Hamlet Goes Business (Hamlet liikemaailmassa)
| Program section: | Shakespeare Meets Noir |
|---|---|
| Directed by: | Aki Kaurismäki |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Country: | Finland |
| Length: | 89 min. |
| Cast: | Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Esko Salminen, Kati Outinen, Elina Salo and others. |
Screening:
- 19. 8. 2026 | 17:45 - Nova Cinema Hall (castle - chateau) / CZ subs / EN subs /
- 22. 8. 2026 | 14:45 - Cinema Sokol Č. Šternberk (below castle - Sokolovna) / CZ subs / EN subs /
Production: Vilealfa Filmproductions
Script/Based on: Aki Kaurismäki
Director of Photography: Timo Salminen
Score: Juuso Hirvikangas, Erkki Lume
This film by the renowned Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki is a unique reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The main characters and themes remain intact but are simultaneously recontextualized in various ways. The story is set in the modern-day Finnish timber industry. After his father’s death, Hamlet inherits a stake in the family business but must face his scheming uncle… Hamlet Goes Business is shot in black and white, which can be interpreted as an attempt to evoke the aesthetics of film noir. Kaurismäki has, in fact, flirted with this style in other films as well, such as I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) and The Man Without a Past (2002), though he has never done so literally. The film intriguingly intertwines tragic themes, comedic exaggeration, and social criticism (in the form of an ironic jab at capitalism) – a combination that perhaps only a brooding director from the North could pull off. (mh)
