Of the year's Academy Best Picture nominees I hadn't seen, this was the one I most wanted to see. I hadn't heard that Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes were among the producers, nor that it got more Oscar nods than anything else directed by a woman. I just like Hamlet and take interest in anything related to it.
The story begins shortly before William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), then a teacher of Latin in Stratford-upon-Avon, meets Agnes/Anne Hathaway (Jessie Buckley) while she tames a hawk in the woods. Despite disapproval from both their families, they go on to get married and have three kids. William spends little time around them, because he works far away. He'll regret not being there when his only son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), is in critical condition....
This pic is based on a Maggie O'Farrell book more than reality. From what I gather, there aren't many details we know to be false, but neither are there many we have a reason to believe. History has not recorded any contemporary rumor of Agnes or her mother engaging in witchcraft. The cause of Hamnet's early demise (about halfway thru the runtime) is wide open to speculation. In all likelihood, William didn't write Hamlet under inspiration from his son; the legend of Amleth already existed. We might as well take lessons from Shakespeare in Love.
It feels kind of fresh to see a depiction of the Bard before he made a name for himself. Heck, we barely hear anyone call him by even his first name. And most of his cited labor doesn't involve writing.
I don't blame Chloé Zhao for not taking the book's nonlinear approach; few directors imitate Christopher Nolan that way. But I can't get behind the direction herein. The pacing is often almost painfully slow, as might be expected from stretching a simple plot across 126 minutes. Sometimes the camera is uncomfortably stiff; at other times, it meanders away from the focal point, leaving me to wonder why.
If you're looking for highly emotional drama, Hamnet isn't a bad choice. For my part, I'd rather rewatch Zhao's Nomadland. Maybe I'll prefer one or more of the remaining nominees....
No comments:
Post a Comment