To be Hamlet - Documentary - Richard Burton - Olivier - Kingsley - Gassman, Schell... 1985 - TV - 4K

Documentary examination of the role of Hamlet, in which ten prominent actors who have played the part discuss Hamlet's personality, Shakespeare's play, and the enduring popular fascination it has inspired. The actors interviewed are Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Richard Burton, Nicol Williamson, Ben Kingsley, Jean Louis Barrault, Vittorio Gassman, Maximilian Schell, Innocenti Smoktunovsky, and Mandy Patinkin. Includes excerpts from various film and television versions of Hamlet, featuring these actors and others.
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Screen Adaptation - Co-Production : MISANTHROPOS - Official Website - www.misanthrop...
Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.
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[@ShakespeareNetwork]

Please consider subscribing to our channel - kzbin.info New Film adaptation - MISANTHROPOS - www.misanthropos.net - Timon of Athens - Shakespeare on Film! Adapted by Maximianno Cobra, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens", the film exposes the timeless challenge of social hypocrisy, disillusion and annihilation against the poetics of friendship, love, and beauty.

[@vbacs22]

The amount of genius in this documentary is mindblowing. I really appreciate that Nicol Williamson was interviewed too, his version of Hamlet is breathtaking.

[@guitaoist]

Its incredible how the creator of the most depressed intelligent character in history also created the funniest comedies of all time, and romance. Just a full spectrum of humanity

[@colinellesmere]

Absolutely enthralling documentary which has further expanded my understanding of this timeless inexhaustible play. It may be an old and grainy film but to hear so many great actors speak of their unique experience, all with passion and love for the role in their eyes is a gift to behold even if it does make me feel a little jealous that I will never know that feeling.

[@LadyGreyBlack]

Remember when we lived during a time when people debated over who played the best Hamlet? Now it seems we debate over who played the best Joker.

[@carmencollor1224]

Yes. We live in a sad, mediocre time....

[@iwanjones8619]

That's because we don't need to anymore, Andrew Scott made it so there can never be another discussion about it that doesn't end instantly (imho)

[@NewhamMatt]

Both characters with seemingly endless possibilities. That said, those in the audience are more likely to debate the best Joker. Those on the stage are more likely to debate the best Hamlet.

[@timroberts1261]

Some intertextuality between the two when you think about it x

[@toastedburton]

The irony of a “remember the good old days when people debated who played the best Hamlet?” comment written on a KZbin video I’m watching on my smart phone … which is about Hamlet 🤦‍♂️

[@gpxavier]

Fantastic, fascinating documentary! Thank you for providing this online for free!

[@ShakespeareNetwork]

Our pleasure! Cheers!

[@carolejander]

Thankyou for allowing us all to experience Trevor Nunn's wonderful documentary on Shakespeare's Hamlet ❤

[@guitaoist]

Oliviers version is interesting because it was one of the first times the actors didnt have to project so loud being on a film set and not a stage. Hence not necessitating the “sing song” versions he didnt prefer

[@katyalacrua6793]

Pure masterpiece 👏👏👏 Watching because of Laurence Olivier 💜

[@carmencollor1224]

Fascinating stuff! And how brilliant is Maximillian Schell's performance, for one that knew him mostly from playing German soldiers in Hollywood productions!

[@lefthand84]

This is a wonderful documentary, thank you so much for uploading it. Hope it stays up!

[@ShakespeareNetwork]

Our pleasure!

[@MrKC23]

25:55 Richard Burton really enjoys the deliciousness of the poetry!

[@regmental12]

Maximillian Schell's comments on the political climate of his stage production, are particularly meaningful to me, having seen him perform Hamlet in Zurich in the summer of 1968, immediately after Robert Kennedy's assassination. Despite speaking not a word of German, I was floored nonetheless.

[@VallaMusic]

in Act V Scene 2, when Hamlet finally says "Let be.", methinks he is not so much resigned to death per se, but resigned to let go of the fight against all the corruption of the world - his mother's corruption, his uncle's corruption, Ophelia's descent into madness, etc. In saying that, I do not think Hamlet arrives at this point from a sense of defeatism and hopelessness, but rather that his bright poetic soul has simply become sickened by all the mire and muck of the dreary and degraded states of those around him. They are a horror to his beautiful spirit. A horror that cannot be tolerated for too, too long.

