Live streaming of Hamlet

Looking forward to seeing a re-screening this Tuesday! Is it really as long as it says on Fandango? 4 hours? I know Hamlet is a long play, but usually it's trimmed significantly. Were there intermissions?

I'm also just back from the "live" streaming. Well filmed live.

This was not my favorite Hamlet. But, it wasn't my least favorite. I thought the cinema direction was subpar. Too many close-ups that actually worked to not get me involved in the story - and to lose the sense of the play itself. (And a few microphone issues for poor Laertes). The final fencing match leading up to dead bodies everywhere felt clumsy to me. The close-ups didn't allow for the frenetic aspect of that sequence - and does Gertrude really drink to Hamlet after it appears he has slain Laertes (in that filmic slo-motion)? I also found the play to be not only lit darkly and but also directed to be dark. The comedy was rarely funny because of the overriding sense of dread from the outset. Even the Gravedigger sequence was only mildly amusing to me. The set also was dark and overpowering in its crushing of the human spirit. The Barbican has a large stage but I didn't get the sense of the theatre through the direction. I saw David Tennant in Richard II at that theatre - and that production was electrifying in person.

I thought Cumberbatch did a good job - it was certainly a different Hamlet. He was anguished and angry from the get-go, playing his depressing records. But, his madness played as someone playing at madness, but in a much too obvious way. I found many of his outbursts to be over the top as if he was trying to rise to the words and some image of the words, rather than have the words do the work. That said, I particualrly liked where he is trying to decide whether to kill Claudius as Claudius prays. The close-ups also hurt this production because Hamlet looked older than I think of the character.

To me, the best job was done by Ciaran Hinds as Claudius. My least favorite was Sian Brooke's Ophelia. She was so anguished and distraught from the get-go, that even her "mad" scene didn't feel that far from how Ophelia had been. Also, I was confused because Hamlet and Ophelia are kissing and then break and seemingly have nice words with each other, before Ophelia's first scene. It made it appear that Hamlet's plan of madness was divulged to Ophelia - but that idea quickly dissipated.

I thought the Hamlet-Gertrude scene after Polonius is slain to be awkward - as both actors seemed to just forget that Polonius is lying there dead on the floor.

I also enjoyed Leo Bill's Horatio. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith had his moments as Laertes, but his "anger" was too overwhelming in his scenes with Claudius.

If I had never seen Hamlet before, I think this was probably a good production or introduction.

The presentation started at 7 - but Hamlet itself didn't start until 7:15 and ended around 10:25 - with the 20 minute interval. There was extra material at the beginning - an interview with Cumberbatch and a trip to a school - but nothing during the interval.

Updated On: 10/16/15 at 12:15 AM

If you saw it in London, you would have appreciated the filming. I didn't feel taken out of the play by the closeups, but I can understand that. And yes, the last part was too dark. I loved the humor, as did the audience I was with tonight. But again, different strokes.

I felt at first -- and maybe I'm the crazy one -- that Cumberbatch's Hamlet did put on the craziness -- yes, he was depressed and grief-stricken, and it ultimately drove him bonkers. But I really felt like in that soldier bit he was putting it on. As far as it being over the top, not in the theater, and I loved the way he spoke the language.

I think in the streaming you're less aware of how the set and staging just ate the second part up and how unfocused that direction was in parts. And as far as your other comments - some of that is due to the cuts, of which there were too many. DIdn't like the slo-mo. Some critic said it was a five-star Hamlet in a three-star production. I think that was correct. I mean, let's face it, you don't need all those bells and whistles for Hamlet. A stage and a table and a couple of chairs will do.

Cumberbatch's age didn't bother me. The first Hamlet was about 38 - I know Hamlet is 30, but look how old Barrymore was, and he certainly looked older than he was even from the stage. And Paul Giamatti just did it - he is such a wonderful actor, but I'm sure that was a very different Hamlet.

Ciaran Hinds - in the theater, his words come out as swallowed, and you can't get a lot of what he's saying. He is a powerful actor, certainly.

I appreciate all of your comments - it's always interesting to get people's takes.

I'm a little shocked by the amount of negative reviews on Sian Brooke's performance as Ophelia. I really thought she was amazing and it's been a while since I was so blown away by an actress in that particular role. Off course, Benedict Cumberbatch is a genius and I loved most of his scenes. I keep wondering if seeing the show live would have had an effect on my opinion, because I did feel like some of his acting was a little over the top, but I tolerated it because I felt like it was just an awkward transition from a live theatre to a screen. An incredible piece of theatre, though.