'Hamnet' Finally Cometh 🎭
Plus, Timotay's "top level sh*t."
Hey movie mates - I write to you from the 75-degree comfort of Miami’s warm embrace, which was a funny place to see the subject of tonight’s review (granted, it was sort of gloomy that day, but outside of the weather, not nearly enough birds of prey in sight for my taste). What this did get me thinking about, however, was the environment in which we see movies — not just if you watch one at home or in a theater (where we all go, “to laugh, to cry, to care,” of course), but the time of year and the climate and the city itself, as well.
For instance, I will soon see Marty Supreme, a film about an ambitious NYC pingpong prodigy, in NYC. Will I walk out of that movie, hopefully dazzled by Timothée and his weird little mustache, and think, “New York god damn City, we are so back!” even more-so because of where I saw it? Similarly, if I flew to Indonesia or Hawaii to see Avatar: Fire & Ash amongst active volcanoes, would my spirits (and feelings towards Big Jim’s very long film) be similarly bolstered by the majesty of lava? Unclear, but based on this logic, a trip to Rio to see The Secret Agent feels appropriate, and those who know me best know that I am an absolute fiend for mojitos caipirinhas. Glad we got that settled.
Cheers,
MB
In This Week’s Issue:
👽 The truth is out there (and on Prime Video)
🌳 Hamnet’s moments of greatness
🎬 Five other good cinematic works of historical fiction
🤔 Shakespeare conspiracies, and so much more
The Weekend Take: Dec 12-14 💰
Zootopia 2 crossed the billion-dollar mark globally this weekend, so… good job, Disney. Otherwise, this is an absolutely cursed top 10.
Hamnet came in at a resounding 11th with a weekend gross of about $7 million, which makes me wonder what kind of legs this somewhat uneven film will have. Much more on that below
And Now, the News 🗞️
• Turns out, people are still fascinated by aliens and coverups. A new documentary called The Age of Disclosure, which “makes a potent case for the existence of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena and the U.S. government’s alleged efforts to conceal that knowledge” was rented and purchased more in its first eight days on Amazon Prime Video than One Battle After Another, Weapons, Jurassic World Rebirth, or Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. In retrospect, two of those are surprising, and two of them are not.
• You know what isn’t cool? $83 billion, but you know what (the Ellisons hoped) would be cool? $108 billion. Like I said last week, Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery could take years to go through (or affirmatively not), which means the family behind Paramount Skydance will have plenty of time to tinker and counter and all the rest in the meantime.
• Also, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is reportedly “deeply committed” to theatrical. Yep, sure Ted. I bet you tell that to all the studios before you… acquire them.
• Hm, I guess Vigo Mortensen shall not die as one of them. Well, Aragorn doesn’t die, at least not in LOTR, but you, well, you get it. ICYMI, 2027’s The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum, which will essentially act as a prequel to The Fellowship of the Ring, will recast Aragorn with a younger actor rather than de-age Mortensen, although it sounds like they might be doing that with some of the other core cast. Please, please let this be good.
• Dude who really knows how to market himself (and blimps), Timothée Chalamet, describes his performances from the past few years as “top level sh*t.” Honestly? I fully concur, no notes. Do work, Timotay.
• And lastly, a few new trailers. First, a teaser for The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robby Pattinson, and directed by the fella who made Dream Scenario, which I heard was quite good. For reasons you’ll understand if you’ve read the book it’s based on, or just gone too far down the Wiki-hole, that’s all I’ll say about it. We also got a new Anime film called All You Need Is Kill, which is based on a manga of the same name that also served as the source material for the rather excellent Edge of Tomorrow from a few years ago. Looks p sick. Lastly, here’s your first look at Supergirl, featuring that f’ing CGI dog who is BIG back. And in case you need a palette cleanser after that, here’s Charlie xcx’s extremely unhinged-looking… mockumentary(?), The Moment.
