Hamnet
I saw Hamnet today with my wife. It was emotionally difficult, but worth it.
If you are not familiar, Hamnet is a movie from Director Chloe Zhao that is adopted from the historical fiction novel of the same name by Maggie O'Farrell. The movie, as does the book, covers the relationship between William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (Anne) from their meeting through the loss of their 11 year-old son, Hamnet. As I said, this is a work of historical fiction. Little is known about their actual relationship other than (1) Shakespeare and someone named Anne or Agnes were married; (2) they had three kids, an older daughter, and girl and boy fraternal twins - one of whom was named Hamnet, and that (3) Hamnet died when he was 11 years old.
The film is beautifully shot, acted, and scored. It won best picture at the Golden Globes and was recently nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Jessie Buckley as Agnes knocks it out of the park and is clearly the front runner for the Best Actress award.
By modern expectations, the film is a little slow. There are a lot of scenes in the woods starting at each other and nature (Terrence Malik-ish) followed by high-intensity emotional scenes that drain you. This is a movie you have to pay attention to. Nothing is obvious, and the subject matter is difficult. Too difficult sometimes.
A large part of the movie is about grief, and what happens to a family and a marriage after a child passes. My wife and I, unfortunately, have some experience with this, having lost our 21 year old son almost a decade ago. I am not going to recount our grief journey here. One, we are still on it. And two, everyone's is different. But rest assured, you will be on a grief journey whether you like it or not after the death of a child. And it is not an easy trip.
So my experience has colored my impressions of Hamnet. As they should have. In the end, i found it reaching parts of me that had not been reached in quite some time. And despite the emotion, that is not a bad thing. For although you will never forget, sometimes it is good to remember.
Love and Be Loved.
Rob