Cinema
Hamlet
Гамлет
Grigori Kozintsev · 1964
Synopsis
Prince Hamlet returns to Elsinore, where the court is in mourning for his father. His mother, Gertrude, has married the dead man's brother, Claudius, who has taken the throne. The ghost of the dead king appears to him and reveals that Claudius poisoned him. Hamlet feigns madness, bewilders Ophelia, daughter of the counsellor Polonius, and has a play that reproduces the murder performed before the court, to test his uncle.
Context
Written by the director, the screenplay draws on Boris Pasternak's translation; the music is by Dmitri Shostakovich and the cinematography by Jonas Gricius. Innokenti Smoktunovsky plays Hamlet, with Anastasia Vertinskaya as Ophelia, Mikhail Nazvanov as Claudius and Yuri Tolubeyev as Polonius. Produced by Lenfilm, the film was awarded a prize at Venice in 1964; the Larousse sees in it a reflection on absolute power.
Who it is for
A filmed tragedy of over two hours, for those who want to hear Shakespeare in Russian and the music of Shostakovich.
Prizes and reception
Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1964, according to the Larousse Dictionnaire du cinéma.