The Sexual Tension between "Hamlet" (Son) And Gertrude (Mother) is throwing me.. Like I understand he's Mad his father's dead.. but sheesh I can't .... (Great Acting though.)
I actually like how this production handles the inevitable oedipus complex reading of the play. I personally never really agreed with that analysis as a true justification for Hamlet's hatred of his mother, and I like how this production really highlights that it all stems from Hamlet's grief of him losing his father and how he feels his mother "betrayed" her former husband. The moment at 4:40 where he sexually assaults her does not come across as Hamlet fulfilling some sort of fantasy or repressed desire (to me at least), it's more that he's so caught up in his rage and hurt during this confrontation that he does something to make his mother feel just as disgusted and horrified as he has been feeling since she married Claudius, when in his right mind he'd never think to do such a thing. It doesn't at all excuse him threatening and assaulting her, but Scott very clearly shows this is a man in the midst of a breakdown. Not a poetic and romanticized one either - it's raw and ugly and traumatizing for everyone involved.
Half way through this I really wanted to stop but I pushed on, in the hope that it might improve. There's no questioning the actors' talent and ability but I really have to question the choice of the direction. I can't say too much without seeing the full production but as a stand alone piece, it really did nothing for me. I just didn't buy it. Average.
Btw, this production makes it so that the characters can use cameras and bugs and earpieces for surveillance and spying purposes, then, for no apparent reason, Polonius chooses to hide behind a curtain. Things about Hamlet.
I have read Hamlet in school forever ago. But I couldn't envision the emotions and missed the tone on a lot of the story. This is the first time I understand the complexity.
