The filmed version of the Royal Shakespeare "Hamlet" was really good. I found the surveillance-camera idea to be particularly striking - especially from the beginning, where the ghost of the dead King (he is never named, is he?) shows up in the "real life" shots, but the shots from the "surveillance camera" showed the soldiers interacting with thin air. (And of course, Hamlet ripping down the camera and declaring that he was now alone).

The mirrors were also a good theme to include; they sort of continue the idea of surveillance, the fact that people can see other people without directly looking at them. And the broken mirrors throughout! I was struck at the point when Claudius was preparing to have Hamlet sent to England, he was washing his hands and speaking to a broken mirror - you'd think, I thought, in a castle, the home of the leader of a country, something like that would be repaired? But then again, it looked like a very 'backstairs' sort of place, almost like a mop room.

(And a thought: is it a tradition that the same actor plays Claudius and the ghost of Hamlet's father? This production did that, and the one I saw last year on campus did that. It makes sense - partly because they're supposed to be brothers, but also - in the "real world"  - the Ghost is such a small role).

Tennant played up the madness more - acted goofier - than the actor in the stage production I saw. I will say I liked the trope of him filming the "play" to gauge his uncle's reaction, to try to (in Hamlet's disordered mind) find proof of his uncle's guilt.

Polonius was a much older man in this version than he was in the stage version I saw. The stage Polonius almost seemed more threatening - he was a tall man, and the actor was bald but wore a small mustache.

The "making of" feature at the very end was also interesting to me - I always find it fascinating how things are decided upon for stage productions or movies - they talked about how it was difficult to think about filming all the soliloquies because there are seven in the play, and it would get very repetitive to do them all as straight-on, stage-style settings. So they had the one with Hamlet crouching in his grief on the floor (which itself is mirrorlike - a very high gloss black floor), the most famous one with him filmed close-up and in half-darkness, Claudius speaking to the broken mirror, Hamlet filming himself as he prepares to return home to exact his "revenge"...

(I also have to say it's interesting to hear what I assume is the "natural" voice of the actor, when they talk about the production. Tennant's Scots accent becomes prominent when he's not in character. [And it's an endearing accent, or so I think]. I find it fascinating how actors can learn to speak with different accents - I wonder what kind of training that takes. I know a lot is made of how Hugh Laurie almost perfectly does an American accent in "House, MD" and I admit, knowing him mainly from that, it's surprising to see him in other things where he is speaking more "naturally" for himself).

(I'm actually surprised - looking at Tennant's bio - to find he's only a couple years younger than me. I had never watched him as The Doctor - never got into that show - and the photos I had seen of him made me assume he was somewhere in his mid 20s.)

I can also completely see that Patrick Stewart's real life ambition was to be a Shakespearean actor rather than a Starfleet Captain. He made a pretty remarkable Claudius and I'd like to see more productions of things he was in. (I seem to remember reading he was Malvolio in a production of Twelfth Night, which would have been truly wonderful to see).

More of this, please, PBS.