More Hamlet observations from WOWOW

Kuroki Haru (Ophelia) and Okada Masaki (Hamlet) reminding viewers
that it was only one day before the recorded Hamlet aired at WOWOW 

This is my observation while re-watching Simon Godwin’s Hamlet recorded on 22 May 2019 in Bunkamura Shibuya Tokyo. WOWOW aired the recording on Saturday, 31 August 2019. Special thanks to my dear friends for providing me with the recording. 


It was like finding love again. As soon as I heard the opening music, I remembered once again why I fell in love with this production. It was hiraeth all over again…

WOWOW videographer team and editing team definitely did a great job piecing the scenes on this show (they did a good job as well with Ningen Gowasan, by the way). It evoked that hiraeth feeling, the desire to go back to that moment in time, but of course it cannot be… Yet, the recording still gives me the magic and brings me back my love to Hamlet, in addition to giving me more details that I have missed because I was too far away from the stage.

There are too many moments to re-savour, but I’m here recapping just the ones that stood out the most to me.

First, apparently Hamlet cried during the first scene. Well, not the very first scene, but after Gertrude and Claudius left, Prince Hamlet cried. I could see his tears. And beforehand, when Gertrude and Claudius kissed, Hamlet scoffed in distaste. WOWOW did a good job in overlaying the two moments.

When Gertrude bumped into her son upstairs (prior to the ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy), she definitely avoided him, though Hamlet clearly longed to talk to her. It broke my heart again, for Gertrude was her haughty self when she avoided her son. But then scenes later, after the ruckus in Ophelia’s funeral, Gertrude looked at Claudius with displease, for she overheard how Claudius planted some bad ideas to Laertes (to injure Hamlet; and Hamlet was Gertrude’s son after all). Totally love Matsuyuki Yatsuko as Gertrude here, she gave us an amazing Gertrude.

This wailing Hamlet (and Gertrude's clinging to her son beforehand)
was a stark contrast to the staircase encounter when both said nothing
(Source)

After the ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy, Hamlet was surprised to learn that Ophelia had been listening all along. I captured that detail during my live-viewing in Tokyo and Osaka. What I appreciated this time was how Hamlet was so disappointed when Ophelia returned his letters. He masked it with his craziness, but there was a moment there that Hamlet was very disappointed. Ophelia OTOH, when Hamlet told her to go to the nunnery for the first time, her eyebrows twitched in surprise. As in, she couldn’t understand what he meant. I do now think that Hamlet sank deeper in his ‘craziness’ in this scene because of Ophelia’s rejection. To be fair to Ophelia, she did look sad when she promised Polonius that she would see Hamlet no more, and she was definitely heartbroken when she witness Hamlet’s soliloquy (‘To be or not to be’) from her hideout. But to Hamlet, Ophelia’s rejection was a double whammy for him. Moments ago, his mother avoided him. Now, his beloved returned his letter. For a person who was thinking of suicide a moment ago, it can indeed be a push too far (hence the “get thee to a nunnery” remark).

Hamlet and Fortinbras seizing each other during the one brief moment when the two saw each other at the port was very cool. I can see Hamlet’s expressions; jealousy, respect and alertness for he realised Fortinbras was his equal.

Now, something that I didn’t touch on my previous reviews. Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull is generally seen as a very potent image, one that distinguishes ‘Hamlet’ from other Shakespearean play. However, I have to admit that – although in other Hamlets the Yorick scene might have been potent – in this Hamlet, it was a passing scene. Possibly because I have to truly master Japanese to understand the nuances of Hamlet’s dialog with Horatio here, hence the nuances is lost to me. After all, reading it in English doesn’t give the same effect as listening to it in a language I master well. In this case, it might have been akin to me trying to understand the nuances of Bracken Moor while most of its scenes are dialogs instead of silent moments and actions.

