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Hamlet (1964 film)
Encyclopedia
Hamlet is a 1964 film adaptation in Russian of William Shakespeare
's play of the same title
, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak
. It was directed by Grigori Kozintsev
and Iosif Shapiro, and stars Innokenty Smoktunovsky
as Prince Hamlet
.
artist group The Factory of the Eccentric Actor (FEKS), whose ideas were closely related to Dadaism and Futurism
. In 1923 he had been planning to perform Hamlet as a pantomime in the experimental manner of FEKS, but the plan was not put into effect, and Kozintsev's energies shifted into the cinema. However, he returned to the theatre in 1941 with a Leningrad
production of King Lear
. Then, in 1954 Kozintsev directed a stage production of Hamlet at the Pushkin Theatre in Leningrad, using Boris Pasternak's translation; this was one the first Soviet productions of the play in the post-Joseph Stalin
era.
Kozintsev also wrote extensively about Shakespeare and a major chapter in his book Shakespeare: Time and Conscience is devoted to his thoughts on Hamlet together with a historical survey of earlier interpretations. In an appendix entitled "Ten Years with Hamlet", he includes extracts from his diaries dealing with his experiences of the 1954 stage production and his 1964 film.
Unlike Laurence Olivier
's 1948 film
, which removed most of the play's political dimension to focus on Hamlet's inner turmoil, Kozintsev's Hamlet is as political and public as it is personal. Kozintsev observed of his predecessor: "Olivier cut the theme of government, which I find extremely interesting. I will not yield a single point from this line." Where Olivier had narrow winding stairwells, Kozintsev has broad avenues, peopled with ambassadors and courtiers. The castle's role as a prison is emphasised. The camera frequently looks through bars and grates, and one critic has suggested that the image of Ophelia in an iron farthingale symbolises the fate of the sensitive and intelligent in the film's tough political environment. The film also shows the presence of ordinary people in ragged clothes, who are like the grave digger: good-hearted and only wishing to live peacefully.
Of the castle itself, Kozintsev said: "The general view of the castle must not be filmed. The image will appear only in the unity of the sensations of Elsinore's various aspects. And its external appearance, in the montage of the sequences filmed in a variety of places". Many of the exteriors were filmed at the fortress of Ivangorod, on the border of Russia and Estonia.
Much of the film takes place out of doors. Apart from the backdrop of the castle, the imagery of the film is dominated by elements of nature. Kozintsev saw this as a vital way in which he could give visual form to the text: "Strangely enough they have always sought to film Hamlet in studios, but it seems to me that the key to reincarnating Shakespeare's words in visual imagery can only be found in nature". "It seems that the basic elements of the plastic arts are formed against a background of nature. In decisive places, they should oust period stylization (of the Tudor era, and of English affectation) and express the essentials. I have in mind stone, iron, fire, earth, and sea". These elements are present throughout, including the opening shot in which the cliff-top castle is represented by its shadow falling across the surging waters of the sea, and the final scene in which Hamlet walks out of the dark palace to sit against the rock facing the sea as he dies.
When the film appeared in 1964, it received a number of prizes both in the Soviet Union and abroad (see below). Its reception among British and American reviewers was generally favourable, despite the fact that this version of a prized work of English literature was not made in English. The New York Times reviewer took up this point: "But the lack of this aural stimulation - of Shakespeare's eloquent words - is recompensed in some measure by a splendid and stirring musical score by Dmitri Shostakovich
. This has great dignity and depth, and at times an appropriate wildness or becoming levity". The author noted the strengths of the film: [Kozintsev] "is concerned with engrossing the eye. And this he does with a fine achievement of pictorial plasticity and power.... Landscape and architecture, climate and atmosphere play roles in this black-and-white picture that are almost as important as those the actors play".
In academic literature, the film has continued to receive prominent attention in studies of the methods of filming Shakespeare, especially in a play which consists so much of internal thought.
