Ophelia

An adaptation that tells Hamlet from Ophelia's side. Ophelia, one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at Elsinore, is not noble; she is there because her father works at the court, and the other women remind her of it constantly. She can read, which also sets her apart. The king dies. His brother takes the throne and marries the queen. The son, Hamlet, returns. The known events of the play run in the background here; the narrative stays on what Ophelia knows and what she does. There is also a woman living in the forest who prepares potions for the queen, and the information that changes the course of the story comes from her. The source is not Shakespeare but Lisa Klein's young adult novel. The text is written not from the play but from the gaps in it. Daisy Ridley plays Ophelia, Naomi Watts plays Gertrude, Clive Owen plays Claudius and George MacKay plays Hamlet. Watts takes two parts in the film. Claire McCarthy directed. It was shown at Sundance. The costumes and music are kept in a more modern register than period adaptations usually allow. An interesting attempt for anyone who likes classical texts reread. For a viewer expecting an adaptation faithful to the play, the film departs from the text seriously.