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Composed, Orchestrated, Conducted, and Produced by:
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Carter Burwell
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Release Date:
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May 9th, 2000
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you lean towards the 1990 Ennio Morricone way of thinking
when it comes to modern sounds of Hamlet.
Avoid it... if you lean towards the 1996 Patrick Doyle method of
scoring the classic tale with a robust symphony orchestra.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Burwell | |
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Hamlet (2000): (Carter Burwell) In classic Hollywood,
the film versions of Shakespearean plays were often presented in their
original time and location, and actor/director Kenneth Branagh is still
endeavoring to do the same. But a younger generation of audiences and
filmmakers has begun embracing and producing adaptations of the original
Shakespeare stories in contemporary, urban settings. From Romeo &
Juliet to Othello, sparkling, modern representations of these
classic tales are playing to split audiences, with some adoring the new
visions and others believing that Shakespeare himself is rolling in his
grave. Perhaps none of the stories has been translated onto the big screen
as many times as Hamlet, with several entries in the last 15 years
alone. After the 1990 and 1996 versions remained somewhat true to a
historical setting, the 2000 version directed by Michael Almereyda throws
the story into modern-day New York, complete with the Guggenheim Museum and
fax machines. If you could accept Bill Murray as Polonius, then you may
agree with a critic base that found the film generally pretty intriguing. It
would have been an interesting job for composer Patrick Doyle, who was the
resident expert in Shakespearian scores during the 1990's and had modernized
his score for Great Expectations, another modern adaptation of a
classic tale, in 1998. But an existing collaboration with Almereyda led to
composer Carter Burwell receiving the assignment for Hamlet.
Almereyda had been impressed with Burwell's work with a large symphony
orchestra and now called upon the composer to utilize only a chamber
orchestra for this effort. Burwell's scoring schedule was tight at the time,
but the composer responded by carving the traditional Shakespearian sound
down for a small ensemble.
Whether you enjoy or accept the minimalistic result from
Burwell depends on how you believe your Shakespearean films should sound.
Traditional film score fans are fond of Doyle's 1996 Hamlet and fans
of post-modern scores often gravitate towards Ennio Morricone's score for
the 1990 Mel Gibson version. Burwell definitely leans towards Morricone's
approach, allowing the story to speak for itself and leaving the pomp and
outward drama completely out of the equation. This decision could probably
have been expected, given Burwell's tendency to produce brooding, off-center
music. Unfortunately, Burwell strays too far from the emotional heart of the
classic story, allowing his music to be the victim of its own mediocre size.
The shallow score plays as though it was written with constraint in mind,
rather than attempting to make the most emotion possible out of the small
performing group. If anything, Doyle's Great Expectations proved that
you can insert modern rhythms, vocals, and traditional elements into a blend
worthy of a classic tale. What Burwell wrote for Hamlet is
repetitively monotonous, simplistic, and devoid of emotion. Moments meant to
convey extreme action lack punch and vary very little from the mass of
uninteresting, rumbling underscore. Burwell does succeed in moments of
troubled contemplation, though, with a cello performing an alternating,
churning motif that extends throughout the score. But some of his use of
what seems like a string quartet is a bit cliche, with the slow chopping of
a bass string attempting to carry the duel scene. When the ensemble is put
together in all of its force, such as in the opening and final cues, the
score begins to exhibit the kind of attitude that could have guided this
score to success with more creative instrumentation. In this case, Burwell's
loyalty to "traditional" instruments breaks the back of this Hamlet.
It leaves you wondering if your stereo was ever on while you were listening
to it, tumbling along in the deep regions where it's hard to notice and hard
to care. **
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Too Too Solid Flesh (2:44)
• 2. Murder Most Foul (3:20)
• 3. Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1:50)
• 4. Darkroom (3:12)
• 5. To Be or Not to Be (2:42)
• 6. Wiring Ophelia (4:48)
• 7. The Funeral (1:58)
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• 8. Claudius Prayer (3:04)
• 9. Hamlet Walks the Plane (2:23)
• 10. Laertes and Ophelia at the Guggenheim (1:56)
• 11. Claudies Incites Laertes (4:50)
• 12. The Duel (2:52)
• 13. The End (3:29)
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Insert includes a note from the director about Burwell and the score.
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