- Writers
- Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls
- Directors
- Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 88 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
The documentary is a medium that welcomes experimentation. Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee used rotoscope animation to protect the subject’s integrity. Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s Another Body incorporated deepfake to show the damage it may cause to people’s lives. Furthermore, we can add to this hall: Grand Theft Hamlet. Directed by Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, the film is the first staged performance of Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto Online. Shot entirely within the open-world video game, the film uses the game to try something new.
In January 2021, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen were unemployed due to the UK lockdown. Theaters were closed which meant that their opportunities were limited. Suddenly, they started playing video games to ease their minds during the problematic time and socializing with each other. Intrigued by the possibilities of the medium, they decided to try staging William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the game. Joined by filmmaker and Sam’s wife, Pinny Grylls, they start auditioning and planning the innovative production from the notorious playwright.
The first half of the film is a fresh breath of experimentation. An opportunity that emerged from a difficult and rough moment. It is evident over the course of the film, the pleasure of the discovery, as Sam and Mark find another manner to perform. The whole process of auditioning unknown people and finding out their secret talents is fascinating. It makes the film flow in a well-paced and curious rhythm engaging the viewer with that journey. However, its second half, including the much-anticipated staging feels rushed. It is investing much time for an almost frustrating pay-off. While not a poorly made sequence, the directing loses momentum and gets repetitive. Also, visually it gets a weird look, as some angles seem randomly chosen. Though its interesting premise is still there, the final staging is not as impactful as the whole set-up is.
Grand Theft Hamlet brings a welcomed experimentation. The use of Grand Theft Auto Online to stage Shakespeare is innovative and fresh. However, a repetitive second half makes it lose a bit of its potential. In the end, it is an experience that is more positive than negative, but it requires a bit of patience to reach its final stage.
still courtesy of Hot Docs
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Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.