Some things need to be seen. And even if you’re not a huge fan of Star Wars, this short fan-film directed by Quebec’s Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer and starring cosplayer David Blouin (with voice work by Anton Golikov) is worth watching. Called Squad Leader TD-73028 Soliloquy, the short is a strong mashup of Star Wars visuals and the work of William Shakespeare — specifically Hamlet’s soliloquy.
The film’s blurb describes the scene as “…Hamlet’s famous soliloquy…presented as the inner voice of a Stormtrooper, demonstrating the way Shakespeare’s language still echoes down to us through the centuries and remains as relevant today as ever—not to mention as well in a galaxy far, far away…”
The result is a surprisingly powerful presentation that calls out to pain and mortality. So much so that we’d be okay with L’Écuyer directing more Star Wars-themed Shakespeare. It’s also a testament of the enduring nature of the Bard’s work, that the 16th Century playwright’s work is able to transition so seamlessly into a futuristic (Past-future? Future-history? We’ve never been really clear on that) setting.
The strangest bit of this film is where it came from. L’Écuyer explained to The Verge that he got the idea after seeing an image of David Blouin in his Stormtrooper getup. He mentioned to the cosplayer that he would make a Shakespearian short with the costume almost as a joke. Three years later and the punchline has arrived with a lot more punch than expected. We reckon Bill would be pleased with the result. Once we explained Star Wars to him and stopped him from screaming at traffic.
Source: Maxime-Claude L’Écuyer (Vimeo)