THE FODOR HAMLET PHENOMENON
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REVIEWS 3
A NEW DIRECTION FOR SHAKESPEARE?
by Richard Stokes
It’s very bold and ambitious what Alexander Fodor has done to Hamlet. He’s made it into a ghost story, and directed it in such a way that it has all the mesmeric allure of a supernatural tale. I found it gripping.
I am familiar with the play, and so was confused with the character alterations initially, but once I’d settled in I found them not just realistic and amusing but worthy of some applause in their creativity – it makes so much sense to a modern audience in particular that Ophelia doesn’t just go mad out of remorse of the death of her father but is in fact going ‘cold turkey’ because her elder sister Polonia (the replacement for the father Polonius) is controlling her through the use of drugs. Lydia Piechowiak playing Polonia slides into the role with the apparent ease of a shark, and so invisible is the transplant that you’d think that Shakespeare has actually written the role not as a doddering, comical old man but as portrayed: a scheming femme fatale.
This, in conjunction with the fact that the film starts with the brutal murder of Ophelia as a flash forward (commited by the Ghost), gives the impression that the first half of the film is really all about Polonia plotting to get her sister married to Hamlet.
Wilson Belchambers playing Hamlet gives the role the adolescent naivity that has always been missing form any productions (both film and theatre) I’ve seen. He’s not ‘know it all’ in any way. At times he feigns confidence, but then returns to the privacy of his inner sanctum dictating a sort of video diary into a tape recorder, offering comments on the madness of both the world he occupies and the people around him.
Throughout his line delivery is incredible, giving weight to Fodor’s bold concept that the verse be delivered naturally. I watched the film with a friend and in one section, filmed in a documentary style with the camera itself being each of the characters in turn, he commented that “obviously” the lines had been changed. Curious, I sought out my copy of the play and found that the lines were the original but it seemed absolutely that the actors were making them up.
All told then, a ground breaking film, despite obvious budget limitations. Just what Alexander Fodor did to achieve such naturalistic performances I do not know, but I applaud the film’s overall feel and artistic auteur style. I hope there will be more both from Fodor himself and others emulating and developing the concept.
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PAL & NTSC COPIES AVAILABLE
