Hamlet -2009- -
If you have ever found Shakespeare boring, watch this version. It is fast, violent, visually inventive, and profoundly sad. It reminds us that Hamlet is not a play about revenge; it is a play about the fracture of a single mind. And in 2009, that fracture was captured perfectly.
For centuries, Hamlet has been the Everest of dramatic literature—a role that tests the mettle of every great actor, from Laurence Olivier to Kenneth Branagh. Yet, in the vast catalog of adaptations, few have managed to capture the raw, psychological fragmentation of Shakespeare’s tragedy quite like the 2009 Hamlet . hamlet -2009-
When Gertrude drinks the poison, Wilton staggers across the mirrored floor, clutching her throat as the wine glass falls. The silence is louder than the music. If you have ever found Shakespeare boring, watch
Claudius has the entire palace bugged. When Hamlet tells Ophelia to "get thee to a nunnery," we see Claudius and Polonius watching through one-way glass. It turns Elsinore into a totalitarian state, making Hamlet’s paranoia feel justified. And in 2009, that fracture was captured perfectly
★★★★★ (5/5) Tagline: The Dane is in the detail. Keywords used: hamlet -2009-, 2009 Hamlet, David Tennant Hamlet, BBC Hamlet, RSC Hamlet, Patrick Stewart Claudius.
The play-within-a-play is staged as a silent, Expressionist horror film. Hamlet directs the players with a clapperboard (the "film slate"), emphasizing his role as a director of revenge. When Claudius rises, Stewart does not shout; he simply drops his wine glass, and the sound of the shattering crystal echoes like a gunshot. Key Scenes Analyzed 1. The "Nunnery" Scene Tennant plays this scene with brutal physicality. He alternates between kissing Ophelia violently and shoving her away. His voice cracks on "I loved you not." It is a cruel scene, but Tennant shows the tears in Hamlet’s eyes—he is breaking Ophelia to save her from the coming bloodbath. 2. The Closet Scene (Act III, Scene iv) This is the emotional core of Hamlet 2009 . Tennant forces his mother (Penelope Wilton) onto the bed, holding a knife to her throat while screaming about Claudius. When the Ghost appears, only Hamlet sees it. Wilton’s reaction—looking at the empty space where Hamlet claims his father stands—suggests she believes her son is truly mad. It is agonizing to watch. 3. The Gravedigger Scene A rare moment of levity. The gravedigger (Mark Hadfield) is a cockney cynic, and Tennant’s Hamlet genuinely laughs. But when he holds the skull of Yorick (the court jester), the mood shatters. Tennant holds the skull at eye level, whispering the lines, "Alas, poor Yorick." It feels less like a soliloquy and more like a prayer for the dead. The Ending: A Bloodbath in Slo-Mo The final duel between Hamlet and Laertes is staged as a savage knife fight. When the poisoned tip scratches Hamlet’s arm, Tennant looks at the cut with a strange relief—death is finally permission to act.
