Thanks to National Theatre Live (the National Theatre’s groundbreaking initiative to broadcast theatre live from the stage to cinemas around the world) I was able to watch ‘Hamelt’ yesterday. I was lucky enough to get tickets—it was sold out in my city as far as I know! Even if there was a lot of occasions to watch ‘Hamlet’ few months back. I have to admit I was busy with graduation work, school and preparation to Christmas those days, so I just… forgot about that. I’m ashamed to admit that, but it was just what happened. I couldn’t forgive myself that I missed that and I lost my chance to watch it. But when I saw an information about ‘Hamelt’ in my city on 28th March, I knew I had to go.
Everyone knows that since I watched Sherlock, I can’t get over Benedict Cumberbatch, not even because he’s handsome (it’s really personal opinion if he is or not, haha), but simply because of the fact he is a really, really good actor. He plays Sherlock, I see Sherlock. He plays Alan Turing, I see Alan Turing, the same with Vincent van Gogh, Hamlet, and go on…
And let’s admit that—I am a person who always has preferences. I have my favorite actors (like Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Robert Downey JR and so on, but can’t hide the fact Benedict on the top of all of those above), what means I don’t even hesitate to watch everything if one of my favorities are in the cast. Really.
But, about ‘Hamelt’! The first thing we see it’s Hamlet all alone in his room, being broken after his father’s death. And from the beginning I can point that I love the lighting—what was something that was missing sometimes while watch ‘An Enemy of the People’. And the cameraman’s work was also very good and some frames of the play were so extraordinary that I wanted to have them in my hands as photos, just to add them to the album and enjoy them whenever I want.
The sound was also very important part of the play, making it easier to feel characters’ emotions. And the sad fact is, comparing to the rest of the cast, Benedict’s play was really exceptionally. His Hamlet was real. Yes, just real. And I can’t tell much about the rest of the cast—I just don’t remember they well. They were just so… Ordinary. Maybe Ophelia got my attention by the end, and how somebody else noticed, Benedict Cumberbatch seemed to be the only one who was understanding the text of that play. And I have to agree, and when I realised that, I felt a bit disappointed. Ah, and Hamlet’s mother, when she was telling about Ophelia’s death, catched my attention too. The rest was ordinary, really. Or they seemed to be ordinary to me because I was too focused on Benedict, who knows. But basing on other peoples’ reviews, I wasn’t the only one who was remembering him the best.
I really liked the scenery as well! Just look at that:
I wish I was able to see this huge scenery live, but even from the screen it impressed me. From all the close-ups I was able to see how detailed it was and it was really well done! I don’t know what else can I add, just look at the picture.
Ah, and about Benedict Cumberbatch, as he was the reason I watched it… Even my aunt and uncle praised his skills and I am so happy for that, as they’re rather picky and if they don’t like something not someone, they just tell me that, so when they said he was really talented, I was so happy for that. Although he was a bit distracting, haha. (Yes, let me show a bit of my inner fanboy self!) Sometimes I was forgetting to read the subtitles because I was staring at him, really, hahaha. Good thing, my English is not that bad so I was able to get the point from what I’ve heard without reading the translation, so I didn’t miss the plot (which I already knew, as I’ve read ‘Hamelt’ before).
While writing my poor reviews I noticed I am really bad at writing those. Not even because I have nothing to say, but because I can’t express with words most things I’ve noticed or what I’ve felt. So that’s it, it’s the worst, because I’m not good at expressing that kind of things, I can’t write everything I want to, so it makes me so sad in the end because my reviews seem to be so dull to me because I didn’t include everything I wanted. I’m really sorry, but I do it just to improve, I want to feel comfortable with my writing skills again.
“The Story of Light” 