{"id":117424,"date":"2025-09-10T13:30:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=117424"},"modified":"2025-09-10T14:00:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:00:03","slug":"scrutiny-tiff-2025-hamnet-explores-lost-years-william-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/09\/10\/scrutiny-tiff-2025-hamnet-explores-lost-years-william-shakespeare\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | TIFF 2025: Hamnet Explores The \u2018Lost Years\u2019 Of William Shakespeare"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Actors
Actors Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in Oscar-winning director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao’s film Hamnet (Photo courtesy of TIFF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Very little is known about the personal life of William Shakespeare, other than a few basic details. In particular, the years between the birth of his twins Judith and Hamnet in 1585 in Stratford, and his emergence in London as a known actor and playwright in 1592 have left few historical clues.<\/p>\n

Oscar-winning director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao<\/strong> fills in the large gap with a story about love, family (traumatic and otherwise), and the relationship between the life lived by the artist, and the art they produce.<\/p>\n

The film is based on Maggie O\u2019Farrell<\/strong>\u2019s 2020 novel of the same name. While it examines the same events, the movie shifts the focus to Agnes, and ends, rather than with the beginnings of writing Hamlet in the book, to a full presentation of the play.<\/p>\n

The story is largely seen through the eyes of Shakespeare\u2019s wife, Agnes Hathaway (an Elizabethan era variant of Anne, also used in the book), who stays in Stratford as he travels back and forth to London for months at a time. She\u2019s played by Jessie Buckley<\/strong> as the emotional centre of the story.<\/p>\n

Buckley gives a luminous performance in the role of a woman who sees her husband juggling his work on and behind the stage in London and his family life as equally important elements of his life. Some scholars have speculated that there was a rift in their relationship, and the movie portrays a strained marriage.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s brought to a head by the death of their son, Hamnet, in 1596 at age 11. To Agnes\u2019 dismay, William returns to London to bury himself in work, leaving her to grieve with her surviving daughters.<\/p>\n

Hamnet is a variant of Hamlet that was considered the equivalent in the 16th century. Towards the end, the film changes course to veer from a familial drama to a vivid illustration of the intersections between life and art. Set in an entirely different story, the dialogue in Hamlet can certainly be construed as embodying the range of emotions the playwright must have felt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what writers do, after all.<\/p>\n

Historically speaking, we\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n

\"Hamnet
Hamnet director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao’s (Photo courtesy of TIFF)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Realities of 16th Century England<\/h3>\n

Director Zhao doesn\u2019t shy away from the harsh realities of life in Elizabethan England. It was a time of the plague; in fact, many scholars speculate that Shakespeare eventually retired from London\u2019s theatre scene back to Stratford in 1613 due to the rampant epidemic in the city.<\/p>\n

It was a factor that shaped their lives at every turn. In the film, Agnes states that she doesn\u2019t want to move the children to London because of \u201cthe air\u201d. Even outside the plague itself, it wasn\u2019t uncommon for a family to experience the deaths of three or more children from various illnesses.<\/p>\n

Notions of hygiene were centuries away. The movie shows us the stained clothes, the dirty hands and fingernails.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Paul Mescal<\/strong> is strong as Shakespeare, a role that has less screen time than Buckley\u2019s Agnes. He embodies the combination of family man and ambitious artist convincingly, and conveys an impressive depth of emotions.<\/p>\n

The film ends on a high note of realization \u2014 <\/em>how art can give voice to our stories in many different ways, and in doing so, help us to heal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a moving drama, and one that offers a glimpse into the links between the artist and their art, as seen from someone close to them rather than the artist themselves. The offside perspective is both surprising, and surprisingly effective in drawing the audience into the story.<\/p>\n

My only quibble would be to include a little more of the artistic voice through the film. It illuminates the story in a striking way.<\/p>\n