Reviewed at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival
The British may not be amused. Who would dare to adapt Shakespeare's Hamlet to the screen, change the venue from Denmark to New York City, move the story to the 21st century, use a predominately American cast with a small budget and short shooting schedule? Only the arrogance of a bloody Yank would lend itself to this daunting task. And perhaps only a bloody Yank could meet with whopping success. It is Hamlet: Made in the USA and folks nationwide will be buying it.
Comparisons to British director Kenneth Branagh's own adaptation of Hamlet a few years ago cannot be avoided. Whereas Branagh's star-studded cast and historical treatment took many months to film at extraordinary expense, American director Michael Almereyda's version was shot in less than one month at a fraction of Branagh's budget -- with no less than Ethan Hawke, Bill Murray, Sam Shepard and Kyle MacLachlan working for scale. Branagh remained true to every word of the play, resulting in a 4-hour epic. Almereyda's abridged version lasts only 113 minutes, resembling a Reader's
Digest condensation or a book-on-tape. Branagh worked within the tradition
of British theater; Almereyda appears to be bent on breaking with it.
The appeal of Almereyda's American Hamlet lies primarily in its accessibility. Though the script is pure Shakespeare, the cast and backdrop are prime-time network programming. No need to interrupt this program for commercials, however, The American Hamlet is heir to a corporate empire advertised in Times Square. He delivers his famous To Be Or Not To Be soliloquy in a Blockbuster video store. The apparition of his father disappears into a Pepsi Cola vending machine. Hamlet's uncle's ascension to power at Denmark Corporation on the heels of his father's death makes headlines in USA Today. These icons of modern American life serve like magnets by capturing the attention of the viewer who may otherwise be alienated by the anachronistic dialogue.
Almereyda's cinematic style enlists further the emotional commitment of the viewer. Through an arsenal of visual devices, he overcomes the linguistic barrier presented by antiquated English written in iambic pentameter. What the viewer may not understand by the language, he will figure out from the visuals. Coupled with exemplary performances by renowned actors of popular American cinema, the result is potentially revolutionary: Americans tuning in and turning on to a long-dead English playwright.