Okay. I know it has been much too long since my last post, and for that I am sorry. I have been struggling and juggling and trying not to drown in it all. And one of the things I did recently was spontaneously decide to watch a random movie on Netflix that I had never seen before and had not read into. That movie was called Ophelia. And it is now one of my absolute favorite movies ever.
(I don’t have the energy to give a full run-down review right now, so I will give ya what I can and delete/repost this with more information later. Sorry.)
So, Ophelia is a handmaiden girl to the queen of Denmark. She falls in love with Hamlet, the mischievous prince. My favorite character is Hamlet, admittedly, just because of George MacKay’s acting. He somehow makes it all so incredibly believable. My favorite scene is when they meet on the roof (it’s about 47 minutes in) and he startles her. She starts trembling, and he looks at her as if she’s his whole world. Then when the guard comes around, he hides her by blocking the guard’s view should the man look into their nook. The thing that clenches it is when he watches the guard walk past, a protective fear in his eyes. You can see it in his face how scared he is that they could be seen and something might happen to her. And whenever they kiss throughout the movie, he basically smashes his face into hers as if he wants them to share a single skull. I know it must be awfully uncomfortable to have your face collide with someone else’s so forcefully, but you can see in his posture and body language that it takes everything in him to remain a few inches away and not crush her entirely. That kind of passion is extremely dangerous, and to be honest, would be pretty scary (and probably painful haha) in real life. But I think, given that this movie was based off a Shakespearian play, the added drama made sense. I also really like Daisy Ridley as Ophelia. She fit the character very well. But my favorite casting was probably Nathaniel Parker as King Hamlet (Prince Hamlet’s father), soley because I am a huge fan of the tv show Merlin. If you’ve seen the show’s later seasons, you know that Agravaine was obsessed with the throne. He wanted Morgana to rule, but… let’s be honest, he wanted to rule too. So I find it amusing that he finally got his kingship… he just had to find a different fandom to make it happen.
Here’s some of my favorite moments/photos from the movie.
I can say honestly that I’ve always been a lover of old/classic literature, but I’ve never seen something quite like this before. I’m truly impressed and have already watched it almost 3 times today. You can call me a hopeless romantic, and I’ll take it to my grave like a bouquet of daisies. I’m not ashamed. I truly love poetry, and that is exactly how I would describe this movie. Messy, sweet, dangerous, violent poetry. 11/10 would recommend… however there are a few scenes I skipped right after they got married. (I really enjoyed what the priest said during the ceremony, so I listened but averted my eyes for everything except when they sat in the meadow. It’s not very long, and not that big of a deal. But still annoying and something to watch out for.)
And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this quick blurb. I plan to repost this later with more info when it’s not 5:something AM and I have a bit more energy. So until then, have a good day and remember to pet your dog!
♡, Shortie
