Back after a brief break...
An off-hand comment by my brother led to another acquisition and this post. (Thanks, Nick!) It was an innocuous enough question: "Have you seen the
Hamlet with Christian Bale?" A negative reply on my part and a quick Internet search on his and voila--the 1994 film
Royal Deceit, starring Gabriel Byrne, Helen Mirren, and Christian Bale.
The film is in the
Hamlet motif, but it is not exactly the Shakespearean story. Rather, it is based on the
Hamlet source material found in the tale by Saxo Grammaticus. Many of the plot elements are very similar, but the dialogue lacks the Bard's iambic pentameter.
The story opens quickly. The king of Jutland and his eldest son have been slain, purportedly by two of the king's subjects. A la
Macbeth, the two subjects have themselves been killed in order to conceal the crime committed not by them but by the king's brother, Fenge. The king's other son, Amled, has been visited by the ghost of his father. Hearing the truth, he seems to have gone mad, but it's just a ruse concocted in order to trap his uncle. As viewers, we don't see much of the above action occurring. It is all told to us via a narrator, whose words smooth over the rough plot points and keep the film brief (85 minutes).
Fenge becomes king by acclamation because the rightful heir to the throne, Amled, is mentally incapacitated. A flashback during the election scene shows us how the death of the king transpired and the true treachery of Fenge. As the new king, Fenge takes up with the queen (and his brother's wife), Geruth.
In an attempt to discover what Amled knows, Fenge sets a young maiden upon him. Instead of informing, though, she and Amled conspire to keep Fenge in the dark. Fenge sends one of his henchmen to spy on Amled, but all the henchman gets for his trouble is a log to the head. Later, the henchman makes a second attempt, concealing himself beneath Geruth's bed. Amled finds "the rat," stabs him to death and tosses him into the royal pigs' trough, where the henchmen "is eaten."
Fenge has no choice but to send Amled to England, where he shall (and does) regain his wits. Fenge sends Amled with two escorts who carry orders for his friend, the Duke of Lindsey, to kill Amled. Amled is wise to the plot and leaves some items in storage for his return. In transit to England, he switches the orders so that the escorts are put to death instead. It is in England where the plot of the story takes a different turn from the Shakepearean story. Lindsey and a neighboring tribe, Ossmia, are at war. After a sneak attack by Ossmia, Amled leads the Duke's troops into battle. He becomes a war hero, tricking Ossmia into retreat and then stabbing their leader to death in a duel. As his reward for meritorious service, Amled is given the hand of the Duke's daughter.
Amled returns to Jutland and, Banquo-esque, wanders into his own funeral feast. A verbal confrontation with Fenge and some more machinations lead to the ultimate resolution. This is not a wavering Hamlet. Amled incapacitates Fenge's henchmen, stabs Fenge after a brief (and unsatisfying) fight, and then burns down the hall in which they all lie. Amled, his wife, and his mother all live happily ever after.
Royal Deceit is an interesting alternate perspective on the
Hamlet story. It allows the viewer to see whence Shakespeare's work came and what changes he made when crafting his play and turning it into a tragedy. I found that the absence of Shakespearean language actually gave me a greater appreciation for it. The film itself was reasonably well done, although the visual and sound effects at times were tacky. Overall, this is worthwhile viewing for
Hamlet fans.