A Way-Too-Short Review - Hamnet 🎭
I told y’all, Hamnet comin’. But to begin with what Hamnet — Chloé Zhao’s new film based on Maggie O’Farrell’s celebrated novel about the family of William Shakespeare and the death of his son that inspired the seminal work, Hamlet — is, let’s get what it is decidedly not out of the way first: a future Best Picture winner. I don’t mean this in any rude way, but after leaving this at-times rather dull, and at others absolutely riveting film, it became very clear that One Battle After Another is about to run train all over next March’s Oscars and that’s all there is to it.
However, once you accept that, you’re left with a rather uneven film that has the potential to alienate most of its audience during its first 75-90 minutes, before pulling them back in and dropping the absolute “magic of movies” hammer on them during the final 30-40 minutes of its 185-minute runtime. And while this is an unfortunate reality of the movie, that shift is literally marked by the first mention of Paul Mescal’s Shakespeare by name, who until this point has simply been referred to as a Latin tutor, lustful lad, and/or a caring, but absent father. It’s Hamnet’s gift and it’s curse, and the fact that one of the most famous literary figures of all time is decidedly not the main character of this story, but does drop breadcrumbs throughout — a line from Romeo & Juliet here, another from Hamlet before its completion there — giving you just enough before we arrive at the incredible final sequence, may at times frustrate you if you’re unable to remind yourself that this is no shape, way, or form a Shakespeare biopic.
Of course, up until the finale, the movie focuses primarily on Agnes, the wife of Shakespeare and mother of their three children, Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet, who is played by the absolutely feral and somewhat otherworldly Jessie Buckley. This is absolutely her film for as long as the story stays fixated on their family’s estate, with the kids running wild through the house and the woods, and their mother taking on every role as a parent while her husband slowly becomes an extremely successful playwright hours away in London.
However, this section of the film lacks the unfortunate magic that rains down anytime we get to see Mescal not play William the husband, father, or tutor, but Shakespeare the writer, director, and storyteller. Whether it’s when he’s correcting the actor who would play Hamlet’s intonation during a pivotal rehearsal, or as the ghost himself in the production of the play during the final sequence, Mescal is able to offer a poignant specificity and particular power that’s lacking during the large portions of the film where one of the greatest writers of all time is absent from the story.
I will not go into what are two of the most difficult scenes to watch from any movies of the past year, but other than the heated line readings and the final sequence, the most memorable visual of Hamnet involves the film’s namesake finding his way in the afterlife while calling out to his mother in a way that simply drills its way straight into your soul. It’s harrowing and extremely effective, like several stretches in this movie, but not enough to raise Hamnet up as a whole. So, congrats, PTA, because as we’ve all been asking over the past few months, “One Battle After Another or Hamnet, that is the question…” Well, I think we have our answer.
The TL;DR
Rating: 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿
What is Hamnet? A tale of grief, birds of prey, and the theater, focused on the life of William Shakespeare… kind of, and his desire to get away from his family so that he could produce some of the great written works in history. But also, a lot of birth. And the opposite.
Should you make time for this movie? Yes. While I didn’t love large portions of the first half, the final theatrical sequence is truly stellar and one of the best parts of any movie from the past year.
Will it win any Oscars? Jessie Buckley is a lock as Agnes and, depending on how the narratives progress between Hamnet and One Battle After Another, it could clean up or maybe just win for Actress and possibly Production Design.
What will you remember most from this film? Hamnet’s afterlife sequence and the film’s finale. And… maybe some more intense scenes that I don’t feel like getting into. However, “Hamnet” and “Hamlet” are played by the real-life Jupe brothers, both of whom were excellent and I predict will soon be everywhere.
Five Other Good Cinematic Works of Historical Fiction 🎬
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Arguably the most influential historical epic of the past 100 years, this is typically where I’d say, “If you haven’t seen this film, go watch it. I’ll wait,” but Lawrence of Arabia is almost four hours long, so… wait I will not. Anyway, Peter O’Toole plays the OG white savior in David Lean’s spectacular masterpiece that inspired a whole generation of big-budget filmmakers. And while Lean takes some liberties with the story of the real T. E. Lawrence, this movie is worth watching solely for the filmic language it invents, including some of the best shots of desert landscapes and stylish edits ever put on film.
