Steven Spielberg made a surprise appearance at the London Film Festival premiere of Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” on Saturday night, praising the director for her devastating historical drama.
The audience at Royal Festival Hall erupted in cheers as Spielberg took the stage and explained how he first met Zhao at a dinner for Oscar-nominated directors, the year after she won the award for “Nomadland.”
“We became friends and we’d have lunch together at Amblin and I’m just amazed by her, you know,” Spielberg said before sharing what he thinks makes Zhao such a special filmmaker.
“I really believe the earth has a heartbeat. It’s a 24/7 seismic cycle, and all of us are connected to this heartbeat which happens right under our feet. But Chloé Zhao is connected to it in a profound way because it’s where her art comes from,” the legendary director continued. “It’s what she brings to set every day, it’s what she anoints and shares with her cast every day. And I really believe that when you see ‘Hamnet,’ you’ll be able to feel the seismic heartbeat of the earth because of Chloé Zhao.”
Spielberg is a producer on “Hamnet,” which tells the “powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, ‘Hamlet,’” according to the film’s synopsis. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare with Jessie Buckley as his wife, Agnes.
At the premiere, Mescal applauded Zhao as “one of the great witches of our day,” saying that “the atmosphere she established is one of the main reasons that people seem to be responding to the film.”
When it came time for Zhao to take the mic, she was visibly overcome with emotion. “I am very emotional, so I ask for your grace,” she began. “I feel immense gratitude because today we finally brought ‘Hamnet’ home.”
She continued: “Making a film on this island with this village has given me a deep feeling of community, of safety that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before. It helped me through a very difficult time in my life and I don’t take it for granted, especially in a world that is becoming increasingly lonesome.”
The director then led the audience in a breathing exercise before the screening started, leaving them with a mantra to keep in mind during the film: “All emotions are welcome.”
“Hamnet” world premiered at the Telluride Film Festival last month, where it made a huge splash and sparked Oscar buzz, and went on to win the People’s Choice Award at TIFF. In Variety‘s review, chief film critic Peter Debruge wrote that the film is “so emotionally raw as to be almost excruciating at times.”
“Jessie Buckley delivers a heroic performance as Shakespeare’s wife Agnes and the mother of his children — although as presented, she could be the mother of us all — the grounded, near-shamanic spirit forced to accept the death of her son, Hamnet,” the review continues. “Meanwhile, Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare, who pours his grief into “the Danish play,” but both actor and character are eclipsed by the feminine elements of this story.”
“Hamnet” will receive a limited theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada from Focus Features beginning Nov. 27 before expanding wide on Dec. 12. It will release in the U.K. on Jan. 9 via Universal Pictures.
