So in preparation with Empty and @rosepetalrevolution to watch Slings & Arrows, Empty has us watching Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet. This is where I admit that I made it through high school and a minor in English in college without ever reading or watching Hamlet. So this is my first time knowing the piece outside of memes or random popular osmosis. We're about halfway through the film at the moment.
Hamlet's ghost of a father tells him he was murdered by his brother.
Hamlet is going to want revenge
People are bad to Ophelia
"To be, or not to be" (and thinking it a monologue for the audience only)
Hamlet is somber and depressed and vengeful
Things that have been fascinating to learn:
The ghost thing is almost the first thing that happens
Hamlet is funny in his scenes with Polonius in particular
Hamlet questions if the specter was actually his father and so isn't sure if wanting vengeance from that point on
The 'To Be, or not to be' monologue is witnessed by like three other characters
Relevant mainly for the coming Slings and Arrows watch: there's a play within a play so now I'm ready to see parallels in the director in S&A and Hamlet
Again, we are about halfway through the film. We spend about a good hour or so just chatting so our actual watch time on a weekday evening is limited. We just finished the play in the play, so I imagine Hamlet is going to escalate his crazy, and I look forward to it.
If you enjoyed anything about this post, don't mock me for not having already known Hamlet 😅