The director Peter Brook
regarded the film as being of special interest, even though he had reservations about its ultimate success: "The Russian Hamlet has been criticized for being academic, and it is: however, it has one gigantic merit - everything in it is related to the director's search for the sense of the play - his structure is inseparable from his meaning. The strength of the film is in Kozintsev's ability to realise his own conception with clarity.... But the limitation lies in its style; when all is said and done, the Soviet Hamlet is post-Eisenstein
realistic - thus super-romantic - thus, a far cry from essential Shakespeare - which is neither epic, nor barbaric, nor colorful, nor abstract nor realistic in any of our uses of the words."
Only excerpts from the film have been shown on U.S. television. The complete film has never been televised in the United States.
n Elza Radzina as Gertrude
, the Ukrainian
Stepan Oleksenko as Laertes
) so as to bring shades of other traditions into his film. But for the central role, he chose the Russian actor Innokenty Smoktunovsky
who had extensive experience in the theatre. Traditional in appearance, he nevertheless had an individual manner of acting, characterised by reserve as well as nervous intensity, which distinguished the film from other versions.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play of the same title
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, based on a translation by Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
. It was directed by Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Kozintsev
Grigori Mikhaylovich Kozintsev was a Jewish Ukrainian, Soviet Russian theatre and film director. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964.He studied in the Imperial Academy of Arts...
and Iosif Shapiro, and stars Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Innokentiy Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky was a Soviet actor acclaimed as the "king of Soviet actors". He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1974 and the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990....
as Prince Hamlet
Prince Hamlet
Prince Hamlet is a fictional character, the protagonist in Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew to the usurping Claudius and son of the previous King of Denmark, Old Hamlet. Throughout the play he struggles with whether, and how, to avenge the murder of his father, and...
.
Background
Grigori Kozintsev had been a founder member of the Russian avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
artist group The Factory of the Eccentric Actor (FEKS), whose ideas were closely related to Dadaism and Futurism
Futurism (art)
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...
. In 1923 he had been planning to perform Hamlet as a pantomime in the experimental manner of FEKS, but the plan was not put into effect, and Kozintsev's energies shifted into the cinema. However, he returned to the theatre in 1941 with a Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
production of King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
. Then, in 1954 Kozintsev directed a stage production of Hamlet at the Pushkin Theatre in Leningrad, using Boris Pasternak's translation; this was one the first Soviet productions of the play in the post-Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
era.
Kozintsev also wrote extensively about Shakespeare and a major chapter in his book Shakespeare: Time and Conscience is devoted to his thoughts on Hamlet together with a historical survey of earlier interpretations. In an appendix entitled "Ten Years with Hamlet", he includes extracts from his diaries dealing with his experiences of the 1954 stage production and his 1964 film.
Adaptation
Kozintsev's film is faithful to the architecture of the play, but the text (based on Pasternak's translation) is heavily truncated, achieving a total running time of 2 hours 20 minutes (from a play which lasts four hours in full performance). The opening scene of the play is cut entirely, along with scenes 1 and 6 of Act IV, but other scenes are represented in sequence, even though some are drastically shortened. (Hamlet's final speech is reduced simply to "The rest is silence.") There is some resequencing of material in Act IV to illustrate the outwitting of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on the voyage to England. Kozintsev seeks constantly to represent the content of the play in visual terms, and there are notable sequences which are constructed without the use of dialogue (e.g. the opening scene in which Hamlet arrives at Elsinore to join the court's mourning, and the vigil awaiting the appearance of the ghost).Unlike Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's 1948 film
Hamlet (1948 film)
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
, which removed most of the play's political dimension to focus on Hamlet's inner turmoil, Kozintsev's Hamlet is as political and public as it is personal. Kozintsev observed of his predecessor: "Olivier cut the theme of government, which I find extremely interesting. I will not yield a single point from this line." Where Olivier had narrow winding stairwells, Kozintsev has broad avenues, peopled with ambassadors and courtiers. The castle's role as a prison is emphasised. The camera frequently looks through bars and grates, and one critic has suggested that the image of Ophelia in an iron farthingale symbolises the fate of the sensitive and intelligent in the film's tough political environment. The film also shows the presence of ordinary people in ragged clothes, who are like the grave digger: good-hearted and only wishing to live peacefully.
