Vysotsky as Hamlet
Vysotskii as Hamlet (1971)
Description: Vysotskii's most famous role in the Taganka Theater was Hamlet, which premiered in 1971 under the direction of Iurii Liubimov. In Boris Pasternak's great translation, Hamlet is an embodiment of the nobility and desperation of the Russian intelligentsia. Vysotskii's passionate embrace of the myth brought him the love of Russia's "thinking reed," and was perhaps a harbinger of his own fate. Taken from a 1980 production for Polish TV, this clip features his performances of Hamlet's famous monologue.