Hamlet: A Monologue (2000)

Plot Summary

This film – edited from live recordings of performances in both Warsaw and Tokyo – documents Robert Wilson’s production of “Hamlet: A Monologue”. Adapted from Shakespeare by Wilson and Wolfgang Wiens, “Hamlet: A Monologue” was performed by Wilson himself, who variously embodied each of the play’s characters. In his own words, “Initially, I had thought to do it with a group of actors but eventually I decided I would do it myself, as a challenge: first, because it is a classical text, and then because it’s a work where the concentration is primarily on the text, in addition to the images. I did it as a monologue, a kind of dream memory of the entire play. I restructured the text, beginning seconds before Hamlet dies. So the work is seen as a flashback, with Hamlet speaking the text of Ophelia, Gertrude and all the other characters. The play really takes place in Hamlet’s mind. It begins with his last speech and ends with his last speech.”

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