"A movie about a visionary man whose genius made him one of the greatest figures in literature. William Shakespeare is played by Paul Mescal, an actor who leaves no demographic unravished by his outrageous levels of magnetism. And yet Hamnet is a film that sidelines both of these men to supporting roles. The film is about Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, long viewed as a dumpy, illiterate woman unworthy of attention abandoned by Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon when he swanned off to London."
"Anne is referred to in Hamnet as Agnes, as she was also known, and played by Jessie Buckley, the Irish actor who could take on the role of a lamp-post and make you feel its pain. We meet Agnes curled asleep in the roots an ancient tree. She may be illiterate, but she is gifted herbalist who makes medicines from plants and a keeps a falcon. She is her own woman fierce, intelligent, more than match for the man she calls the Latin tutor."
"The film is based on the book by Maggie O'Farrell, a what-if novel, that takes off in an imaginative flight from sparse historical facts. What is known is that in 1582 Shakespeare, aged 18, married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant, in a shotgun wedding. Then, in 1596, the couple's 11-year-old son Hamnet a twin died, mostly likely from the plague. A few years later, Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, giving its tragic hero a variation of his dead son's name."
Hamnet is a film that subverts expectations by making Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway (called Agnes) the central character rather than William Shakespeare himself. Played by Jessie Buckley, Agnes is portrayed as a fierce, intelligent herbalist and falconer—a far cry from historical portrayals of her as dull and unworthy. The film, directed by Chloe Zhao and co-scripted with novelist Maggie O'Farrell, takes imaginative liberties with sparse historical facts. It explores the relationship between the 18-year-old Shakespeare and the 26-year-old pregnant Anne in their shotgun wedding of 1582, and incorporates the historical tragedy of their son Hamnet's death in 1596 from plague, which inspired Shakespeare's later play Hamlet. The film prioritizes a female perspective over historical accuracy.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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