Aussie Ophelia adaptation unsatisfying
Here comes another Shakespeare movie adaptation with a bee in its sonnet about doing everything differently. And this one from an Aussie filmmaker is a vaguely interesting experiment, but nothing more.
Leigh Paatsch
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Look out. Here comes another Shakespeare movie adaptation with a bee in its sonnet about doing everything differently.
This time it is the turn of Australian filmmaker Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City), working with a comfortable international-sized budget and a quality cast on a drama that reimagines Hamlet from the perspective of the play’s most thinly-drawn and elusive character.
That, of course, is the ill-fated Ophelia, no longer merely a tragic subplot casualty of those devious goings-on in olden-days Denmark.
Unfortunately, the transition from ethereal footnote to main protagonist is never really completed to anyone’s satisfaction.
Daisy Ridley (Rey from the recent Star Wars movies) certainly looks the part of a headstrong lady-in-waiting who knows there must be more to life than pleasing the vain Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts) and pining for the wimpily indecisive Hamlet (George McKay).
However, Ridley fails to establish Ophelia as a commanding presence in her own movie as many, many wasted minutes tick by.
Technically, there are stretches of the movie where highly evocative cinematography and a skilfully assembled sound mix combine to convey what the actors and some fairly wacky writing cannot.
Shakespeare purists should be made aware that much of the fresh dialogue uttered here could only be ranked as a distant echo of the Bard’s unmistakeable house style.
As for the addition of a new character (a conniving witch, also played by Naomi Watts) and a late twist that kills all remaining goodwill, the less said, the better.
A vaguely interesting experiment, but nothing more.
OPHELIA (M)
Director: Claire McCarthy (The Waiting City)
Starring: Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, Tom Felton.
Rating: **
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