It hasn't even been released yet, and the buzz around Hamnet is reaching fever pitch. Having been screened at various film festivals to great acclaim, Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel is being hotly tipped for Oscars success, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal's performances being particularly of note. Mescal plays Shakespeare, and Buckley portrays his wife Agnes, otherwise known as Anne Hathaway, who is the emotional heart and soul of the story. The film has also just been nominated for six Golden Globes, which often acts as a bellwether for the rest of awards season.
Having seen the film at this year's London Film Festival (there was not a dry eye in the house by the time the credits rolled), I felt that the world created for the film felt incredibly lived-in, immersing the audience in an Arcadian, yet realistic-feeling image of Elizabethan England. Moments of magical realism coexist alongside the story's themes of loss and grief. Along with elements like the costumes and script, the film's sets and use of beautiful countryside locations are a huge part of bringing this historic vision of England to life. Scenes in lush green forests and quaint villages contrast with the dirt and fog of the streets of 16th-century London, and a magnificently realised, period-accurate Globe Theatre. Below, we explore some of the Hamnet filming locations that production designer Fiona Crombie and the crew utilised to take the story from page to screen.
Herefordshire
Though Shakespeare is synonymous with his birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, the Warwickshire market town was not used for filming. The majority of shooting took place around Herefordshire, close to the Welsh border.
Dating from the early 1600s, this timber-framed farmhouse stands in for Hewlands, Anne Hathaway's cottage (which is open to the public as a tourist attraction). Cwmmau is owned by the National Trust, and Hamnet is the first time it has been used as a filming location. With its distinctive presence in the film, it's sure to not be the last time. The fees from the location shoot have allowed conservation work to take place on the building, and it is available to rent as holiday accommodation via the National Trust.
The delightfully preserved ‘black and white’ village of Weobley was used for Stratford-upon-Avon in Hamnet. The streets of striking timber-framed buildings provide the perfect backdrop to these scenes. Certain on-camera additions were made to enhance the story's 16th century setting, such as wooden stools and tables, straw and mud to cover the modern street running through the village, and dirtying down the pristine white painted buildings.
Gloucestershire
The film, and in particular the central character of Agnes, have a deep, spiritual connection to nature. Agnes only feels truly at home in the forests around her house, foraging for herbal remedies and even choosing to give birth there. Her steadfast refusal to move her family to London because of her husband's work propels much of how the story unfolds. These idyllic scenes of Buckley and Mescal surrounded by greenery were filmed at the Lydney Park Estate. Many productions have filmed on the estate over the years, from Doctor Who to Sex Education.
London
The modern iteration of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was unfortunately not used as one of the Hamnet filming locations, so the theatre seen in the film's sweepingly emotional final scenes was a designed and built set. It is in fact a recreation of the first version of the theatre from Shakespeare's time, which burned down in 1613. As production designer Fiona Crombie explained to Condé Nast Traveller, ‘I think a lot of people will watch the movie and say, “That’s not The Globe I know”, and yet it is The Globe that a young Shakespeare would have known.’ The team did extensive research to make their set as accurate to the time as possible.
The majority of the other London scenes in the film, where both the bubonic plague and Shakespeare's career flourish, were shot at Charterhouse in Farringdon. Charterhouse Square is a site rich in history in central London, with well-preserved Tudor and medieval buildings, including the Charterhouse itself, a charitable almshouse providing residential accommodation to over-60s.
The scene where Mescal stands at night looking out across the Thames was filmed at the ‘beach’ at Durham Wharf near Greenwich, with some movie magic involved to recreate the skyline of Elizabethan London that is so vastly different to the one of today.
Hamnet is released in UK cinemas on 9th January.
