The reviews are in and Jude Law’s Hamlet seems to have won over New York critics, including me. Okay, a few felt he’s a little too forceful, but for me it was a deliberate, thought-out take on the character that was executed with consistency. Besides, Law is downright wimpy compared to one of my favorite Hamlets ever.
Let’s look back at some famous “To be or not to be” soliloquies over the decades. Of course there was Laurence Olivier in the 1948 movie. Richard Burton did it in 1964 (in a televised performance recreated by the Wooster Group a few years ago). Here’s Kevin Kline whispering in 1990 (check out the gigantic sigh that starts it off), very much like Kenneth Branagh in 1996. Yawn! I much prefer Ethan Hawke in Michael Almereyda’s 2000 movie, which transposed the action to contemporary New York — yes, this Hamlet is having an existential crisis in a Blockbuster, which is totally inspired.
Or you can just skip the clips and watch this mash-up made of various soliloquies found on YouTube.
I’ll leave the conclusion of this mini-tribute to Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie, as they re-enact the way Shakespeare and his editor came up with the play’s most famous monologue. “Bill, Bill, Bill, why do we have to fight? It’s long, long, long …”