[@Malt454]

I think it dovetails with "the readiness is all" as if, with the betrayal of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, it's become obvious that Claudius, being Claudius, will instead continue to move against Hamlet and that, in his so doing, Hamlet will find his opportunity for revenge there. Having now provoked Claudius, Hamlet need not sink to Claudius' level to destroy him.

[@davidreid8075]

Gielgud's comment on how to play Shakespeare is worthing take note of !

[@constantquestioning4010]

He is humble, entertaining and willing to concede defeat (the Ophelia scene baffles) His take on the sexual angle is personal and something of a red herring But many thought provoking observations in passing

[@tsjechovtolstoj496]

Thank you for this magnificent documentary. Truly a gem and a wonderful Christmas present.

[@lefthand84]

Just rewatching this. Richard Burton from 26:38. Wow.

[@marioperez7292]

The pure gold

[@DaBaronSamedi]

He was giving Trevor Nunn both barrels!

[@guitaoist]

9:59 “my name is Hamlet of Denmark, you killed my father, prepare to die.”

[@georginasolina1902]

😂

[@vlera8447]

Very much appreciated! Thanks ever so much.

[@robertaparollo7499]

This is so interesting. Richard Burton has such a voice. Unbelievable sound, amazing determination of thoughts. And Gassmann, how intense are the answers, how emotional he is in the interview. I am thankful I found this video today.

[@tiffsaver]

Richard Burton's voice is LEGENDARY. But sometimes I feel that it often gets in the way of his performance.

[@carmencollor1224]

Grassman had such powerful presence! And Burton, of course, was on a league of his own.

[@katyalacrua6793]

Great, great program! Thank you 👏👏🙌 For me Hamlet number one is Sir Larry. Larry was inspired by John Barrymore but sure he did in his own style, blond Hamlet in black and white color movie.

[@FishFeelPain]

Fascinating--TY

[@srothbardt]

I think I tend to prefer the less “musical “ readings even though some of the great actors who played it live on stage as opposed to in a movie version are obviously great as actors or maybe even musicians, in a sense.

[@sayandas1428]

You are so helpful

[@frankporter6169]

Baptiste!!! Thank you. I remember this wonderful presentation

[@ruoyunshen]

thank you so muxh for this wonderful documentary. who is the fourth actor from left in the thumbnail?

[@ShakespeareNetwork]

Dear Franck, Thank you for your message and interest. The fourth actor from the left is Vittorio Gassman. From the left to the right: Laurence Olivier, Ben Kingsley, Richard Burton, Vittorio Gassman and Maximilian Schell. Cheers! Best regards, Shakespeare Network - KZbin Team

[@petermillward282]

Simple to the point for 17th century audiences. Hamlet; The plays the thing. Today reading. Not the same as a live presentation. Hamlet hiding watching and waiting for the admission of guilt, gets nothing. A play within a play. Shakespeare's point you must see it as a fantasy. 400 years later. A college kid comes home. Father dead. Wait. What. Mom marries my uncle. Seeing ghosts of my father telling me what I think happened. Everyone lied to me my life was great. My friends are assholes. My girlfriend is a skank. People are spying on me. Everyone is against me. I ain't nuts you are. I must kill you. Closing credits. Put a 9mm in his hand rather than a sword. Put him in Memphis rather than Denmark. Hamlet has a dream he had of what he would do. To be or not to be.

[@Malt454]

But that reading of Hamlet would be a completely different story; you could do it, but you might as well make a play about Columbine.

[@PeterValentino]

Richard Burton did it best :)

[@garrison6863]

I thought Williamson was really bad. Gielgud was the best I think. Although I admit I did not see all of these. The best ghost scene was in the Russian version, and that is the best film version I have seen.

[@Kaghemsuha]

Grigory Kozinchev gave us the best film versions of Shakespeare plays. Watch King Lear with Jury Jarvet, really powerful

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

I've seen Jean-Louis Barrault in Children of Paradise, but not his Hamlet.

[@fiorellinoelena]

❤

[@elenagalanaki2116]

On the video picture, who is the actor in the middle?

