With compelling direction and performances, Aneil Karia’s Hamlet is a stripped-down, ambitious iteration that revels in its bold style, with Riz Ahmed as magnetic as he has ever been.
When Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) returns for his father’s funeral, he is stunned to discover his uncle Claudius is marrying his newly widowed mother. Visited by his father’s ghost, Hamlet learns his brutal murder was at the hands of Claudius – and spirals into a quest for vengeance that exposes the rot at the heart of the family’s empire and threatens his own sanity.
The great thing about a Shakespeare adaptation is that it is a rarity for any two to be the same, and Aneil Karia’s iteration of Hamlet follows that wonderful trend. For purists, there may be disappointment, but this stripped-down version of the famous play actually works extremely well. There is a great deal of intent in stripping down characters’ roles to give more of a focus on Hamlet himself and what is happening with his family, as if some of the other story threads are an inconvenience to what is wanting to be told here. The bold decisions made here allow for the script to stand out. In a cinematic viewing, it works well, though with some characters acting as mere footnotes, there could have been more work to integrate them better.
It would come as no surprise that the stripped-down nature of the Hamlet works so well, considering Michael Lesslie is the writer (Lesslie also wrote the criminally underrated and downright gorgeous 2015 Macbeth). The frenetic energy that Karia brings to the script has us constantly on the edge of our seats, unexpectedly so, as instead of focusing as much on the political aspect of Hamlet, we get a far greater inspection of his mental state and the internal battles he is inevitably losing as he tries to find a way back from his father’s death.
Riz Ahmed is utterly magnetic as our titular character. With fewer soliloquies at hand to utter, Ahmed instead brings great power to others, especially when he is in a high-speed suicide game of chicken. His Hamlet is full of self-hate for not being there when he should have been, which is why his guilt has him on this very much unwanted journey. Throughout though
Stuart Bentley’s cinematography amplifies the stifling atmosphere Karia wants by keeping his camera a couple of feet from Riz Ahmed’s Hamlet, almost always. Hamlet never has a chance to take a moment to breathe, and neither do we as the audience as we watch his ever-increasing spiral in those near two hours. However, it is the contrast in scenes that his and Karia’s work stands out best, in some, namely the wedding and funeral, there is a vivacity that compels you. Then, as quickly as we have them, we are chucked back into the dull tones to bolster the madness that has taken over Hamlet.
A terrific screen adaptation that does the right amount of work to make it stand out from its contemporaries and make it a worthwhile viewing. Purists may grumble at some of the story choices, but what we see on screen is nothing short of fabulous.
★★★★
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