Hamnet

Read the book, eventually after a slog, saw the play at Stratford, going to watch the film on Monday. Hope it lives up to the hype. I like Maggie O Farrells earliest work to be honest

Agree with LynW - I read the book a while ago- (from the library). I found it a good read- if I hadn't, I wouldn't have finished it! Saw the film last night and felt I "got" it more, having read the book.

Outstanding, emotional film 10 out of 10 imo..👍

Me and my friends really enjoyed the film - scenery and acting was lovely in a way and I know more about Shakespeare now - especially as inspired me to Google his life and Anne ( Agnes Hathaway who our modern day actress was named after ) ,

I adored the film, but disliked the book. Every actor was wonderful. Jessie Buckley was perfection - I hope she wins every award this year. Paul Mescal is a brilliantly understated actor - he says so much with his expressive eyes. You’re right about the cinematography - it was breathtakingly worthy of the big screen.

Brilliant film. Superb acting too.

Exactly as Granola68 says. I saw it on Sunday as posted earlier. I’m still enjoying it

Didn't like the book - it seemed false, as though the author was struggling to try and make a story out of very little.
I went to watch the film, hoping I would feel differently. The acting was very good and Jessie Buckley deserves an Oscar. The detail was excellent - dirty fingernails, no makeup, good sets etc. but yet again, I felt let down by the story. The death of Hamnet was distressing, but I still felt that the story lacked authenticity. I can't recommend it.

Foxyferret

Jessie has come a long way since she was on that show with Andrew Lloyd Webber when they were auditioning for someone to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I think she is great.

It was to play Nancy in Oliver.

I saw the film last night and really enjoyed it. The boy who played Hamnet deserves an Oscar. He was wonderful!

Kate1949

So. Who is Agnes?

An-yes. I’ve read that her family often referred to her as Alice, too.
Both news to me. Family nicknames I guess.

I liked the book, we had it in our book group. Most liked it except the usual suspects who never seem to like anything. I thought it was well written and will go to see the film soon.

eazybee

The story 'Hamnet' is largely supposition. For such a prolific writer Shakespeare left very little information about his personal life, other than financial and business transactions and occasional mentions in court records, support of a claimant, listed in performances , extracts from diaries etc, and his recorded marriage to Anne Hathaway, the birth of their children, the marriages of his daughters and the death of Hamnet. It was unlikely to have been from plague as no other cases were recorded in Stratford at that time.
And of course the notorious bequest of the second-best bed to his wife.
I hope to see 'Hamnet' but for real acting see 'All is True', which deals with the aftermath of Hamnet's death. Judi Dench as Anne Hathaway, and Kenneth Branagh and Ian McKellen seeking comfort by reciting sonnets to each other.

Historians believe it likely that Hamnet died from the plague as it was rampant in London and had spread to other towns and cities again in the 1590s.

Cause of death was not generally recorded so we cannot be sure, of course.

eazybee

Seems to be a good film, made from a poor book.
Jessie Buckley is a serious actress with a varied body of work behind her and worth watching; hope to be able to see it.

Eazybee- might not be your thing then as the author, Maggie O'Farrell, also wrote the screenplay.
I saw it on Monday. Found it very moving with beautiful cinematography. I enjoyed the book too. It's not a barrel of laughs to put it very mildly. We could hear tears being stifled and tissues produced. Buckley's performance was stunning. Emily Watson (Mary Shakespeare) was memorable as always.

Like others, I’ve enjoyed previous MO’F books but really didn’t enjoy Hamnet, found it totally tedious tbh, forced myself to finish it, and it went straight onto the charity shop pile.
I’ll wait for the film to appear on the small screen rather than go to the cinema.

The facts do not seem to support the relationship portrayed in the film. When they got pregnant and married William was only 18 and some historians think that he felt trapped, leading him to escape to London. Anne Hathaway was 26 and from a prosperous farming family, not the daughter of any kind of forest spirit. On the plus side, Shakespeare made a living out of rewriting stories so would probably approve of this beautiful film. It is very moving and the use of the expression 'OK' and the anachronistic fretwork mirror and furniture are only slightly annoying.

Which ‘facts’ are they, though? We know when they married and that Anne was pregnant, but how can we possibly know he felt trapped?

All historians do is, as authors do, imagine a motive based on what is known about the times and human nature. Fiction puts more flesh on the bones than history text books, and can take more liberties when it comes to adding information, but I never understand people getting all haughty about ‘facts’.

Saw the film on Saturday. Very moving. My two daughters cried all the way through.

No, it isn't just you. And I had both my hearing aids in! I even thought I heard Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) say Okay at one point, but he couldn't have.

What was the the theme of 'Hamnett'? Is there a plot of some sort? I have read all the comments and so far am none the wiser about the story.I gather from comments it is a fictional biography---but not why the story is interesting.

Is there supposed to be a connection between Shakespeare's son and Hamlet Prince of Denmark?

I’m wondering in how far the book is ‘poor’? The evocation of place or time is not apt, or the characters are two-dimensional, or the narrative lacked coherence? To accuse an author of linguistic or semantic poverty needs some back-up, I think

The suggestion is Shakespeare wrote Hamlet as part of expressing dealing with the death of his child, his son Hamnet. Hamnet and Hamlet names in use at the times

I didn't really enjoy the film . Not sure why. Overly dramatic? Maybe just that I wasn't in the right frame of mind

Caleo

Is there supposed to be a connection between Shakespeare's son and Hamlet Prince of Denmark?

At the start of the film there were captions saying that the names were interchangeable. I don't know how 'factual' that is, but obviously the setting is before the first dictionary and few could read or write their name, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

It doesn't matter, really - it's more that in the story of the book and the film, he was working through his feelings about his son, his family, his place in the world as he wrote. I think that is 100% believable, although it is impossible to know whether it is 'factually' true.