Style
The camera is continually mobile and extended shots (average length 24 seconds) enable the physical exploration of the spaces of the court and castle.Of the castle itself, Kozintsev said: "The general view of the castle must not be filmed. The image will appear only in the unity of the sensations of Elsinore's various aspects. And its external appearance, in the montage of the sequences filmed in a variety of places". Many of the exteriors were filmed at the fortress of Ivangorod, on the border of Russia and Estonia.
Much of the film takes place out of doors. Apart from the backdrop of the castle, the imagery of the film is dominated by elements of nature. Kozintsev saw this as a vital way in which he could give visual form to the text: "Strangely enough they have always sought to film Hamlet in studios, but it seems to me that the key to reincarnating Shakespeare's words in visual imagery can only be found in nature". "It seems that the basic elements of the plastic arts are formed against a background of nature. In decisive places, they should oust period stylization (of the Tudor era, and of English affectation) and express the essentials. I have in mind stone, iron, fire, earth, and sea". These elements are present throughout, including the opening shot in which the cliff-top castle is represented by its shadow falling across the surging waters of the sea, and the final scene in which Hamlet walks out of the dark palace to sit against the rock facing the sea as he dies.
Critical reception
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
. This has great dignity and depth, and at times an appropriate wildness or becoming levity". The author noted the strengths of the film: [Kozintsev] "is concerned with engrossing the eye. And this he does with a fine achievement of pictorial plasticity and power.... Landscape and architecture, climate and atmosphere play roles in this black-and-white picture that are almost as important as those the actors play".
In academic literature, the film has continued to receive prominent attention in studies of the methods of filming Shakespeare, especially in a play which consists so much of internal thought.
The director Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
regarded the film as being of special interest, even though he had reservations about its ultimate success: "The Russian Hamlet has been criticized for being academic, and it is: however, it has one gigantic merit - everything in it is related to the director's search for the sense of the play - his structure is inseparable from his meaning. The strength of the film is in Kozintsev's ability to realise his own conception with clarity.... But the limitation lies in its style; when all is said and done, the Soviet Hamlet is post-Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
realistic - thus super-romantic - thus, a far cry from essential Shakespeare - which is neither epic, nor barbaric, nor colorful, nor abstract nor realistic in any of our uses of the words."
Only excerpts from the film have been shown on U.S. television. The complete film has never been televised in the United States.
Awards
- 1964 Special Jury Prize of Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
(Won) - Grigori Kozintsev. - 1964 Golden Lion of Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
(Nominated) - Grigori Kozintsev. - 1964 Best film on the WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
Shakespeare Film Festival. - 1964 On the All-Union Film FestivalAll-Union Film FestivalThe All-Union Film Festival was one of the most important film festivals of the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1958 and held regularly from 1964-1988. It was held annually from 1972 onwards, and bi-annually before that...
- Special Jury Prize for The outstanding realization of the Shakespeare's tragedy and best music - Dmitry Shostakovich.
- Prizes of the Soviet Union of Painters - E. Yeney, S. Virsaladze.
- Prize of the Soviet Union of Cinematographers - Innokenty Smoktunovsky.
- 1965 USSR State PrizeUSSR State PrizeThe USSR State Prize was the Soviet Union's state honour. It was established on September 9, 1966. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the State Prize of the Russian Federation....
(Won) - Grigori Kozintsev, Innokenty Smoktunovsky. - 1966 BAFTA Award for Best FilmBAFTA Award for Best FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards...
(Nominated) - Grigori Kozintsev. - 1966 BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign ActorBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleBest Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.-Superlatives:...
