Ophelia (2018) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 5) 🎭

Hello everyone,

To round out Week 1 of this fun new project I am thoroughly enjoying writing (I'm giving myself weekends off - hope that's cool with y'all 😎), we have a personal doozy. I'm not usually one who has enough patience to read the book before I watch the movie, but Ophelia was one where I actually cared about that order. I made sure to read the book first, and boy am I glad I did. As you'll hopefully get from the following thoughts, the film had some surprises for my book-loving heart....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

A tale of great potential and missed opportunities, Ophelia is beautifully convoluted. Not even solid performances from an all-star cast and an especially fabulous leading effort from Daisy Ridley could save this film from lacking the expected dramatic impact of a Shakespeare rejig. Directed by Claire McCarthy and based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Lisa Klein, the story of a bright and motherless girl who is thrown into the noxious Danish royal court left a lot to be desired beneath the surface of a visually stunning film.

At first glance, this film has captured the medieval beauty of Denmark. Dave Warren’s production design has nailed the jagged edges and stature of Elsinore Castle and its rooms, to the sweeping meadows, rivers and forests that provide Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) with her much-needed escape. Costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini has created beautiful pieces to compliment the tone of wealth and prestige of the Danish royal family at this time and the contrasting clean simplicity of Ophelia’s dresses. Her signature flowing blue sleeved gown is especially lovely to look at as well as the outfits for the Masquerade Ball. McCarthy’s film strongly captures the dark atmosphere of Elsinore and transports audiences right into the web through components like a haunting soundtrack. Steven Price’s work was excellent in building the tension through angelic church melodies and melancholic tones that shadow the ebbs and flows of the plot.

The fundamental issues with Ophelia lie in the way it was written. The premise, in theory, is an intriguing and fascinating task, yet the film’s core lacked a degree of conviction that would have satisfied the mammoth expectation of this idea. Much of the dialogue, especially the tense turning points, lacked some intensity and came off largely melodramatic and flat.

Numerous plot frustrations twist the story in on itself, leaving an unbalanced and confusing line to follow. The emphasis on the Claudius (Clive Owen) and Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts) affair before King Hamlet dies was distracting from Ophelia adapting to court life, making Gertrude and healer hermit Mechtild sisters was a pointless detour, and emphasizing Gertrude’s maternal role towards Ophelia is a curious character point for a poor motherless girl, but cutting out elderwoman Elnora and her influence on Ophelia’s booksmarts and kind countenance that happens in the book erases a fundamental pillar of essential development for the protagonist. Even claiming Mechtild and Claudius were romantically involved was cheesy and added another layer of secrecy the story didn’t need. It reinforced aspects from Shakespeare’s play that audiences would already know, and unfortunately that affected the protagonist and how her story was written the most.

The almost non-existent development between Ophelia and Horatio (Devon Terrell), and Ophelia and her headstrong brother Laertes (Tom Felton), is so frustrating because this narrow focus didn’t allow Ophelia’s courage and strength to shine the way it should have. Instead, everything is weighed down by simply reinforcing the familiar.

The surface level intrigue and mystique of combining the well-known story with a potentially game-changing, evocative perspective would be enough to keep the interest of a general audience. But this is not the impression that would follow fans of Klein’s novel, as there are plenty of fundamental differences. Repeating the mistakes of other much-anticipated book-to-film adaptations, not paying enough respect to the source material, i.e. Klein and even Shakespeare himself in places, seriously undercuts the wider emotional impact of McCarthy’s film. There were large detours and unnecessary subplot additions detract from the beauty and fragility of Ophelia’s perspective, and the guilt and paranoia that follows her to the end of her life.

Despite these flaws, an all-star cast provided solid interpretations of these well-known characters. Owen’s Claudius was rightly slimy and cunning, albeit probably given too much to do at the expense of others. George Mackay’s turn as troubled prince Hamlet and Ophelia’s doomed love interest was strong, albeit lacking more opportunities to get really stuck into the pain and intrigue. Watts’ performance as healer Mechtild was intriguing, while her performance as Gertrude was largely bland and hard to read. The highlight was definitely Ridley’s layered performance as Ophelia; her soft spoken and innocent demeanour with defiant eyes magnetic in her scenes.

Ophelia is a mixed bag of frustration and drama. The cast looked the part, but Semi Chellas' script was too simple and clumsy in a way that doesn’t truly evolve these complex characters enough. Ridley was magnetic in the title role, and visually there was enough to keep the tension high and the intrigue up, but the writing issues leave a frustratingly off taste to an otherwise attractive conceptual film.

7.5/10, 3.5 STARS

Thanks for reading,

Love and "rosemary, that's for remembrance..." (Hamlet, Act 4 Scene 5), Emily 🎭