Conversing with Plummer

A supplement to the DVD release of Hamlet at Elsinore is a conversation between the star, Christopher Plummer, and NPR critic David Edelstein.  The chat took place in 2011 as part of the Sarasota Film Festival.  Although it put me to sleep (literally) on my first attempt, I did give it a second try.  While it is not the most interesting conversation I've ever heard, some of the discussion surrounding Hamlet is worth sharing.

According to Christopher Plummer, anger and rage propel a good acting career.  As he puts it, an actor has "to know how to blaze."  He claims to have tried this consciously with his portrayal of Hamlet.  Hamlet may be a gentle, introspective, intellectual, philosophical young prince, but he also has to blaze.  Plummer adds that it was also a conscious decision on his part to be out of joint with the other actors, using different speech register and behavior.  David Edelstein calls Plummer's Hamlet the "most frightening" Hamlet that he had ever seen.  The comment is meant as a compliment, even if this author may have found the production frightening for other reasons.  Later, Edelstein calls Plummer's performance the "best at conveying thought and self consciousness."  Um, sure.  To each his own.

One of the advertised draws of the production is the use of Elsinore as the setting.  Plummer was not sold on this, though.  He found it to be too rigid and formal, and it made him uncomfortable.  In his opinion, a castle in Jutland, with waves crashing against the base of the structure, would have been more suitable.

Much of the rest of the conversation as it pertained to Hamlet included name-dropping and excessive superlatives.  Ernest Milton, a German actor named Fector, Edmund Kean, Jean Louis Barrault, and John Barrymore all garner mentions for their previous portrayals of Hamlet.  From this production, Michael Caine is the "sweetest, most loyal doting Horatio."  Plummer declared Robert Shaw to be the "best king I've ever seen," and the most competitive and most loyal actor.  Alec Clunes, who portrayed Polonius, was "one of the best Shakespearean actors there ever was."  After a while, I was beginning to wonder if there were any second-rate actors out there and if either of the gentlemen had actually watched the DVD release of this performance!

The rest of the conversation dwelt upon Plummer's life and career.  It really was not much beyond bland anecdotes and hero-worship, which is perhaps part of the reason that it put me out so quickly on the first pass.  One line from Christopher Plummer, though, does summarize very nicely why so many people, author included, continue to enjoy Hamlet.

"What an exciting part!  No other part like it in the world."