Film

Hamlet

Name: Hamlet
Genre: Drama
Released: 1948
Cast: Laurence Olivier, Basil Sydney, Eileen Herlie, Norman Wooland, Felix Aylmer

Olivier plays chief mourner and reluctant avenger in a Denmark shot like a noir thriller, all high-contrast shadow and prowling camera. He trims Shakespeare's four hours to a lean two and a half, favouring cinematic momentum over reverent recitation. This is Hamlet as psychological suspense — brooding, handsome, and surprisingly quick on its feet.

TMDb rating

7.4

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The final part of Olivier's loose Shakespeare trilogy, and his most purely enjoyable performance — a limping, grinning villain who lets you in on every scheme. Pure theatrical relish after Hamlet's inward misery.

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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Both tell the exact same story — a ghost-haunted prince who runs from his duty rather than face his uncle — forty-six years and one wildly different register apart, one in trembling blank verse, the other in songs about hakuna matata.

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