OPHELIA

UK, 2018, 114 minutes, Colour.
Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George Mackay Tom Felton, Dominic Mafham, Devon Terrell.
Directed by Claire Mc Carthy.

Ophelia. No further identification necessary (just as with those other Shakespearean leading ladies, Desdemona, Portia, Cordelia…).

At once, most of us think of Hamlet. And, of course, he does appear in this story. But, as Ophelia’s voice-over reminds us that, while we have heard her story and think that we know all that went on in Elsinore, we have not heard all her story and this is her opportunity to tell it.

This is a very stylish re-creation of those events, costumes and decor, the castle on a rock, interiors, domestic life, pageantry – and venturing out into the countryside, the mysterious cave of a witch, the pool in which Ophelia floats with the flowers. The film is intriguing to look at and the score to listen to.

We first meet Ophelia as a little girl, servant family in the court, looking at the boy Hamlet from afar as he goes away for his studies. Ophelia is rather forthright, even at this young age, making comments to the court out loud – but, she captures Queen Gertrude’s attention and grows up as a lady in waiting. So, we are introduced to Daisy Ridley as a rather strong and vigorous Ophelia (just as Daisy Ridley was even more strong and vigorous in the recent Star Wars blockbusters). Naomi Watts is impressive as Gertrude, what we know of her, and even more detail of what we didn’t know, the coldness of her husband, the king, tentative attraction to Claudius (Clive Owen sinister and scheming).

So, we see the familiar events, some variations on the events, glimpses of familiar characters, Laertes and Horatio, the fawning Polonius.

But, there are characters that Shakespeare did not seem to know about, especially the witch in her cave with potions, rejected by Claudius, supplying drug relief to Gertrude, visited by Ophelia – who, ultimately reveals a lot of truth about the past which motivates the witch to side with the incoming soldiers to invade the palace. (She has another secret but that is for the audience to discover and relish.)

The audience will discover that there are some other details that Shakespeare got wrong! Some of Hamlet’s behaviour, advice to Ophelia about the nunnery, and who actually kills Claudius. One of the strange things as we watch this story is that we forget that, while we know all about them from Shakespeare, the characters themselves actually don’t know until they make decisions and act – which makes us impute some motivations to them which they haven’t quite developed as yet!

While Ophelia is about twenty, so is Hamlet, young, inexperienced, moody, forced into swordplay by Claudius, shocked at the death of his father, forced to kneel before Claudius the King, disappointed with his mother – and organising the players in quite a striking sequence, silhouettes and outlines lit behind a sheet-screen. He is played as somewhat ingenuous, romantic, and somewhat bewildered by George MacKay?. Tom Felton is Laertes.

For audiences who have no knowledge of Shakespeare’s play, this would prove an interesting costume drama. For those in the know, it is an intriguing sharing with Ophelia of what was happening behind the scenes (and, at the end, some significant borrowing from Romeo and Juliet) – and was Ophelia floating in the water the last to be seen of her?

The director is Australian Claire Mc Carthy (The Waiting City, The Turning).

1. The title, the focus? The story told, not told? Now telling it?

2. The impact for audiences who know Shakespeare’s play? Who know the characters, situations, interactions? Seeing them in a different light, different emphases? Interest, satisfying? The impact from those who do not know Shakespeare’s play?

3. Shakespeare and what he did not know, Gertrude and her sister, her sister’s story, hard done by Claudius, declared a witch, exiled in her cave, the potions, supplying them for Gertrude? Supplying the snake poison before Claudius? Ophelia visiting her, telling her the truth about Claudius? Her journeying with the invaders into the castle? The final scene with Gertrude?

4. Costumes, decor, the castle on the rock, the woods, the vistas, the cave, the pool? Castle interiors, pageantry, drama? The musical score?

5. Life in Elsinore, Hamlet and Gertrude, mother and her love for her son, the role of the courtiers, Horacio and Hamlet going to school? Ophelia and Hamlet as children, Ophelia calling out in the court, Gertrude taking her on, training to be a lady in waiting, the tasks, learning to dance, with the other members of the retinue? Rivalries?

6. Hamlet’s return, the attraction to Ophelia, their meetings, falling in love, she poor, he reckless? Gertrude and her response? Hamlet’s father, his severity with his son? Power? Claudius in the court, watching, the vicious swordplay with Hamlet? Ophelia, Laertes?

7. Ophelia seeing the ghost on the ramparts? Gertrude and her medication, Ophelia seeing the hooded figure, the fact that it was Claudius?

8. The death of the king, the court in shock, Hamlet’s return, the funeral? Claudius as King, commanding Hamlet to kneel? Marrying Gertrude? The previous images of their flirtation and the King watching?

9. Laertes, relationship with his father, Ophelia, going to study? Polonius and his flattery, the variation on his famous speech? Spying on Hamlet, everybody watching Hamlet and Ophelia? Hamlet and his performing, the advice about the nunnery? The whispered advice? The later account of Hamlet killing Polonius by mistake? Laertes and his motivation, the backing of Claudius, urging him to fight Hamlet? Supplying the poison?

10. Aspects of Romeo and Juliet, the friar marrying the couple, the various potions, seeming dead, reviving?

11. The arrival of the players, Hamlet and his plan, the performance, the silhouettes, the sheet-screen? The allegory? Claudius calling for the lights, upset?

12. The orders for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? The ship stalled? Hamlet alive? Ophelia, the arrangements for her to marry, the suitor, her earlier defiance and defence of the serving maid? Getting the potions from Gertrude’s sister? Her love for Hamlet, the love scene, her pregnancy? Hamlet’s return?

13. The setup for the duel, the poison on the sword? Claudius wanting a wager, Gertrude watching? Gertrude cutting Ophelia’s hair, her disguise in the palace as a servant, the encounter with Hamlet, pleading for him to leave? To go to the nunnery which he had urged when simulating madness with Ophelia?

14. The fight, the clash, the deaths, Gertrude and her anger, her killing Claudius? Her taking the poison?

15. The invasion, Gertrude’s sister and her participation, the viciousness?

16. The nunnery, Ophelia and her escape, climbing the cliffs, welcome to the convent?

17. The film as a re-look at Shakespeare’s play, other aspects of its narrative?

18. Ophelia, telling her story, her daughter, her life?

19. A satisfying imaginative interpretation of the play?