The Place is the Place

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Now here's a real treat. A 1964 production of Hamlet actually shot at Elisinore Castle, the very castle at which Shakespeare's play is set. Not only that, but it stars Christopher Plummer as Hamlet, Robert Shaw as Claudius, and Michael Caine as Horatio. It's quite good. Sometimes the sound quality is a little rough and the picture quality leaves much to be desired due to the tragedy of the BBC insisting things be recorded on tape as much as possible.

Everyone's dressed for the period instead of as circus clowns or Nazis or retail clerks or Nazis or inmates at a women's prison or Nazis (it usually seems to be Nazis, doesn't it?). I suppose that's probably to do with the location. Whatever the reason, I'm quite happy about it. I wish there were a few tracking shots of the castle, some establishing shots of extras in armour in a grand hall. You'd think the camera would linger, given the extraordinary nature of the locale.

Plummer is great as Hamlet though perhaps a bit restrained. He's a great, solid performer and consistently makes captivating choices. I love Robert Shaw as Claudius and Michael Caine as Horatio is like a precursor to his Alfred Pennyworth. Donald Sutherland is also in the production as Fortinbras and he's fine, as brief as that role is. I thought Alec Clunes as Polonius was a little too broad and Jo Maxwell Muller as Ophelia is pretty but forgettable. On the whole, though, this is well worth seeing.

This Hamlet is on the Shakespeare Network on YouTube, embedded above.