On Screen: “Hamnet”
Hamnet
Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”) scores again with “Hamnet,” adapted with Maggie O’Farrell from her 2020 heart-wrenching novel, a historical fantasy about the trials and tribulations that indelibly marked the marriage of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare.
An opening note informs that — in Elizabethan times — the names Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable.
In 16th century rural Warwickshire, free-spirited Anne — known as Agnes (Jessie Buckley) — loves roaming the forest with her hawk perched on her arm. That’s where she’s spotted by William (Paul Mescal), hired as a Latin tutor for her brothers. The magnetism between them is immediate and soon they’re sneaking off to make love.
Problem is: William’s abusive, deeply in debt glove-maker father (David Wilmot) and disapproving mother (Emily Watson) hear rumors that Agnes is the primal daughter of a Celtic forest witch … even Agnes’ brother, Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn), can’t understand why she’s attracted to a “pasty-faced scholar.”
Nevertheless, they marry and Agnes — curled under a tree, clinging to its roots — gives birth to Susanna (Bodi Rae Breathnach). Her next pregnancy results in twins: Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe).
Herbalist-healer Agnes raises their children alone in a whitewashed Tudor house — the “biggest in town” — because William spends most of his time in London, pursuing his increasingly successful theatrical ambitions.
So when the plague strikes, killing 11 year-old Hamnet, William is absent, a trauma that will forever haunt him.
Devastated, William pours his grief into “the Danish play” in which Prince Hamlet (Noah Jupe, older brother of Jacobi Jupe) bears a remarkable resemblance to Hamnet, as William assumes the role of the Ghost.
And, finally, there’s anguished Agnes, standing in the audience at the edge of the stage — witnessing William’s catharsis, making reconciliation possible.
Chloe Zhao’s lyrical visual language permeates the drama, beautifully chronicled by Polish cinematographer Lukasz Zal (“The Zone of Interest”) with stunning sets by production designer Fiona Crombie and Max Richter’s evocative score. Since London’s rebuilt Globe Theater is ornate, Zhao’s version looks like the inside of a tree.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Hamnet” is a transcendent 10, playing in theaters.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.