Review: Riz Ahmed Stellar in Modernized, Yet Still Familiar Hamlet Indie Adaptation

Hamlet is a story adapted constantly, based on a play almost everybody had to read in school. There is very little left to be adapted and there is very little new that one can present when telling the story of Hamlet. Recently, Chloe Zhao directed Hamnet, which perhaps re-vitalized the popularity of the stageplay, but the film didn't focus on the story of Hamlet as much as a fictional Hamnet, the son and inspiration behind writing the play. Not quite as deep on the ingenuity, but still relatively fresh, comes BBC's latest adaptation starring Sound of Metal star Riz Ahmed.

Ahmed delivers scintillating turn as Hamlet, with a very physical and evocative performance. Particularly, there's a scene mid-way through the film where Ahmed starts delivering his 'errant fools' speech to Ophelia in a room full of people, leaving during the monologue, and frustratingly driving away. This led right into the famous to be or not to be line, performed with only him in the front seat of his car, driving through traffic. There is a distinct feeling of desepration in the first part that quickly, yet quietly becomes a feeling of anger the moment he's alone. Ahmed wears his heart on his sleeve in a story that requires anger, anxiety, desperation, and grief, at times complexly combining all of these emotions for what is a very memorable delivery of a character that's become rather easy to caricature.

The film otherwise leaves just a ltitle to be desired. There's a lot of things within the context of the picture that make it a fresh update, especially culturally. The film takes the story from 1600 to the modern day, and sets it in the East End of London, which in real life is a cultural hub for the South Asian community within Europe. The film focuses on the wealthier portion of the establishment, using the character's of Hamlet to give a glimpse into everyday life amongst the community. This also allows the story to feel grittier, rather than of-its-period as other adaptations often do, and allows for use of modern technology to advance the story. In that way, the film delivers something unique and fresh in terms of the Hamlet story. It does, however, lose steam the more it focuses on characters beyond Hamlet, and the further it goes into its story. Despite modernizing the backdrop of the story, it still hit the story beat-for-beat, ultimately hurting what made it stand out early in the onset of the film.

The fillm is, though, extraodarinarily well-made. It's edited tightly, it's shot beautifully, its makeup and costume are top notch. The big standout technically, however, is its sound design. There is a scene approximately ten minutes or so into the film, after the funeral, where Hamlet finds a ring, and you can still hear Ahmed's monologue while Hamlet grabs the ring and makes noise with it, with the score present. At no point, even with a lingering score and a lot of background applauses, does anything overtake the sound from the other direction, something modern films tend to struggle with.

For fans of the Shakespearan tradition, this installment of Hamlet provides a welcome change of pace. For others, who aren't the biggest fan of the source material, it may seem like a fancier version of what's been told. Regardless, Ahmed delivers a sensational lead performance that feels ripped from the pages of the play and put right into modern London, and for that, it's at least a very interesting watch.

The film is currently in limited theatrical release in the United States thanks to the domestic distribution from Vertical Entertainment.

Photo credit: Harpoon Media.

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