(Nominated) - Innokenty Smoktunovsky. - 1966 Special Jury Prize of San Sebastian Film Festival (Won) and Prize of the Nation Federation of film societies of SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - 1967 Golden Globe for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film (Nominated).
Cast
Kozintsev cast some actors whose first language was not Russian (the LatviaLatvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n Elza Radzina as Gertrude
Gertrude
Gertrude or Gertrud may refer to:*The "underwater phone" used by submarines for communication*Gertrude , Hamlet's mother*Gertrud , by Hermann Hesse*Gertrud , by Hjalmar Söderberg...
, the Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Stepan Oleksenko as Laertes
Laertes
In Greek mythology, Laërtes was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was the father of Odysseus and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus. Laërtes was an Argonaut and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar...
) so as to bring shades of other traditions into his film. But for the central role, he chose the Russian actor Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Innokentiy Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky was a Soviet actor acclaimed as the "king of Soviet actors". He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1974 and the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990....
who had extensive experience in the theatre. Traditional in appearance, he nevertheless had an individual manner of acting, characterised by reserve as well as nervous intensity, which distinguished the film from other versions.
- Prince Hamlet - Innokenty SmoktunovskyInnokenty SmoktunovskyInnokentiy Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky was a Soviet actor acclaimed as the "king of Soviet actors". He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1974 and the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1990....
- ClaudiusKing ClaudiusKing Claudius is a character and the antagonist from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the brother to King Hamlet, second husband to Gertrude and uncle to Hamlet. He obtained the throne of Denmark by murdering his own brother with poison and then marrying the late king's widow...
- Mikhail Nazvanov - GertrudeGertrude (Hamlet)In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and Queen of Denmark. Her relationship with Hamlet is somewhat turbulent, since he resents her for marrying her husband's brother Claudius after he murdered the King...
- Elza Radzina. - PoloniusPoloniusPolonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is King Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet...
- Yuri TolubeyevYuri TolubeyevYuri Vladimirovich Tolubeyev was a Soviet theatrical and cinema actor, a Hero of the Socialist LabourHis son, Andrei Tolubeyev, also became an actor.- Filmography :* The Return of Maxim * Professor Mamlock * The Vyborg Side... - LaertesLaertes (character)Laertes is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. His name is taken from the father of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey. Laertes is the son of Polonius and the brother of Ophelia. In the final scene, he kills Hamlet with a poisoned sword to avenge the deaths of his father and sister, for...
- Stepan Oleksenko - Ophelia - Anastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya VertinskayaAnastasiya Alexandrovna Vertinskaya , a Soviet and Russian actress whose mass popularity and high critical acclaim made her one of the most distinguished figures in the history of the 20th century Soviet cinema...
- HoratioHoratio (character)Horatio is a character from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. A friend of Prince Hamlet from Wittenberg University, Horatio's origins are unknown, though he is evidently poor and was present on the battlefield when Hamlet's father defeated 'the ambitious Norway'...
- Vladimir Erenberg - RosencrantzRosencrantz and GuildensternRosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are courtiers who are set by the king to spy on Hamlet, using their claimed friendship with him to gain his confidence. The characters were revived in W. S...
- Igor DmitrievIgor DmitrievIgor Borisovich Dmitriev was a Russian film and theater actor who specialized in playing aristocratic characters in costume productions .... - GuildensternRosencrantz and GuildensternRosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. They are courtiers who are set by the king to spy on Hamlet, using their claimed friendship with him to gain his confidence. The characters were revived in W. S...
- Vadim Medvedev - FortinbrasFortinbrasFortinbras is the name of two minor fictional characters from William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. The more notable is a Norwegian crown prince with a few brief scenes in the play, who delivers the final lines that represent a hopeful future for the monarchy of Denmark and its subjects...
- A. Krevalid
External links
- Full information from Kino Rossii