Hamlet and Ophelia

[DrunkenPoetic]

0:26 he's doing mental arithmatic to look intense.

[flaminia5]

whose music was used in this film? i find Shostakovich's interpretation is the best

[joebstarsurfer]

i find this brutal .They where very married.

[QGfk1]

Olivier was such a genius it's almost frightening.

[o0MSA0o]

wow, this Hamlet is so indifferent, emotionless

[bookkeeper57]

Jean Simmons with blonde hair; a bit weird.

[PaintedMaypole26]

So people don't like his emotions in this. I understand, but I disagree. Hamlet had many internal conflicts, and Olivier played to them as such. Though some may not have seen the emotions, I saw them under the surface of a stoic exterior. It is easy for an actor to pull emotions to the forefront. But to pull them from within, to have them hovering right behind a facade, to pull such wonderful subtleties into the performance - that's a performing genius. Laurence Olivier was able to do this.

[lloydsk]

Some of our great artists had to suffer indignations like Marilyn Monroe as a bimbo actress when in reality her perfomances are truly great American ones. We hated ourselves for being so "vulgar" it was a misused term for our art because we got compared to the classics of europe. Eventually Brando and James dean would Change that.

[lloydsk]

But at this time in history we were trying to be cultured and europe was the place to find it esp england - they spoke Eng. You'll notice we always have british academy award winners like Liegh Olivier dench mirren never mastroianni, Italian who did 130 films. the british were more than happy to do our films feigning "for the money" the british ego of gracing the impoverished colonies

[lloydsk]

Not being in the body means hes acting from a place where he keeps pushing for scenes by not connecting with the actress tricks like looking at the door while shes perfoming to keep your eye on him. If he directed he would in a gratuitious way as hamlet is like a test of the actors skill than just a play.

[92af]

Peter Cushing was much better than Laurence Olivier was

[njohnca]

Olivier directed this, so he has to blame himself, and what does in his body mean?

[Sei1863]

I'm playing Hamlet for my acting class. It's been difficult because I'm not a man. And partially I blame the style of acting that was acceptable in Hollywood at the time, but even as a woman I think I've brought more passion to this scene. I think Olivier was a great actor but this scene is stale; everything's too implicit, too internal. The character's not in his body enough. I blame the director... and there's no reason all those lines had to be cut out. It's not a long scene.

[nurgulhoca]

@Sei1863 Have you watched Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet? It's much more detailed and you can see the emotions more vividly there.I agree that this version of the scene is stale but we should consider the fact that at that time(back in the 30's or 40's) film industry was not capable enough to present every inner thought of the actor..Go,watch Branagh's..It's more satisfactory!

[nurgulhoca]

This is the nunnery scene..No other scene in another play can clearly display the idea that the man kills his lover..with words..

[bonzz182]

Get thee to a nunnery! teehee~

[yanpan16]

wow. amazing.

sir laurence olivier was incredible.

very detailed and subtle in the interpretation!

[bookkeeper57]

Olivier set a standard here: Simmons is perfect. Ophelia was confused by Hamlet, and browbeaten by her father. She was not his age,

or his intellectual equal.

[BSFBOPE]

cold...exact...ferocius..perfe­ct

[meladorimagpie]

I'm entirely convinced that the reason jean Simmons was chosen for this film was because of her strong resemblance to Vivien Leigh.

Larry's fabulous in this movie

[woodyaan]

FAILURE! No emotion, no passion...DEAD MONOLOG!!!

[SilentHobo]

GET THEE TO A NUNNERY!

[darlingzooloo]

He's great, but..she leaves something to be desired. XD;

[lumixzara]

Indeed. I've never been fond of this version's Ophelia. She's nuts BEFORE she goes nuts. Spends half of her time screetching on the floor. Almost detracts from Olivier's performance. Almost.

[3GenHou]

This is available on netflix. It seems quite different from other versions; and it is entitled "Olivier's Hamlet." His performance is excellent of course. Much was cut out to make it a reasonable length for film.

[eternallybeatdown]

get thee to a nunnery!!!!!!!!

[LilyRodgers]

I am sorry but she is just awful!

[italianchick1692]

vivien leigh his wife at the time wanted to play the role of ophelia......but he thought a younger woman would be appropriet.....so she went to work on ANNA KARINANA....and this film was a hit

[ScarlettRobillard]

Sweet jesus I thought for one horrific moment that was Cowright - may she never bring down the good name of youtube. Great clip btw - nice to see Larry doing his thang.

[qokhein]

im acting this scene tommorow! im so exiting :)

[morning3jack]

im so excited*

[mairearad]

He's the best

[kidfromkibble]

Ophelia is ridiculously hot... I find that kind of distracting... But like, Aristotle said that tragic characters should be like life but more beautiful.

[chrissyman77]

no' jean simmons

[Rossonero072213]

That's Vivien Leigh as Ophelia, right?

[minoishere]

no it is not!!

[belsticks]

ahh, Sir Lawrence Olivier is classic...it won best costuming...or at least most use of tights

[Kittiecraft2002]

this would be a lit better without those huge red letters sprawled across the screen

[mandragorra]

the Hamlet to end ALL Hamlets!