Laurence Olivier as Hamlet, four Oscars and three other Oscar nominations, and a BAFTA award for Best Film ought to be enough to interest you in this superlative rendition of the immortal Bard's great tragedy. The British Film Institute also ranks this film as the 69th best British film of all-time. You can add my recommendation as well!

Historical Background: Laurence Olivier began appearing in film in 1930, at the age of twenty-three. He was a big hit in such films as Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and Pride and Prejudice (1940). His first film as a director was Henry V (1944), a film commissioned by the British government to raise the nation's spirits in the midst of war, but a smashing critical success as well. The present film was Olivier's second in the director's chair. It won the Oscar for Best Picture as well as numerous other awards. The film was also one of only two pictures in film history in which a director directed himself to an Oscar as Best Actor (the other was Roberto Benigni in Life is Beautiful). Olivier would direct himself again in only two more films: Richard III (1955) and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

Olivier's 1948 version of Hamlet was considered the definitive one for forty years and still ranks among the best. Three competitors for best Hamlet came into existence between 1990 and 2000. You can find excellent reviews of all three by telynor here at Epinions (1990 version, 1996 version, and 2000 version). Telynor rates the 1990 version starring Mel Gibson at 4-stars, the 1996 version with Kenneth Branagh at 5-stars, and the 2000 version starring Ethan Hawke at 3-stars. My personal choice is still the 1948 rendition, but each viewer is fully entitled to his or her own opinion about the relative merits of each version.

The Story: I don't suppose the plot of Hamlet will require recounting for many readers. On the other hand, one doesn't really need to concern oneself much with spoilers either. In brief, Hamlet (Laurence Olivier), a young Danish prince, is disconsolate about the death of his father and the injudiciously rapid remarriage of his mother, Queen Gerturde (Eileen Herlie), to his uncle, King Claudius (Basil Sydney). Hamlet's pain is deepened when he joins his friend Horatio (Norman Wooland) and two loyal guardsmen on the fog shrouded castle battlements where the three underlings had previously encountered the specter of Hamlet's dead father. The spirit reappears at the appointed time and tells Hamlet that he had been murdered in his sleep by Claudius. The ghost asks Hamlet to avenge this crime but to leave his mother to the judgment of heaven.

Hamlet, needing proof of his uncle's guilt in his father's death, decides to feign insanity. His first order of business is to terminate his developing romance with the beautiful Ophelia (Jean Simmons), daughter of the Lord Chamberlain, Polonius (Felix Aylmer). Hamlet then arranges for a troupe of players to perform the play The Murder of Gonzago for the court in order to trigger feelings of guilt on the part of King Claudius. After the play has its intended effect, Hamlet has a bit of a showdown with his mother in her bedchamber. When he discovers that someone is spying on their conversation, Hamlet stabs the intruder through a curtain and immediately discovers that he has slain Polonius. The death of her father causes Ophelia to go mad and brings Polonius's loyal son, Laertes (Terence Morgan), scurrying back from France to avenge his father's murder. Hamlet, meanwhile, is spirited off to England from whence Claudius intends his nephew never to return. Hamlet, however, boards a pirate vessel during a raid and, with the help of Horatio, returns secretly to Denmark. He arrives in time to observe Ophelia's burial, after taking her own life. Laertes is thirsting for vengeance and is easily drawn into a plot with King Claudius aimed at killing Hamlet while creating the appearance of an accident. The King organizes a contest with rapier and dagger between Laertes and Hamlet on the pretext of a great wager. Laertes's rapier will be both untipped and dipped in poisonous venom. The final scene claims four lives.

Themes: I suppose that the principal theme of Hamlet is something like plots of vengeance often result in collateral damage. Hamlet's distinctly amateurish effort at revenge ultimately kills five others besides the intended target. Even so, those proportions are a lot better than George Bush's misguided effort to avenge the assassination attempt against his father. Though Bush got his man, he also caused the death of more than 110,000 others in the process, including more than 25,000 civilians. The lesson I personally draw from this greatest of plays is don't take guidance from either restive specters or hawkish neo-conservatives.

Production Values: Olivier not only directed and starred in this version of Hamlet, but also wrote the screenplay. He made numerous modifications, some of which are bound to irritate purists, but which I found, on the whole, compelling. The characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (and their lines) were removed altogether. With them went the subplot in which King Claudius tries to prove that Hamlet is mad. The threat posed by a neighboring warmonger was eliminated as well. The positive effect of these cuts is to improve the pace at which the story unfolds. That suits my tastes just fine. Although I love an occasional dose of the Bard's ingenious language, 153 minutes worth is plenty enough for me in one sitting. Olivier also makes some interesting interpretational choices. Scholars endlessly debate how much of Hamlet's madness was a tactic aimed at disarming his intended victim and how much outside his control. Olivier has chosen to make his Hamlet more devious than unglued. I like that choice as well. Then, at the story's climax, Olivier makes Gertrude's consumption of the fluid in the poisoned chalice intentional rather than accidental. That decision I don't much care for, though it's not a big enough irritant to spoil the play's dramatic conclusion.

It is Olivier as director who most shines in this rendition, not Olivier the screenwriter. This is a highly cinematic version of Hamlet in many respects. Along with Olivier's earlier Henry V (1944), this movie helped to establish that filmed versions of Shakespeare's plays could more than match staged versions. Olivier makes the utmost use of the ability of the camera to bring us in close to the intimate action. Viewers get a far deeper appreciation of facial expressions and body language than is possible in staged versions. Olivier also uses his camera with great effectiveness to explore the physical spaces. From time to time throughout the film, the camera glides effortlessly up stone stairwells, through windows, over misty battlements, and around corners, giving viewers a real sense of the castle's dimensions. The special effects are impressive as well, including an effective rendering of the ghost of Hamlet's father. The foggy presentation of the castle's exterior, in rich black and white cinematography, adds to the plays eerie and brooding quality. Olivier makes skillful use of the potential for voiceover narration to turn portions of a couple of soliloquies into interior monologues. In addition to its other awards, this film won well-deserved Oscars for Best Art Direction (black and white) and Best Costume Design. The Oscar-nominated soundtrack by William Walton is another highlight of this version, capturing the story's tone beautifully.

I like my Shakespeare presented classically or, at least, semi-classically, rather than too much spiffed up for modern sensibilities. Olivier's performance is inspired. His enunciation is impeccable and his interpretations of various lines often deepened my understanding of the Bard's intent. Some complain about Olivier being too old for the part, but I had no difficulty seeing him as a man in his twenties. Other films that I've reviewed in which Olivier stars include Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Henry V (1944). Jean Simmons is excellent as Ophelia. Her mad scene features more wistful derangement than bitterness. Some of Simmons's other roles were in such films as Black Narcissus (1946), Great Expectations (1946), The Robe (1953), Elmer Gantry (1960), and Spartacus (1960). Simmons received an Oscar nomination (Best Supporting Actress) for this performance.

Basil Sydney and Eileen Herlie are outstanding as King Claudius and Queen Gertrude. Sydney was otherwise best known for roles in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and Treasure Island (1950). Norman Wooland, Felix Aylmer, and Terence Morgan provide strong supporting performances as Horatio, Polonius, and Laertes respectively. Aylmer also appeared in Henry V (1944).

Bottom-Line: The Criterion DVD of this film provides a beautifully restored digital transfer on a dual-layer disc. There are English captions available for the hearing impaired. Otherwise, there are no on-disc extras. The cover booklet has an interesting essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty. This is a great rendition of one of the greatest works of literature in the English language. Give it a try sometime.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12