When Lupita Nyong’o won an Academy Award for her outstanding performance in 12 Years a Slave, she remarked that “so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s.”  It taps into the linkage between history and art.  A teenager named Patsey was enslaved, beaten and raped in the mid-19^th Century but, unlike many others, her story has not been forgotten thanks to a memoir authored by Solomon Northup.  The cinematic adaptation immortalises both women… but in different ways.  For Patsey, it visualises her heartbreaking tale and brings it to a wider audience.  For Nyong’o, it shows she is a gifted, versatile actor with a long career ahead.

A similar theme is at the heart of Hamnet.  Directed by Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and drawing from a 2020 novel authored by Maggie O’Farrell, who helped adapt it for the screen, it tells us that William Shakespeare’s inspiration for Hamlet was the death of his 11-year-old son, Hamnet.  Losing a young child is an incredibly painful experience but there’s something cathartic in knowing the immeasurable grief led to the creation, in the opinion of some, as the greatest play ever written.  A brilliant piece of art could not have existed without a tragic piece of history.  Or so we imagine…

It’s important to note this is a piece of fiction.  Little is known about the day-to-day life of William Shakespeare and even less is known about his wife, Anne, and their three children.  Hamnet did die in 1596, likely of the plague, but no one can say with certainty how the family reacted.  O’Farrell therefore leans into the Mark Twain adage “write what you know” – not for herself but rather, an assumption as to how Shakespeare crafted his own plays and poems.  She’s pulled small details from the Bard’s famous characters and used them to create narrative.

Shakespeare is the name we know but he’s relegated to supporting actor status in Hamnet.  Portrayed by Paul Mescal (Aftersun), he spends much of the movie offscreen – living in London, accumulating wealth, and finding fame.  The camera’s lens is more interested in Anne, played by Irish actress Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), who manages the house and kids in her husband’s absence.  She’s not fully happy with the situation, but she recognises William’s brilliance and doesn’t want to hold him back.

It’ll feature prominently at this year’s Oscars but, given the hype, I was a touch underwhelmed by Chloé Zhao’s latest.  The opening act introduces wider family connections, which add interesting conflict, but these characters become less relevant as the film progresses.  The middle act has been described as “grief porn” and yeah, I know I’ll sound heartless, but it’s tedious in places.  I understood Anne’s suffering, thanks to Buckley’s passionate performance, but the screenplay spends too much time showing the personal sorrow as opposed to exploring other elements – such as interactions with her other two children.

The finale is worth it though.  Bolstered by the cinematography of Łukasz Żal (The Zone of Interest), the music of Max Richter (Waltz with Bashir), and the production design of Australian Fiona Crombie (The Favourite), Zhao delivers a stirring climax which takes place at the Globe Theatre in London.  Tears will be shed, at least based on the reaction of those around me at its Brisbane premiere, and the emotional reactions of the two leads leave you with something to reflect upon.