Ophelia

Synopsis
Feature film. Yvan Lesurf, son of a wealthy businessman, broods over his father’s death and his mother’s hasty remarriage to his uncle, Adrien. Lucie loves him, despite the disapproval of her father, Andre. A showing of Olivier’s HAMLET at a local cinema suggests to Yvan that there are parallels between Hamlet and his own situation. He feigns madness, taunts his mother and plans ‘mousetrap’, a short film starring a barmaid, a gravedigger and his friend, Francois. The film is shown at a specially arranged event. Disconcerted by the plot of the film, Adrien makes a failed attempt to kill Yven and then poisons himself. As he lays dying he tells Yvan that neither he nor Yvan’s mother is guilty. Yvan distressed himself, is consoled by Lucie who reminds him that he is Yvan, not Hamlet.
Language
French (Standard)
Country
France
Medium
Film
Technical information
Black-and-white / Sound
Year of release
1962
Duration
100 mins; 9000 feet

Credits

Director
Claude Chabrol
Screenplay
Claude Chabrol; Martial Matthieu
Cast
Andre JocelynYvan Lesurf (Hamlet)
Claude CervalAdrien (Claudius)
Alida ValliClaudia (Gertrude)
Robert BurnierAndre (Polonius)
Juliette MaynielLucie (Ophelia)
Sacha BriquetGravedigger (Gravedigger)
Serge BentoFrancois (Horatio)

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Hamlet
Subjects
Drama; Shakespeare
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Available on DVD with no English sub-titles from French retailers, with French subtitles for the hard of hearing. The 16mm print at the Folger Shakespeare Library has English subtitles.
Reviews
Newman, Karen, ‘Chabrol’s OPHELIA: Mirror for Hamlet’, Shakespeare on Film Newsletter 6.2 (March 1982, 1+).

Production Company

Name

Boreal

Archive

Name

Archives Francaises du Film du Centre National De La Cinematographie (CNC)

Email
AFF@cnc.fr
Web
http://www.cnc/fr External site opens in new window
Phone
+33-1 3014 8000
Address
7bis Rue A, Turpault, F-78395
Bois D’Arcy
France
Name

Folger Shakespeare Library

Email
reference@folger.edu
Web
http://www.folger.edu External site opens in new window
Phone
(202) 544 4600
Fax
(202) 544 4623
Address
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington
DC 20003
USA
Name

Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division

Web
http://catalog.loc.gov/ External site opens in new window
Phone
(20) 707-8572
Fax
(20) 707-237’1
Address
Motion Picture & Television Reading Room
James Madison Building, LM 336
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C.
20540-4690
United States

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Gaumont

Web
http://www.gaumont.fr/ External site opens in new window
Address
30 avenue Charles de Gaulle
Neuilly-sur-Seine
92 200
France

Online Retailer

Name

Amazon.fr

Web
http://www.amazon.fr External site opens in new window

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Ophelia". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av37040 (Accessed 12 Nov 2024)