Instead, one of the most important moments in the Ophelia funeral scene to me was Hamlet’s reaction, his surprise that is, when he learned of Ophelia’s death. It was hard for me to see it when I was in Tokyo and Osaka (because Masaki was facing the stage, instead of the audience, and his cap also covered his face). However, thanks to WOWOW’s cameras, Hamlet actually silently cried as Laertes et al lowered Ophelia’s body. The camera zoomed in to show Masaki’s tears streaming down his cheek as he desperately trying to observe the funeral, then he crouched down, silently crying. Then Hamlet launched into a tirade when Laertes hugged Ophelia’s body and the two alpha males had a brawl, which was really emotional. When Hamlet said ‘I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum’, he cried again.  All in all, the funeral scene (after the Yorick part) was a potent scene for me.

Ah, and I can confirm that they carried Kuroki Haru in the funeral scene in Bunkamura Shibuya (Tokyo). They didn’t do that in Morinomiya Osaka, and now I think it might have been due to some technical issues (perhaps the hole wasn’t long enough in Osaka?).

One thing though: I wish that the scene afterwards, where Hamlet was telling Horatio that they should just forget about the funeral brawl, I wish that it was delivered in a slower manner. I think since Hamlet regretted his rash response to Laertes (who indeed was a good brother of Ophelia), I think the dialogs should’ve been delivered more slowly. Still on that same scene, I like the part where Hamlet said ‘There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow’, though I would prefer it to be delivered slightly slower.

When Claudius drank the wine to “wish Hamlet well”, Hamlet looked uncomfortable, a foreboding if you will, and WOWOW’s camera showed it well. As if Hamlet felt Claudius’ bad intention but couldn't pinpoint how. I like that interpretation. However, the video crew didn’t shoot Hamlet testing his sword, which is too bad cos I love that shot. But the brawl during the third fencing round (because Laertes attacked Hamlet without the umpire’s approval) was very pronounced.

Hamlet’s surprise and wrath as he learned that his mother died of poison and the culprit is yet again Claudius was spot-on. I again felt that Hamlet’s wrath on the 2nd day of my Tokyo viewing (1 June, soiree) was more fiery than the WOWOW recording, but don’t get me wrong: in WOWOW the anger was still very pronounced.

And the extent of Horatio's love to Hamlet truly broke my heart...
(source) 

Oh, and Masaki was already limping halfway through the Hamlet show on 22 May. I suppose doing that much running etc did strain his feet, poor boy…

I also observe a new funny little thing: when one of the male servants of the Danish palace fell for the female clown, the other servant (a woman, I assume the girlfriend/wife of the male servant) was jealous. Then Hamlet trying to remember the name of a drama when he was talking to the performers was – again – funny. Polonius’ rendition of Julius Caesar’s murder was constantly funny. Ophelia drinking her father’s tea/coffee because the latter was too busy talking was constantly funny.

As a bonus, we have a good few minutes of Okada Masaki interview. He actually was filmed twice for the interview; one where he was wearing a green coat, and the other one when he was wearing his black Hamlet coat. For the last few minutes, Kuroki Haru joined the interview. Haru mentioned that one scene that was very fun was when Ophelia threw grapes at Laertes. Haru and Masaki also talked how encouraging Simon Godwin was, e.g. always saying, “Yeah, great!” with his thumbs up.

(I really want to transcribe that interview, but I’m still not good at listening to long sentences and decipher what they meant without a written text…)


(Update 25 Dec 2019: On this Christmas Day, I finally released the interview translation! Thanks Wisteria-san for making it happen!)

Overall, a very pleasing Hamlet revival through WOWOW. My eternal gratitude to two anonymous ladies who have given me access to the recording.

Now, let me tell you this, WOWOW: You have MANY overseas fans who would LOVE to subscribe to you if given the chance. I would LOVE to pay for the subscription fee to see Hamlet, Ningen Gowasan, etc. again. Now, do tell me you’re going to consider us in your marketing, please?