IFC Films has released a trailer for Ophelia. Set in the 14th century, a re-imagining of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this time told from the perspective of Ophelia (Daisy Ridley)…
Shakespeare is not holy writ. If people want to set his plays to different time periods or use the plot as the inspiration for another story (like Throne of Blood or 10 Things I Hate About You), that’s fine. Even something like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead uses Hamlet as a springboard to reach ideas that go beyond Shakespeare’s original play. But it takes some balls to look at Hamlet, and I think, “I can fix this.” And yet that’s exactly what Claire McCarthy’s adaptation of Lisa Klein’s novel Ophelia. While following Hamlet from Ophelia’s perspective is an intriguing prospect, the story doesn’t follow her perspective as much as it just decides to wholesale change the story, introducing new characters, adding prologue, and ultimately making Ophelia into an entirely new character. The result is a movie that comes off like a poor imitation of Romeo & Juliet, and a lazy reading of one of Shakespeare’s best plays. At least it’s pretty to look at.
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