prising scenes from horror and pornornfilms edited together with Monty Pvthonesquerncartoon drawings.rnEven worse than this clumsy modernizingrnis the film’s Hamlet. jAJmereyda announcesrnhis conception of the characterrnby decorating the prince’s apartmentrnwith posters of James Dean and ChernGuevara, the icons of disaffected, revolutionaryrnyouth. Hawke falls in with thisrnconceit all too well. He makes Hamlet arnglum, tormented adolescent so inchoatelyrnfurious with adults he can onl- speak tornthem in a contemptuous hiss. He shuffles,rndawdles, and mumbles throughoutrntwo-thirds of the play, wearing (instead ofrnan inky cloak) a knit cap with ear flaps,rnthe better to defend his boyish innocencernfrom adult contamination. Like so manyrnsensitive romantics before him, he is halfrnin love with death and plays at suicide,rnholding a gun to his head with mawkishrnself-pity.rnBut playing Hamlet as a romanticrnrebel makes complete nonsense of therntext. Clearly, Claudius, not the prince, isrnthe true revolutionary. Not only does hernassassinate his brother, the king, he violatesrntaboo by marr)ing his brother’s wifernin order to usurp the crown that rightfullyrnbelongs to young Hamlet. Furthermore,rnlike many rebels before and afterrnhim, Claudius is unfit to rule. Given torndrink and uxorious sensuality, he lacksrnthe will to stand fast against the threat ofrnforeign aggression posed by Norway’srnFortinbras. In short, he is the somethingrnrotten in Denmark, infecting the entirernstate with his desire for power without rcsponsibilit}’.rnAlmereyda and Hawke have tried torntransform Hamlet into an idealistic rebelrnbent on tearing down a corrupt, fascisticrnancien regime (in this case, corporaternAmerica). But the play makes it clearrnthat Hamlet’s mission is to sweep awayrnthe new upstart order created bv his pleasure-rnloving wastrel of an uncle and restorernthe genuine and sterner old order,rnthe one his father had so admirablv andrnresponsibly served. Everything Hamletrndoes and says underlines this reading.rnEven his apparent slowness to act revealsrnhis conservative intentions; .As a man ofrnhonor, he would never attack a legitimaternruler on private grounds alone, no matterrnhow repugnant he found him. Unlikernmodern leftists, Hamlet knows that thernpersonal is not the political. Before herncan act, he must prove incontrovertiblyrnthat Claudius has usurped the throne.rnThis, of course, is the central tension ofrnthe play: sorting out the priate from thernpublic, feeling from duh’, passion fromrnreason. (“Give me that man that is notrnpassion’s slave.”) It’s this tension that hasrninvited endless psvchological and ideologicalrninterpretations through the centuries.rnInterpreters have often gonernwrong, however, in allowing their contemporaryrnspeculations to drown Shakespeare’srnclear intent. He presents hisrnHamlet as the one sane person in a worldrngone mad with license and hypocrisy.rnThat is why Hamlet appears insane tornothers. And here is ihe plav’s genuinerncontemporariness. Our time, too, is outrnof joint, and many a person today has succumbedrnat one point or another to thernDane’s bitter reflection: “O cursed spite, /rnThat ever I was born to set it right!”rnAlthough Almerevda doesn’t grasprnthis, his Polonius does. Playing the baffledrncounselor, Bill Murray, of all actors,rngives every sign of fulK’ understandingrnthe play. With genuine wit, he departsrnfrom what has become the standard renderingrnof his role, making the go-alongget-rnalong courtier a man who knows hisrnlimitations all too well. This Poloniusrnknows he’s become a windbag and thatrnhis children onlv pretend to listen to him.rnYet he still loves them. He delivers hisrnparting words to Laertes in Act I with thernhesitation of a man ransacking his memor’rnfor the old formulae of prudent conduct.rnMore touching, he tries desperatelyrnto translate this time-worn wisdom intornwords that will sound new and compelling.rnBut he has lost faith in hisrnrhetoric. Even as he sententioush’ warnsrnhis inattentive son against incurringrndebts, he slips a thick roll of bills into thernyoung man’s jacket when he isn’t looking.rnChiding Ophelia for her imprudentrnrelationship with Hamlet, he’s sornconcerned to prevent her stumbling furtherrnthat he stoops to tie her undonernshoelaces. ‘Ibis Polonius isn’t a fool: He’srnmerely an aging man grappling with thernsinister changes that hae underminedrnthe once-decent order of things. Despiternhis waning powers, he strixes to protectrnhis children and serve his state as best herncan. Murrav renders Polonius with allrnthe humor and poignance due a father inrnan age under libertine swa’. Now, that’srncontemporary.rnHardly as spectacular as M:I 2 or asrnambitious as Hamlet, Woody Allen’srnSmall ‘Time Crooks is more satisf)”ing thanrnboth. Maybe that’s because Allen has returnedrnto basics. He’s gone back to VirgilrnStarkwell, the schlemiel who failed miserablyrnat his vocation: robbing banks. Asrnyou may remember, in Take the Moneyrnand Run (1969), Virgil’s first bank stickuprngoes bust when the threatening note hernhands the teller turns out to be illegible.rnIn Small Time Crooks, Starkwell bearsrna new name, Ray Winkler. He is 30 yearsrnolder, but he shines no brighter. He isrnstill the inveterate dreamer, his heartrnfilled in equal amounts wifli larceny andrnlove. Wlien he notices that a pizza shoprntwo doors from a neighborhood bank hasrngone out of business, he’s instantly backrnin business. While his wife, Frenchiern(Tracey Ullman), runs the store as arncookie shop, Ray and his buddies willrndrill open the basement wall and tunnelrntheir wav to wealth. As he explains tornFrenchie, it’s time they left their dumpyrnManhattan apartment and moved to Miamirnto live the good life. (“I want to go tornthe dog track ever)’ day.”) Winkler’s aspirationsrnare abysmally pedestrian. Whatrnhappens to him and Frenchie, however,rnis anything but.rnAs in his best films, Allen deals in thernconventions and cliches of popular culture,rnreworking them into wonderfullvrncomic surprises. Here, he pays homagernto Jackie Gleason’s Honeymooners. He isrna skinny, scheming, frantic Ralph Kramdenrnin love with a woman he foolishlyrnunderestimates. As Frenchie, Ullman isrnalways a light-vcar or two ahead of herrnRay, never failing to anticipate his everyrnlame gambit, ^’et this is precisely why shernloves him. Allen plays this material asrnwould a consummate pool player. Yournsee his shots coming, but he puts sornmuch English on fliem that tiieir impactrnnever fails to be delightfully eccentric.rnThe onlv thing small-time about thisrnmovie is in its title. Otherwise, it’s a winninglyrnunpretentious work that fully deliversrnthe goods. crnM O V I N G ?rnSend change of address and thernmailinsi label from your latest issue to:rnCHRONICLESrnSubscription Dept.rnP.O. Box 800rnMount Morris, IL 61054rn50/CHRONICLESrnrnrn