Hamnet

There have been many incarnations of William Shakespeare's plays in a film format by Hollywood for decades, but "Hamnet", being based on actual events of Shakespeare's life and family, is definitely a separation from simply one of his plays being remade in film form. And this movie is certainly a clear retelling of his life, family and work.

This film, based of true events about William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley). She comes from a healing background and he is a writer. Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), their firstborn, and their twins, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and Judith (Olivia Lynes). It's also the story of their small village in 16th century England, and more to the point, about the lives, and especially the deaths from plague, happening in their time. This story is mostly told through Agnes, and her experiences with being supportive to her husband's writing profession and the raising of the children the best she knew how. 

Others to round out the cast are Emily Watson as Mary, Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew, Justine Mitchell as Joan, David Wilmot as John, Noah Jupe as Hamlet, El Simons as Ophelia,Sam Woolf as Bernardo, Hera Gibson as Francisco and Jack Shalloo as Marcellus.

This was brilliantly directed with passion and compassion by Chloe Zhao ("Songs My Brothers Taught Me" '15, "The Rider" '17, "Nomadland" '20, "Eternals" '21) plus TV, shorts and a video. Where this filmmaker actually showcased her talent was with "Namadland". It was gritty, sad, but powerful and her ability to encourage her actors to dig deep to find their emotions was amazing as it was identically with this film as well. She doesn't direct many films, however what she has accrued is pure quality. It was penned well by writers Chloe Zhao ("Songs My Brother Taught Me" '15, "The Rider" '17, "Nomadland" '20, "Eternals" '21) plus shorts. and Maggie O'Farrell, based on her novel by the same name. Sure O'Farrell has no other feature film to her credit, but with this film, no one else really could've done this production justice but the novelist who wrote the novel, Along with the writing collaboration of Zbao who typically writes the films she directs, and you end up with a dynamite film. These writers were chosen carefully, as this film obtains some very complex characters. The script would need to be delineated very delicately, and these two were the correct combination. And the acting by both Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley was essentially perfection. Could they both be considered come Oscar time? It would not be surprising. It has often been said, if an actor can perform Shakespeare well, they are great thespians. Well, when some of these actors were performing in parts of Shakespeare's plays, especially "Hamlet", their acting was amazing. 

Assuming one is a Shakespeare fan, this will be captivating considering this delves so much of the running time exploring the marriage and family of Shakespeare. I recommend this film to any film student or aficionado that is delving into the topic of Shakespearean plays and about his history. 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                   Rated: PG-13                                       125mins.