlet in its full duration.

I felt that mainly this would be more effective if it was left to the stage. Although the father in the mist added what I'd call a good 'Shakespearean Darth Vader' effect, some scenes lost the touch on the screen compared to its potential on stage including the famous 'to be or not to be' scene. It was long (yes, it would be long on stage, too), but I felt less engaged with the story and felt that if I saw the same thing on stage I might engage with the play much better.

The Shakespearean language is always going to be a barrier for me (as I'm not used to it), but I still got the idea of what was happening.

It's good if you like Shakespeare put to film, but I think some plays (like this) should be left to the stage and not put in film, as timeless and relevant as Shakespeare's plays are and will be.

Why did it win Best Picture? Well, Shakespeare is always a timeless classic and it probably was a great time to bring out a film with romance and swords on screen.