'The rumble of continuing life': Kozintsev's Hamlet and its distorted reception. Issue 1 (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Assay, Michelle
• Is Part Of: Cahiers élisabéthains. Volume 104:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 3
• Page End: 22
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Hamlet -- Shakespeare and cinema -- Russian cinema -- Grigori Kozintsev -- Dmitri Shostakovich -- Soviet culture; Hamlet -- Shakespeare et le cinéma -- cinéma russe -- Grigori Kozintsev -- Dmitri Chostakovitch -- culture soviétique; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism -- Book reviews -- Periodicals; 820.9003
• DOI: 10.1177/0184767820981095
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0184-7678

Abstract

This article challenges central tenets of the Western reception of Grigori Kozintsev's 1964 screen adaptation of Hamlet . Adding new information derived from published and unpublished archival materials and insights from the film director's son, it argues that Kozintsev's intentions were more universal than contemporary political. It serves as a call for caution and for the reconsideration of certain articles of received wisdom, in particular with respect to the film's supposedly anti-Stalinist language.