Hamlet

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Shakespearean purists probably ought not to bother with this relocated and heavily abridged version of his tale of the Prince of Denmark but as reimaginings go, this is still quite an interesting effort. Here, “Elsinore” is an epitome of corporate greed hitherto run by the father of “Hamlet” (Riz Ahmed) until his death after a long illness. Barely has he drawn his last breath when his widow “Gertrude” (Sheeba Chaddha) announces that she will marry his brother “Claudius” (Art Malik). “Hamlet” is fairly traumatised by this news and it’s in this slightly emotive state that he is visited by a spectre that suggests all was not entirely natural regarding his father‘s death and that his soul must wander the spirit world until such time as it is released by the truthful avenging of the crime. Now “Hamlet” must discover what really happened and outmanoeuvre the vested interests that care not who his father was. Now some of this simply doesn’t work. Industrialists with BMWs are not kings (nor queens) and so much of the power lust of the court intrigues that gave the play much of it’s sense of menace and venom is absent. The transference of the plot from medieval times to 21st Century Hindu Britain offers us a potential new canvas, and there is a dance routine that is lively and evocative, but those don’t compensate for the scant regard given to roles like “Polonius” (Timothy Spall), “Laërtes” (Joe Alwyn) and even “Ophelia” (Morfydd Clark) who are largely sidelined throughout. It is a brave effort to bring a story of treachery and duplicity to a new audience and in some ways the cultural adaptation just about delivers, but essentially this is only a vehicle for the charismatic Ahmed to show off his versatility as an actor rather than a considered updating of a toxic story of fantasy, horror and mysticism. Sadly, far too much of the nuance and the power of the prose has been sacrificed and what we are left with is simply too heavily cut to the bone. It is worth a watch, though, but condensing "Hamlet" down to under two hours was always going to be a very tough ask.