Something’s Modern in the State of This ‘Hamlet’

In Act 3, Scene 2 of “Hamlet,” the Danish prince implores the actors who are to perform before the royal court to “o’erstep not the modesty of nature: for any thing so o’erdone is from the purpose of playing, [which holds a] mirror up to nature.” This directorial note could well have been the motto of the new film version of the canonical play as its actors sometimes mumble, mutter, and blurt out Shakespeare’s verse as if it were everyday conversation, instead of enunciating it in rhythmic meter. As Riz Ahmed, who portrays the iconic titular character, states in press materials, the aim was to “take the Shakespearean verse and tell it in a very modern, visceral, immediate way.” Realism embeds itself in the film’s location as well, which substitutes the play’s royal Renaissance setting for contemporary London and an uber-rich South Asian family with an oligarchian real estate empire.Further alterations, such as a greatly reduced text, rejigged lines, multiple disregarded characters, and a modified dramaturgy, might give even the most casual of Shakespeare fans pause, and yet the reimagining proves riveting for the most part, creating a uniquely focused take on the timeless play. Gone are the characters of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, among others, replaced by a dark, occasionally dour atmosphere transmitted through moody, sometimes harsh, lighting and droning music, enveloping viewers in the heightened emotional and mental states of its tragic hero.Beginning with the funeral of Hamlet’s father, the film adroitly sketches out Hamlet’s grief and announces how it will forge its own path through the tale by having the first words heard not be in English. Soon, director Aneil Karia, screenwriter Michael Lesslie, and Mr. Ahmed, who also produced the picture, introduce a tweak to Shakespeare’s plot, the first of several: Hamlet’s uncle Claudius and mother Gertrude are not yet married but announce their upcoming nuptials.This wedding not only provides the drama with added propulsion and serves as one of its centerpieces but expands on the adaptation’s depiction of Hindu culture, British diversity, and conspicuous, gaudy wealth. Unlike the play, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears but once, and, like most of the film’s updates, the scenario is treated fairly naturalistically. Hamlet, during a night of drinking and drug use, sees his father outside a nightclub and follows the apparition to the rooftop of one of his property developments. Here, with the white and red lights of nocturnal London in the background, he tells his son that he was murdered by his brother, with the verse delivered in Hindi. Eventually, this leads Hamlet to search for clues back at his family’s manor, with the filmmakers introducing the issue of ruthless property development practices and a housing insecurity movement known as “Fortinbras,” though this feels clumsily inserted for contemporary relevance and never works as a stand-in for Shakespeare’s integration of intrigue between Denmark and Norway.Of course any production of “Hamlet” lives or dies with its lead actor, and Mr. Ahmed, with a permanent 5 o’clock shadow, astounds through his variegated cadence, countenance, and physicality. He delivers some of Shakespeare’s most beloved lines with brooding murmurs, modulations of bitterness and frustration, and lightning moments of anger and disdain. There are even times when the performer chokes on words, illustrating the great emotion of the character as he despairs of his family situation and what he should do. The famous “To be, or not to be” monologue is delivered as he speeds down a highway at night. The intensity, intonation, and tempo is engrossingly idiosyncratic and the staging of the scene, as he lets go of the wheel, makes for an inspired visualization of Hamlet’s internal turmoil, rashness, and mental deterioration.With Hamlet in every scene and the handheld camera nearly always close to him, the other characters aren’t able to make much of an impression, despite fantastic supporting “players,” including Art Malik as Claudius, Sheeba Chaddha as Gertrude, Timothy Spall as Polonius, and Joe Alwyn as Laertes (with a bit of Horatio added since the character does not exist in the film). As Ophelia, Morfydd Clark is the only other actor allowed to express a wide range of emotions and reflections, and she is sensitively stirring in the role. Stand-out scenes include the incriminating playacting setpiece, which emerges as an elaborate Indian dance sequence though it’s no lighthearted Bollywood number, and Hamlet’s confrontation with his mother, which involves violence both anticipated and unexpected. The stripped-back cast of characters and context, though, make for some awkward plot transitions, and ultimately the changes made to the final confrontation come off both appropriately theatrical and ridiculous.Mr. Ahmed and Mr. Karia, who also made the Oscar-winning short “The Long Goodbye,” occasionally display a melodramatic heavy-hand despite the overall naturalism, forsaking eloquence and irony while contradicting the aforementioned advice given by Hamlet. Still, there’s no denying the gravity of Shakespeare’s themes and the force of his dramatic action, into which the filmmakers lean. Even in such a refashioned “Hamlet,” the voice of the author remains vitally central, reinforcing how his characters are mostly “arrant knaves” and yet “infinite in faculty, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action.”

Something’s Modern in the State of This ‘Hamlet’

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