Diane Venora’s Gertrude deteriorates on the screen as she is confronted by her son, Hamlet, when he shows her what he believes she has done wrong. After this confrontation, Venora takes up drinking as a way of coping with what she has done. There is reason to believe that Venora was blind to what she had done up until Hamlet sheds light on it in the bedroom scene. Her character changes after the realization, and while she still stays loyal to Claudius, they exchange a brief moment where they lock eyes and Venora shows that she knows what he has done.
On the Left: Claudius and Gertrude watch the "Mousetrap" movie created by Hamlet. Both are visibly distressed by the production.
Hamlet Directed By Michael Almereyda (2000)
From Left - Kyle MacLachlan as Claudius and Diane Venora as Gertrude
Reviews
“She has been stripped of almost all her lines and is limited to her presence on the screen. Her Gertrude is radiantly sexual, like a woman who unexpectedly catches fire in her forties, and all of her heat is aimed at the conquering Claudius. But then comes the famous bedroom scene with Hamlet. Many Hamlets, including Olivier and Burton, brought obvious sexual overtones into this bedroom wrestling match. This Gertrude is shaken to the core, and it’s not about sex; it is about her denial. Shakespeare’s play does not tell us whether Gertrude believes Hamlet’s accusation. Recall that she too has watched the play within the play ("the lady doth protest too much")–did she get it? Does she pass Hamlet’s tirade off as "the very coinage of [his] brain"? She has a moment of remorse: "These words like daggers enter in my ears." But Gertrude certainly never turns on Claudius; indeed she is protective when later Laertes threatens him. And in the play as written there is no reason to believe in the duel scene that Gertrude knows she is drinking from the poisoned cup: "The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet" is her line. It seems unwitting; indeed many directors have made Gertrude into a witless sot who is never without a glass in her hand and has no idea what is rotten in Denmark. And Almereyda’s Gertrude also conspicuously takes to the bottle after her bedroom confrontation with Hamlet. In a scene designed to underline her drinking problem, she steps out of the limousine that drops Hamlet off at JFK airport for his banishment to England. Teetering on high heels and holding a glass, she kisses him good-bye and staggers back into the car. This Gertrude’s denial has been undercut by Hamlet’s confrontation. In the duel scene, she gives Claudius an unmistakable look of comprehension before she willfully drinks the poisoned wine. She is on to his poisons and her own complicity.”
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