Hamlet

Some of my thoughts: - As a film this is genuinely excellent I don’t think I expected it to be as visually incredible and well made as it is - it really doesn’t surprise me that this won Best Picture in 1948. Sets? Camera movement? Black and white photography? Killed it. - I guess my qualms with this come in what Olivier cut rather than what was actually on the screen - cutting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, ‘And all for Hecuba’, Laertes’ followers, Fortinbras??? Big fan of the political part of Hamlet so axing Fortinbras really hurts. But the cuts worked - it was a coherent tale and for that I can’t fault it - Act 1 in this film has got to be one of the greatest beginnings to a film I’ve ever seen - so brilliantly tense and so beautifully shot my god  - Moving ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ to 1.1 is nothing short of a crime - don’t do my boy Marcellus like that  - Polonius is so funny in this - exactly the prating old fool I wanted to see - Such a stunning execution of the ‘get thee to a nunnery’ scene. Besides Hamlet’s anger and misogyny I’ve always read it as a deeply sad moment between the two - something I feel Olivier really understands here - I sort of hate to say it but I think the Oedipal reading really works. ‘And so, my mother!’ - I had never thought of that as anything as a joke but god it works so well. I’ve developed a new appreciation for Freudian critics 😔😔😔 sorry guys