drag them into the theatres. to convince them to go and see it.‘
lnevitably. most attention will be focused on Gibson. The fusion ofclassical techniques learned at acting school in Australia. coupled with the psycho-hero persona from the Mad Max films, produced a Hamlet unconventional in attitude rather than presentation — a perfectly standard delivery that dispenses with most ofthe moments of madness and angst that the character often provokes. Unfortunately. Glenn Close seems largely wasted. The role of Gertrude doesn’t give her enough space to make much of an impact. Unexpectedly, it is Room With A View star Helena Bonham-Carter who emerges with some enhancement of reputation — then again. Paul Scofield can‘t really improve his.
From learning his trade at the feet of Visconti. Zeffirelli (along with Bertolucci) is practically the only survivor of the golden. post-war age of Italian film-making. Fellini and Antonio are spent forces: the rest are dead. It‘s strange to consider that Zeffirelli, who has lived in the shadow of so many others. may finally come into his own. It won’t be with Hamlet — not quite — but perhaps with the project he is now planning, based on Anglo-Italian relations before and during the war. The motivation is undiminished — ‘I need the glory and the money. and I like it !‘ — and there are solid prospects for the future.
Hamlet opens on Friday 26 April in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Old Hamlet. . . dlad. than rose again
MUIES
’.
MUM’S MAN IAMA
In a BLOOD-STAINED STAB-OUT which rocked Elsinore, a Danish desperado, HORRIFIED by the POISONING of his father, MURDERED the father and brother of his DROWNED girlfriend and took FINAL REVENGE on his uncle before DYING in his best friend’s arms. Spaghetti Shakespeare director FRANCO ZEFFIRELLI, who recorded the whole incident on celluloid, plans to release the whole story . . . a story called HA MLET.
Report by Andrew Pulver.
_J
The List 19 April — 2 May 19917
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