Monday 18 April 2011

GAMLET/Hamlet (1964)

More Russian cinema, this time from the Soviet period. One of the great pleasures of being a film fan is showing friends the films you admire and vice versa. Being a bit of a Shakespeare fan I'd always wanted to see this film - remembering the very positive reviews it got back in the 6o's. Last week an old friend with a special interest in Eastern European finally got around to showing it to me. After only a few minutes I knew I was watching the finest bit of filmed Shakespeare I'd ever seen and not long after that I knew I was watching a truly great movie, full stop. It's a traditional production with amazing sets, superb acting from the entire cast. Stunning photography and a powerful score - the latter from Dmitri Shostakivich no less.A Warning though - the English subtitle vary ftom accurate for the famous speeces (To be or not to be,,,) to the wildly eccentric so it really helps if you know the plot. Rating *****

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