Stoppard, Hoffman & Hamlet

The recent passing of fellow Upstate New Yorker Philip Seymour Hoffman led me to IMDb to look over his body of work.  Lo and behold, the filmography included something entitled The Fifteen Minute Hamlet.  Written by Tom Stoppard, it depicts Shakespeare's attempt to film his masterwork on one quarter-hour reel of film.  After a poor response to the initial viewing, he edits it further.  What results in each case is a very compact and sometimes humorous version of Shakespeare's longest play.

The beautified Internet, specifically YouTube, has the version starring Mr. Hoffman as Bernardo and Horatio and Laertes.  Divided into two clips, both are posted below for your viewing enjoyment.

The circumstances that led to this post bring added poignancy to two particular lines of the tragedy.  As Hamlet speaks the line "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow," Mr. Hoffman as Laertes can be seen in the background.  Later, as Horatio, Mr. Hoffman provides his own epitaph:  "Good night sweet prince, and flight of angels sing thee to thy rest."