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  • 5/30/2025
Hamlet (Mel Gibson) stages a play that shadows the crimes of Claudius (Alan Bates), which lets the guilt of the king overwhelm him.

FILM DESCRIPTION:
Franco Zeffirelli directs his third Shakespeare adaptation (after Romeo and Juliet and Otello) with this film version of the tragedy Hamlet. The titular prince of Denmark (Mel Gibson), returns home to his family's castle of Elsinore after years of attending school in Germany to find out his father has died and his uncle Claudius (Alan Bates) is the new king. To make matters worse, Claudius has married Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude (Glenn Close), whom he has unusually strong feelings for. Hamlet is visited by his father's ghost (Paul Scofield), who asks him to seek revenge for his murder. In order to find out who the real killer is, Hamlet stages a theatrical scene resembling his father's death. Claudius is upset by the production and leaves to arrange for Hamlet's murder. In the ensuing confusion, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonious (Ian Holm) instead of Claudius; Hamlet's lover, Ophelia (Helena Bonham Carter), goes mad and commits suicide; and eventually Hamlet and Claudius both meet their fate.

CREDITS:
TM & © Warner Bros. (1990)
Cast: Alan Bates, Mel Gibson, Ian Holm, Ned Mendez, Pete Postlethwaite, Helena Bonham Carter, Glenn Close
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Producers: Dyson Lovell, Bruce Davey
Screenwriters: Christopher De Vore, William Shakespeare, Franco Zeffirelli

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Transcript
00:00You shall see, Anon, how the murderer gets the love of Gonzago's wife.
00:30How fares, my lord.
01:00Oh, no.
01:30Give me some.
01:40Give me some light!
01:45Light! Light! Give all the flames!
01:58What?
02:00Frighted with false fire?
02:03Why, let the stricken deer go weep!
02:10Why, let the stricken deer go weep?
02:15The hearts ungoly lay.
02:18For some must watch while some must bleep.
02:22No! Run the world away!
02:27Oh, good Horatio! I'll take the ghost's word for a thousand pounds.
02:31Did you perceive?
02:32Very well, my lord.
02:33Upon the talk of the poisoning?
02:34I did very well.
02:34Believe none of us.
02:41We are errant knaves, all.
02:45To a nunnery go, and quickly to.
02:47Darling, we're up to you.
02:48Maybe a thousand pounds, but...
02:56I'm going to pass to me.
03:00Mmm.
03:01Oh, well...
03:04It's not long.
03:08We're going to pass.

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