THE FODOR HAMLET PHENOMENON

Chapter 1 - The Ghost Appears Chapter 2 - Polonia Plots Chapter 3 - An Evening to Remember Chapter 4 - Laertes Returns Chapter 5 - An Afternoon of Death

Hamlet Polonia Laertes The Ghost Ophelia Claudius Gertrude

Wilson Belchambers (Hamlet) Lydia Piechowiak (Polonia) Jason Wing (Laertes) James Frail (The Ghost) Tallulah Sheffield (Ophelia) Alan Hanson (Claudius) Di Sherlock (Gertrude)

Alexander Fodor Paul Allan-Slade Diego Indraccolo Joe Lyske Claire Bugden Manuela Barros Francesca Dascari Nina Elegba

REVIEWS 4
WF GUARDIAN

FODOR’S LOCAL FILM SHOWS AT CANNES

It’s Hamlet, but not as you know it.  DOREEN FRIEND finds out why Fodor’s Hamlet, partly shot in Epping Forest, is so different from any Shakespearean production you have ever seen.

Directed by Alexander Fodor, this classic Shakespearean play is billed as ‘not just another ghost story’.

Part of the film was shot in the High Beech area of Epping Forest although I doubt you will recognise it because the scenes are shot in such a way that it is often hard to see the wood fro the trees.

And that is exactly the way Fodor intended it to be.

“We shot some scenes in High Beech others at Southend-on-Sea and yet more in the upstairs room of a pub in Wood Green, the forest was ideal for the style of the film.

The script remains the same – who could ever mess with the words of Shakespeare – but I have completely changed the characters.

“Believe it or not the film was shot on a very low budget, you would gasp in amazement if I told you how little.”

The total budget was £15,000 and with such a limited amount of money available there was no room for any sort of delays or re-shooting so it was shot in just 15 days last summer.  Not a single day was overshot by more than an hour.

“ Hamlet doesn’t so much see his father’s ghost – he is hit by a force so strong it sound like planets collide in a sci-fi film

From the outset Alexander Fodor designed the production to appeal to people who had never known Shakespeare.  He workshopped the actors to deliver the text as natural speech, and developed themes and subplots never there in the play.

The main feature of the film is the edgy, arty way it has been shot with a gleaming almost silver-white background, short sharp scenes and the brilliant music, by Joe Lyske.

Hamlet is set in the modern day with drug taking and people chatting each other up during the ‘party’ held in honour of the dead king.

Hamlet doesn’t so much see his father’s ghost – he is hit by a force so strong it sound like planets collide in a sci-fi film.  He delivers the ‘to be or not to be’ speech into a reel to reel tape recorder.

Laertes (Jason Wing) – the innocent victim of his own rage – is lusciously nasty and spills the beans on everyone as he is dying.

Set in the modern day, Horatio is a woman (Katie Reddin-Clancy), Ophelia reckons she is the victim of sex discrimination.  Some of the best scenes in the film involve the ‘ghost children’ who are menacing yet innocent at the same time.

The plot is Shakespeare with twists and turns and secrets and schemes at every turn, but the sometimes shaky imagery tends to divert the attention away from it.  So don’t go looking for ‘poor Yorick’s skull in Epping Forest just yet, in case you happen to see there’s a ghost.

Huge plasma screens are showing clips from Fodor’s Hamlet at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27).

For more information visit www.hamletmovie.co.uk or email info@hamletmovie.co.uk.

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