Page 159 - Shakespeare in the Movie From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love

148 / Shakespeare in the Movies

many following the mysterious death of his industrialist father and
his mother's subsequent marriage to a scheming uncle (Peter Van
Eyck). An anonymous phone call serves as a realistic replacement
for the Ghost's telling the lad that something is rotten in the state of
Dusseldorf.
Eventually, this Hamlet catches the conscience of his stepfather
by suggesting changes in the program that a touring ballet company
performs. Laertes was portrayed as an ex-Nazi living in denial of his
past, while guilt over the Holocaust causes the film's Ophelia sub-
stitute to grow ever more schizophrenic. The Rest Is Silence rates as
a fascinating idea that almost pulls off its attempts at narrative par-
allels.
There have been more exotic versions. In 1955, writer-director-
producer-star Koshore Sahu filmed an Indian Hamlet in Bombay,
though it has never been made available for viewing in America.
Ten years later, the story was shifted to northern Ghana by Joe
deGraft, head of the University of Ghana's Drama School, with stu-
dents (mostly Ga tribesmen) talcing all parts. Hamile, based on a uni-
versity stage production, was directed by British documentarian
Terry Bishop. The film concerned a prince of the fra-fra people in
the Tongo tribe. Bishop insisted "the only script changes were those
needed to have it make sense in [an African] setting." He substi-
tuted local references for classical mythology, and Hamile's adver-
sary, Laitu (Laertes), departs for neighboring Togo rather than Paris;
upon returning, he wrestles instead of sword fights with, Hamile.
"Hamlet makes sense set in northern Ghana because, like Denmark,
it was once an area of feudal kingdoms," Bishop said of his two-hour
black-and-white film, completed in thirty days on a set (depicting
an ancient Ghana king's compound) built on the plain near Accra.
A number of filmdom's heavyweights have tried their hand at
adaptation. Claude Chabrol, a member in good standing of the
French New Wave, wrote and directed Ophelia in 1962. Ophelia's
plot encapsulates the most basic themes of nouvelle vogue: Each and
every one of us are products of what we see and read, unconsciously
perceiving the real world through pop culture; moviemakers are
unique in that they attempt to understand their own lives and what
old movies mean by making new movies supposedly about reality
but patterned after influential films.
Yvan (Andre Jocelyn), living in a provincial Gallic town, deeply
dislikes the uncle (Claude Cerval) who marries Yvan's recently wid-
owed mother (Alida Valli). While strolling the streets, Yvan hears