"Grand Hotel Denmark", a wonder of filmed theater.

I asked myself “Who is Mike Sauvica?” while my eyes were glued to the screen. I learned later that he is a man educated in London who does theater in Bucharest. I would have to learn much more in order to appreciate his creative universe. He directed "Grand Hotel Denmark", a film that is theater, but perhaps it is better not to classify.
I didn’t see the play in the theater, but the screen took me there. It doesn’t evade the signals of a live performance, it uses them. He doesn’t adapt the theater to the cinema, he films it. And he does it in the best way. Let’s say then that what you see on a stage, or on a screen, surprises you. It is a wonder that his creativity surprises me, particularly at a time when it is so difficult to be surprised. 

Saying it’s an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" won’t help you understand much. Yes, it is an adaptation, but so novel and so captivating that it breaks several schemes. The scenography and costumes, I dare say, are as if they didn’t exist. They are there with the simple concept of "is what it is", but the light, the music and the choreography, discover a hell of unusual beauty, totally magical. The actors seem to be controlled by a remote control that simulates the precision of chaos. It’s all direction, but there are other highlights.

Cătălin Gheorghe in the role of the prince of Denmark, is more than that. He’s a man trying to unravel the tremendous conflict with his father. He acts for a prize. The rest of the actors achieve perfect choreography. But there is something more interlaced. There is a message of despair that is a growl and can be a cry in this adaptation to the modern times we share.

It is not to be missed.