Released: 15th January
Seen: 13th February
In the history of the English language, there are few playwrights as revered as Shakespeare, it is often suggested that he is the greatest playwright in history and almost certain that his work has been adapted more times than any other writer. His work includes 39 plays, over 150 sonnets, 3 narrative poems, a few other verses and I’m sure someone will claim he also wrote the McDonald’s jingle at some point. He’s credited with creating several well known phrases (some have been misattributed to him, for more on that look up the fantastic Brows Held High video about Shakespeare that came out a while ago) and in general is just a major figure in history that will be remembered long after the rest of us are put on the compost heap and eaten by worms… oh, and also he had a wife who, hilariously, was named Anne Hathaway, but the movie Hamnet changed her name to Agnes because having a main character of your drama named after the star of The Princess Diaries would probably take away some of the potency of it.
Hamnet tells the story of the creation of William Shakespeare’s (Paul Mescal) Hamlet from the point of view of his wife, Agnes Shakespeare (Jessie Buckley), or at least that’s the elevator pitch for it. The film itself tells of their entire courtship, starting from their first meeting to their whirlwind romance, William’s bouts with depression that will lead him to move to London to start writing plays for a troupe who perform at the Globe Theatre. It also tells the story of the children that William and Agnes have, eldest daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and the twins Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and how they grow up in a fairly loving home… right up until the plague which proceeds to set up some truly upsetting events that will spur Shakespeare on to write Hamlet and also put Agnes on a ride of emotional devastation that is almost scientifically designed to tug at the heartstrings and hand her a shiny gold man with sword envy.
When you first heard that Hamnet was a period piece about the family of William Shakespeare and how a major tragic event in their lives lead to the creation of Hamlet, did you picture a slow ponderous film with luscious landscapes, detailed costume and set dressing that fits the era appropriately and a pair of lead actors delivering the performances of their lives while speaking in ye olde English? Congrats, you pictured exactly what Hamnet is from top to bottom and if the idea of that kind of film does nothing for you, then you can pretty much guess what Hamnet will feel like because it does everything you would expect it to do and does the best version of it. This really shouldn’t be a shock, director Chloe Zhao is truly fantastic and manages to make every film she touches feel like it was expertly crafted from top to bottom and the only thing that holds the audience back from loving it is how they feel about the subject matter… personally, never really been big on Shakespeare done as straight as possible which does put a barrier up that’s a little hard to get around, but at least we can acknowledge that.
What helps get around that barrier is the fact that a lot of the actual Shakespeare stuff, the references to his plays and the like, are mostly background. Indeed, at roughly the halfway point, William Shakespeare leaves the film and only returns sparingly for a few big moments, and most of the film just focuses on Agnes, which is great because Jessie Buckley delivers a performance for the ages. She’s charming, she’s brilliant, she’s emotionally devastated, and she’s in anguish all within the same scene. She can leap through the emotional trauma the film puts her through and finds a way to make it feel like the first time anyone’s ever experienced these emotions. You’ve seen a hundred birthing scenes in movies and TV, but none feel as raw and shattering as the one she goes through. She makes Agnes into a gloriously rich character, one who most people probably never knew before (be honest, you didn’t even know Shakespeare had a wife and 3 kids, did you?), and now she’s unforgettable.
It also helps that Hamnet itself just looks gorgeous and uses every camera shot to the utmost effect. If a high contrast scene full of bright colours will deliver the emotion, that’s what you get. If the scene works best as a 3-minute one-shot with the camera still, and we just watch our leads act their faces off, then that’s what will be done. Every single time the camera cuts or moves, it’s with a purpose that’s almost impossible to ignore. With 2 hours to tell their story, there isn’t a single moment wasted, and every single shot just commands your attention. It’s so carefully thought out, so intentional that every single shot can’t help but be captivating in every possible way.
One can’t deny that Hamnet is a wonderfully constructed film, everything about it is actually top notch from the sets to the performances to the directing, it’s a film that deserves all the praise it gets… but we bounce all the way back to the whole “if you have a problem with Shakespearean dialogue and period pieces like this, it’s not going to change your mind on that”. This is certainly the most accessible version of that kind of film, one that could be the exception for people who don’t tend to enjoy the more high-brow fare, but that barrier is still hard to dismiss.
Hamnet is an undeniably great film, the filmmaking and storytelling are top-notch, the performances are exquisite, and it takes a unique spin on the classic story of Hamlet as we know it. It’s one of those films that you know for a fact is just genuinely good… just not something I’m personally that into. I can appreciate that it’s well done in every aspect one can think of; it ticks every box one might tick if they were making a list of what an Oscar film could be, but I have to be honest and just admit that I respect the film more than I enjoy it.
Movie Meister Reviews 