Mamoru Hosoda, the acclaimed director behind films such as Belle and Summer Wars, has delivered a visually stunning but narratively disappointing anime adaptation of Hamlet. Titled Scarlet, the film reimagines Shakespeare's tragedy as a fantasy tale set in a purgatorial wasteland, but critics say it lacks the coherence and emotional depth of the original.
The story follows Scarlet, a princess who is poisoned by her uncle Claudius after he murders her father King Amlet. She awakens in a barren netherworld where Claudius and his knights prowl, and must seek vengeance to avoid being consumed by a deeper 'nothingness'. Along the way, she is accompanied by Hijiri, a modern-day paramedic who serves as a voice of pacifism, though his philosophy is often clumsily delivered.
While the animation is praised for its 3D-augmented character designs and photorealistic landscapes, the film's narrative is criticised as clunky and overbearing. The purgatory realm feels arbitrary, with elements like a lightning-spewing leviathan appearing at convenient moments. The Elsinore scenes, rendered in sloppy 2D, add to the inconsistency.
Hosoda's previous films have explored alternate realities with grace, but Scarlet's philosophising – 'What is it to die? And what is it to live?' – fails to reach the lyrical heights of Shakespeare. Despite its visual beauty, the film is a frustrating miss from a director capable of much more.
