William Shakespeare is the best playwright ever. Hamlet is the best play ever. Hamlet is also the best character ever. And the best performance of Hamlet to ever be captured on camera is in the epic adaptation. John Barrymore's Hamlet is the benchmark that is said to be the best performance on stage. But that was back in the 1920s. There is some footage of him as the Prince of Denmark, but it is too short and to quality is too bad for any justice to the role and to Barrymore. If there was more and better footage of Barrymore in the role, that would be the best ever filmed. Unfortunately, the best goes to Derek Jacobi: one of Great Britain's most underrated actors.
For anybody that does not know that plot of Hamlet, King Hamlet of Denmark has passed away and is being ignored, mainly by his brother Claudius (played here by Patrick Stewart) who has just assumed the crown. Melancholy and angry Prince Hamlet, (Jacobi) is visited by a ghost saying it is his father and that Claudius murdered him and he wants his to to avenge his death. Hamlet swears revenge, but circumstances may change.
Hamlet is the hardest character in history to play. He displays all emotions and his mindset constantly changes and there are many different interpretations of his character to make. In other words, there is no correct way of playing Hamlet, just as long as each trait is used in the correct places. So to play Hamlet the best is only playing him with accuracy. The best way of doing this is by using all emotions possible at equal proportions and all interpretations all rolled up into one. Derek Jacobi is the only and best one to do this. I bet any amount of money that this is the exact way that Shakespeare himself envisioned Hamlet. It was the way I envisioned him and the way my teachers taught him.
Hamlet is mad, sad, happy, witty, determined, philosophical, crazy, and frustrated, all of which constantly change. That is why Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version is such a disgrace. He does a terrible depiction and the other characters are terribly depicted too. The second best Hamlet on film was Laurence Olivier's 1948 adaptation. That is a dynamic and wonderful piece of film. What makes this better is that this is isn't condensed nearly as much and Jacobi goes farther off different ends. Olivier keeps a basis of a man not being able to make up his mind. He does hold all of Hamlet's traits evenly like Jacobi, but his basis (which is a widely agreed one) keeps him fairly grounded. Olivier is witty, but Jacobi is so witty that he's almost comical; Olivier is angry, but Jacobi becomes a monster. Jacobi doesn't really seem to have a basis for Hamlet. He might, but it may take several watches.
Aside from Hamlet, all other characters are very well portrayed. Hamlet is a play where all focus is on one character: Hamlet. It is really rare that a movie or play deserves a perfect score because of one performance. Jacobi deserves much higher than 100%.
For anybody that does not know that plot of Hamlet, King Hamlet of Denmark has passed away and is being ignored, mainly by his brother Claudius (played here by Patrick Stewart) who has just assumed the crown. Melancholy and angry Prince Hamlet, (Jacobi) is visited by a ghost saying it is his father and that Claudius murdered him and he wants his to to avenge his death. Hamlet swears revenge, but circumstances may change.
Hamlet is the hardest character in history to play. He displays all emotions and his mindset constantly changes and there are many different interpretations of his character to make. In other words, there is no correct way of playing Hamlet, just as long as each trait is used in the correct places. So to play Hamlet the best is only playing him with accuracy. The best way of doing this is by using all emotions possible at equal proportions and all interpretations all rolled up into one. Derek Jacobi is the only and best one to do this. I bet any amount of money that this is the exact way that Shakespeare himself envisioned Hamlet. It was the way I envisioned him and the way my teachers taught him.
Hamlet is mad, sad, happy, witty, determined, philosophical, crazy, and frustrated, all of which constantly change. That is why Kenneth Branagh's 1996 version is such a disgrace. He does a terrible depiction and the other characters are terribly depicted too. The second best Hamlet on film was Laurence Olivier's 1948 adaptation. That is a dynamic and wonderful piece of film. What makes this better is that this is isn't condensed nearly as much and Jacobi goes farther off different ends. Olivier keeps a basis of a man not being able to make up his mind. He does hold all of Hamlet's traits evenly like Jacobi, but his basis (which is a widely agreed one) keeps him fairly grounded. Olivier is witty, but Jacobi is so witty that he's almost comical; Olivier is angry, but Jacobi becomes a monster. Jacobi doesn't really seem to have a basis for Hamlet. He might, but it may take several watches.
Aside from Hamlet, all other characters are very well portrayed. Hamlet is a play where all focus is on one character: Hamlet. It is really rare that a movie or play deserves a perfect score because of one performance. Jacobi deserves much higher than 100%.