Let’s rewind a few years back. In the middle of the pandemic lockdown, there were countless people finding solace in video games. Some were discovering it for the first time, and some were re-entering their comfort zones. This was also a boon of scrappy, “do it yourself” kinds of art, whether it was via YouTube or any other corner of the internet. For those whose livings had been made performing in front of others, the video game streaming world could’ve seemed like a similar field to enter. But then there are those whose desire to entertain found less conventional outlets for expression.
Sam Crane is a British stage actor locked away at home in 2021 during the U.K.’s pandemic lockdown, where he spends a chunk of his time playing Grand Theft Auto Online with his friend and fellow actor Mark Oosterveen. The pair happen upon an ampitheater area in the game and become inspired to put on a production of Hamlet entirely within Grand Theft Auto Online, including costumes, locations, and casting from the random people they encounter throughout the game. Their adventure is documented in the game itself by their friend and documentarian Pinny Grylls (“Hear My Voice”).
It makes for a truly interesting tale and take on the art of performing. It's not the first work to comment on the idea of being an entertainer within the Pandemic, and it won’t be the last. But the absurdist nature of the game world creates a farcical backdrop for their old-fashioned tale of a group of people coming together to put on a show. Ironically, the satirical nature of Grand Theft Auto matches much of the satirical nature of much of Shakespeare’s original work, providing an oddly symmetrical backdrop to this tale of absurdist perseverance. Whether its watching someone arrive at the auditions by ramming their car into a wall and emerging unharmed, or having a mute figure dressed as an alien fly above the rehearsals, the sheer seriousness with which this lunacy is treated would make the Bard proud.
Oddly enough, there’s not much to critique or praise with the film from a production standpoint. It’s a Machinima style project, which means it's entirely shot within a video game, utilizing the inherent constraints and strengths of the game in the style. If you’re familiar with the web series “Red vs. Blue,” that is also a Machinima production. As a professional film then, it comes off as bizarrely amateurish, with the visuals and most music and background sounds coming from the game itself, not from the film’s creative team.
Things are at their best when they’re truly just flying by the seat of their pants. A handful of moments appear to be reenactments of events and conversations that either happened outside of the game or while not being recorded. Those are far less compelling and show more cracks in the facade compared to the whiz-bang improvised nature of the rest of the documentary.
“Grand Theft Hamlet” is a rickety, shaggy film that is dripped in amateurish filmmaking techniques, and yet comes out the other side as some Frankenstein creation of video game and documentary. The sense of hope and desire to just perform bursts from every seam, and the entire film exudes a charm that makes it impossible to dislike, even if the final product could have clearly been a bit tighter and well put together. 3.5/5
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