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Of all the movies on this list, Sofia Coppola’s equally admired and maligned film focused on arguably France’s most famous female monarch is the only one that takes a very well-documented historical figure and then runs completely wild with them. The over-the-top parties, the sexual trysts, the little dogs en masse, they’re all there, shot beautifully in actual Versailles. We also get appearances from Coppola’s husband’s band Phoenix, and needle-drops from The Strokes, along with the queen herself rocking Chucks, so… let’s just say Marie Antoinette tends to be a bit loose with some of the facts. But, you know, in a fun way.
Titanic (1997)
Is Titanic the greatest cinematic work of historical fiction of all time? It certainly might be. Famously, James Cameron is said to have sold the idea for this 1997 behemoth by holding up a drawing of the sinking ship in a book to a studio head and saying the five words, “Romeo and Juliet on that!” The person that claims this story is true? That would, of course, be Big Jim himself. And believe it or not, many of the characters depicted in the film were real: the captain, who went down with the ship; the ship’s designer, who also went down with it; and the financier, who did not go down with the ship, but instead hid aboard a lifeboat with several women and children. Oh, and Kathy Bates’ character, Molly Brown, she was very real and seemingly ruled. Anyway, great work to everyone involved, good film.
Braveheart (1995)
While it takes place in a different country in a different century, I did find myself thinking about Braveheart at times while watching Hamnet, but that’ll happen anytime you put a bunch of Irish people in the woods (yes, I know William Wallace was Scottish, but look at the other actors who played the fierce Scots). The actual tale of William Wallace, and Robert the Bruce, was… a bit different, and much like Lawrence of Arabia, a film Mel Gibson definitely cribbed from, this absolutely massive movie from the mid-90s was primarily a work of pure fiction that took place in a historical, real-world setting. Still though, the fact that this film balances action, comedy, romance, history, and scale as well as it does is reason enough to appreciate it. I just wish Gibson wasn’t such a major-league arse.
Kingdom of Heaven - Director’s Cut (2005)
Yes, emphasis on this being the “director’s cut,” as this Ridley Scott blockbuster went from being fairly incomprehensible in its theatrical form to becoming one of the great historical epics of this century once it was redistributed as it was intended to be seen. Is Kingdom of Heaven based on real people in a real place at a real time? It most certainly is: Balian of Ibelin et al. in Jerusalem during the Crusades. Does Sir Ridley play hard and loose with the facts? Oh most certainly yes, but that’s why it’s historical fiction and not just a reenactment. Anyway, this 194-minute film (sorry!) rocks, and with all the added backstory, stakes, and character development that comes with the added 50 minutes, you’re able to both understand all the wild-ass decisions being made and appreciate the grandeur, even with Orlando Bloom at the center of it all.
What the F*ck Is This Movie? 🤔
Anonymous (2011)
If anyone reading this right now has seen this very screwy film, then shout out to you! Based on the conspiracy theory that William Shakespeare didn’t actually write any of his own plays, Anonymous… well, let’s let the AI speak:
As royal troops set fire to the Globe Theatre, Elizabethan-era playwright Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto) is tortured by Robert Cecil (Edward Hogg), who demands to know if Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans), is the true author of the writings attributed to William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall). Flashbacks reveal Oxford’s passionate affair with Queen Elizabeth I and how — in his younger days — Oxford charmed her with plays like ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
Describing this unhinged film sort of ends up sounding like a Stefon bit, ahem — This movie has everything: multiple women playing Elizabeth I, an unnecessary number of large-scale battle sequences for a movie somewhat about Shakespeare, Radiohead’s “Everything in It’s Right Place” playing during said battle sequences, Rafe Spall…
I definitely saw Anonymous at one point, but could I tell you much else about it? I could not. And is that a problem? I doth believe it nay. Ya know, or something like that.
Seen anything good lately (other than Anonymous)? Who should play the slightly younger Aragorn, son of Arathorn? What will Hamnet’s (the film’s) cultural footprint be 10 years from now? Let me know by responding to this email.