Hamlet (1990) - Stars shine in Zeffirelli's compelling adaptation

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A fine ensemble is lined up in stark, desaturated tones on this poster for Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet

Prince Hamlet of Denmark's father dies a mysterious death, and the prince's near madness in the castle in Elsinore, including his conferences with the ghost of his father, brings intrigues and murder to bear.

 

Hamlet is written by Christopher De Vore (The Elephant Man (1980)) and great Italian co-writer/director Franco Zeffirelli (Camping (1958)), adapting the same-titled 1603 play by William Shakespeare (Coriolanus (1605-08)).

Shakespeare's celebrated text gets room to shine in this excellent adaptation. Some minor flaws, - among them Helena Bonham Carter's (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)) over-acting of madness, - don't much damage the film's success, in large part thanks to the honest, human portrait of the title character by Mel Gibson (Air America (1990)), and Glenn Close's (The Stepford Wives (2004)) equally intense performance.

Ennio Morricone's (Good News (1979)) music is elegant and well played. Zeffirelli's is a sober, handsome Hamlet.

 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 12.6 mil. £, approximately 16.89 mil. $

Box office: 20.7 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain - but probably a big flop (seemingly returned 1.32 times its cost)

[Hamlet was released 19 December (Toronto, Los Angeles, New York) and runs 134 minutes. Shooting took place from April - June 1990 in Scotland, France and England. The film opened #18 to a 116k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 624 theaters (different weeks), grossing 20.7 mil. $. The-Numbers.com allege that the film had an international gross of just 1.7 mil. $, - which would be incredibly little, - but if true the film was a big flop. It was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, lost to Dick Tracy, and Costumes, lost to Cyrano de Bergerac. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, won 1/2 David di Donatello award nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Zeffirelli returned with The King of Ads (1991, segment), Don Carlo (1992, TV movie) and theatrically with Sparrow (1993). Gibson returned in Lethal Weapon 3 (1992); Close in Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991, TV movie) and theatrically in Meeting Venus (1991). Hamlet is fresh at 76 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

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