Elsinore review: Andrew Scott will break your heart in new AIDS drama

Running time: 111 minutes.Not yet rated.

In theaters Nov.20.The powerful words “remember me” are spoken several times throughout “Elsinore,” the AIDS drama starring an unforgettable Andrew Scott that’s playing in the Toronto International Film Festival.They are, of course, the urgent request of the ghost of King Hamlet, the Shakespearean monarch who was murdered by his brother Claudius and, from the grave, orders his son to avenge his death.“Hamlet” plays a central role in the beautifully acted “Elsinore,” if the title didn’t already give that away.

But the command has a dual meeting in its setting of late-1980s England.Young men are dying and fear being forgotten. There is a frequent argument made, and one I certainly have, that the onset of the AIDS epidemic and generic coming-out stories inordinately dominate gay movies.

That’s still as true as ever.Therefore, if you’re going to tell another one, it’s essential to find a unique way in order for a film to avoid cliche and have any poignancy.That’s what director Simon Stone’s “Elsinore” managed to do with its choice of subject: Ian Charleson, the Scottish “Chariots of Fire” star and classical actor who died from causes related to AIDS at age 40 in 1990, just seven weeks after playing Hamlet onstage for 24 historic performances at London’s National Theatre.Sick, weak and in agonizing pain, Charleson willed his failing body to rehearse and take on the titanic part — the most mentally and physically taxing in the entire Western theatrical canon — because that phrase rang out in his own head: “Remember me.” That’s a high-stakes personal struggle, as well as a complicated one.

In his hard-fought battle for life and legacy, Ian is also trying to prove to himself that he needn’t fade away and disappear.Still, Charleson’s disease was not made publicly known until after he died.

For better or worse, he didn’t want it to distract from his acting.You can feel a pa...