While he is a bit too old, Laurence Olivier is really the best part of the film in his role of HAMLET. I never cared for the characters of Gertrude and Polonius, as they are both so annoying, so it was hard for me to enjoy the performances from those actors. The fencing match at the end of the film was stupendous, however. It felt so naturalistic yet skillful. I loved it. The death of Ophelia was probably my favorite part as it was handled beautifully. It kind of reminded me of the death of Anju in SANSHO THE BAILFF a few years later. It also really resembles John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia from 1852. For as much as I remember about the play, I forgot all about the whole “madness of love” subplot that ultimately leads to Ophelia’s suicide while Hamlet is tricking Polonius and Claudius. Additionally it is interesting to look at what Olivier cut out of the film, namely the characters of Rosencrantz, Gildenstern, and Fortinbras. The production design here is pretty cool. I loved how the film ends where it begins. Another great thing to look at is during the play within a play bits, Hamlet is sitting in a chair that looks just like a director’s chair, fitting that the is essentially directing what is going on in order to get a rise out of Claudius. I also really liked seeing a young Peter Cushing in this.