[@ShakespeareNetwork]

Dear Elena, Thank you for your message and interest. The actor in the middle is Richard Burton. From the left to the right: Laurence Olivier, Ben Kingsley, Richard Burton, Vittorio Gassman and Maximilian Schell. Best regards, Shakespeare Network - KZbin Team

[@elenagalanaki2116]

@@ShakespeareNetwork Thank you very much! Greetings 🙂

[@malissasmith7937]

I would have loved Jack Benny’s take from his rendition in Lubitsch’s To Be Or Not To Be.

[@itsgleneaton4883]

I feel that Hamlet has only been played at best by good actors who are playing Hamlet. But Hamlet has a certain character and presents about him that must be the actor himself. Hamlet wrestles within himself day and night. That’s why he shouldn’t be charged up but he’s been charged a million times so there us a relaxness about him. He reminds me of an evolved being who is dealing with the immorality of mankind who takes these things lightly and takes heavy the things which are not of his business.

[@SusanMoody-lc9dz]

I saw Sir Michael Redgrave several times at Stratford when I was a girl studying Hamlet for A. level exams we lived just a few miles away. H e was splendid, not mentioned in your program sadly! S

[@davidreid8075]

Mark Rylance was a good Hamlet.

[@constantquestioning4010]

Entirely agree

[@andrewwilliams9599]

It comes back to the same thing: why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius straight away? Because there were four more acts to go, so Shakespeare invented all sorts of schemes for Hamlet to attempt to expose Claudius as the murderer.

[@hendriphile]

This is the same thought that is expressed during the great video featuring Orson Welles and Peter O’Toole discussing Hamlet. A wonderful companion to this video, worth seeking out on YT.

[@Malt454]

In his defense, I don't Hamlet kills right away simply because, while he's been assigned the role of avenger, he's not really a killer. In the moment and actual fact, Hamlet kills Claudius in revenge for the death of himself, Laertes and his mother as much as for his father. Although there is a fair amount of death and violence in Shakespearian tragedy in general, I don't know if we're meant to assume that life is to be seen as cheap or that killing is easy. I think an equally interesting question, which I don't think is really answered within the play is that, if Hamlet's father is dead, why isn't Hamlet then king?

[@antonylehmann9327]

It's incredible that Gielgud doesn't mention the dreadful overacting in the performances that so inspired him

[@constantquestioning4010]

Nonsense You can’t film stage acting What do you know of his peers and predecessors? His style of acting works superbly in front of a packed theatre Different technique Today young actors struggle to bring such roles to life on a stage because many lack physical and vocal skills - and an informed sensibility, the notion of receiving and adapting a living tradition. Film and tv culture is a different language and mindset

[@sfilop1]

well television was once about education and arts as well... Outstanding.

[@voraciousreader3341]

You can still find great documentaries about the arts, especially by the BBC. There’s even one I love entitled, “When God Spoke English,” about the development and writing of the King James Bible….these days, nobody can believe it was written in anything else! My favorites, still, are those by Leonard Bernstein at Harvard from 1973 called, “The Unanswered Question.” Intellectually formidable and provocative.

[@tiffsaver]

Although Gielgud may remain the quintessential, I don't quite like the "tremulous" quality of his voice, preferring Olivier over all others. I would have loved to have seen Ben Kingsley in the part, however. He's such a deeply resonant soul.

[@dalewier9735]

I rented a laser disk player 40 years ago and watched Sir Lawrence play what was and is for me the best ever. He became Hamlet to me.

[@ВасилийИваныч-ц7м]

Richard Burton is the best Hamlet. Voice, speech.

[@fogelogel8642]

Great documentary! As an MST3K fan it was interesting to see clips from the Maximilian Schell version undubbed. Is the full movie in German available anywhere, do you know?

[@jmb8690]

May I go back in time and see Jean-Louis Barrault play Hamlet. Please!

[@hananyousef2403]

Can’t wait to watch it

[@rolandhawken6628]

Hamlet a decent into insanity

[@constantquestioning4010]

No He explains that it is an act and mask (he can distinguish one bird from another he whispers to Horatio) The body politic is poisoned, sickened, driven mad by a usurper of a sacred right of kingship He is acting forensically before God - respecting his « fixed canon » - so as to be certain to act in good conscience for the greater good (a healed and restored body politic) giving his life in order to banish a sacrilegious regicidal despot.

[@of1300]

I prefer Branagh

[@paltielbenyamin1273]

Charlie Chaplin in 'A King In New York' did the FINIST soliloquy from Hamlet EVER! 100% best version EVER!