I've just finished watching the David Tennant version of Hamlet. As you may know, David Tennant played The Doctor, in the Doctor Who TV show, which is why I was interested to see this version. There were a couple of things that struck me as I watched it.1. It's exceedingly odd to see David Tennant playing somebody who is not The Doctor. When he first shows up on screen his hair is all... brushed back and too neat and tidy looking, though he soon musses it up and it looks natural again. Also, sometimes his facial expressions would throw me off when he'd make some expression that I associate with The Doctor.
2. Almost none of the movie has any background music. Having seen so many of Brandon's posts talking about how the different Hamlet movies differ in their background music, I recognized that there wasn't any, and that that is interesting and odd. I don't know what it means, but it is interesting. Perhaps they were trying to give a realistic feel, since most of the time in real life people don't have mood music. The ghost scene did have music, and it helped create the tense, almost other-worldly, feeling.
3. The camera work was also interesting, and seemed to call attention to itself, in a way, to remind you that you're experiencing the story through different viewpoints and through film. There are distant shots that would zoom in and maneuver as Hamlet talked to himself, or would seem to talk to the viewer, and then he'd move around and up to or away from it. There are some security camera clips, in the beginning in one of the ghost scenes. Some of what seemed like a hand-held camera work that gave the impression of that part being from the point of view of the ghost. Hamlet himself has a little hand-held camera he uses to film "The Mousetrap" and two of his soliloquies. But the security camera was interesting in a couple of ways.
a. In the early scenes with the ghost sometimes we saw what was going on like it was a security camera clip, and the camera wasn't catching the image of the ghost, though in the next moment the viewer got a new view from somewhere in the passageway where you could see the ghost.
b. Hamlet starts yelling at Ophelia, asking her where her father is, after the security camera catches his eye, I think by it moving to keep better watch on him.
d. Similarly, when the King sees the broken security camera his line that he gives at that moment "madness in great ones must not unwatched go" also has some extra punch. I think the broken security camera makes him feel less secure.
4. Some of the lines about what people were wearing didn't really fit, since they chose to dress in contemporary style but they kept the old language.
5. My favourite moments were when Hamlet was talking directly to the audience, either through his little camera, or even better when he just stared into the camera and talked. His "to be or not to be" soliloquy is great. I have a large computer screen, so his intense stare was captivating. I also enjoyed his crazy moments, like when he has the crown prop on his head and is goofing off with the recorder and sniping at Rosencratz and Guildenstern, or at Polonius.
