"To Be or Not To Be..."

In Olivier’s movie of Hamlet, Laurence Olivier played Hamlet.  The “To Be or Not To Be…” scene was made so Hamlet would sit on a cliff overlooking the ocean and crashing waves.  The speech was said in two ways.  It first began with Hamlet saying it aloud, and then it changed into him saying the speech in his mind.  It switched back and forth throughout the scene.  The way the speech was delivered didn’t give me that “wow” factor.  The speech itself has a lot of meaning but when it was said in this film, I feel as it there was no emotion added to it to make it stronger.  Throughout the scene I felt as if Hamlet (Olivier) was dreaming and he was just letting thoughts run through his head.  Even though I thought the performance could have been better, there were good symbols in the scene.  The waves crashing represented, in my opinion, death because it kept splashing against the rocks, getting closer and closer to Hamlet, trying to make him choose death.  The dagger Hamlet pulled out of the cloth also represented death.  The cliff gave Hamlet the decision on whether or not he wanted to kill himself because it was a good place to jump from and die in the sharp rocks pointing out of the ocean.

The Zeffirelli version of Hamlet is one of my favorites.  It takes place in a catacomb which is a place where people are buried.  It’s ironic that in the speech the main question is to live or die and of all places, Hamlet is giving his speech in a catacomb, which represents death.  The reason why I like this version is because Mel Gibson, who plays Hamlet, portrays anger and sadness while he gives the speech.  His acting is more believable than Olivier’s acting.  With Mel Gibson playing Hamlet so well, no background music is needed.  Mel Gibson gives enough dramatic feel to it.

Branaugh’s version of Hamlet is interesting.   Hamlet says his speech in a whisper as he walks towards a mirror.  Hamlet’s tone of voice adds anger and suspense to the scene.  The music that gradually gets loud which corresponds to Hamlet getting closer to the mirror also increases the suspense.  Once Hamlet gets close to the mirror he “whips” out his dagger and points it to the mirror.  He then gets closer to the mirror and he holds the dagger to his temple.  Both of these actions made me think that he might use the dagger to kill Claudius or kill himself.

The setting of the Almereyda’s version was blockbuster.  When the scene first started, I was puzzled that the director chose blockbuster as the setting.  This threw me off even though it is the modern version of Hamlet.  Hamlet’s tone of voice as well as the music made suspense in the scene.  The director had many things in the scene that represented something.  When Hamlet would walk down aisles, the aisles would be titled a type of movie.  The type of movie labels corresponded to what Hamlet was talking about at the moment.  The TV’s that were on the wall how people shooting at each other and things blowing up.  This can foreshadow what Hamlet might do later on in the play/movie.  In my opinion, it shows that Hamlet might fight someone or himself.  Another thing is that Hamlet kept walking up and down the aisles as if he was looking for something but he didn’t know what.  It’s as if Hamlet was looking for an answer or if there were multiple answers and he didn’t know what to pick.  One thing I found strange was that Hamlet was alone in a place where there is usually many people.  I can’t make out what that might have meant but I might soon…

The First Ghost Scene

In the “first version”, I believe the actors portrayed the characters well, it was believable.  Throughout the first ghost scene, the lighting was dark and the music added a great sense of suspense.  The dialogue between Hamlet played by Mel Gibson and the ghost of his father was exchanged in a slow clear pace verses the harsh fast pace used in the “second version”.  I believe the dialogue was said the way it was said because they were in an open ground in front of the castle.  The slow pace helped viewers understand what was being said.  It also made it seem as if the ghost was upset about what happened to him and what is happening now (in the movie).

The “second version” directed by Kenneth Branagh on the other hand made the same dialogue have more of an angry emotion.  The ghost of Hamlet’s father was screaming his lines to Hamlet in a tone that I took as anger.  In this scene, Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh) and the ghost are in the woods which can be a reason as to why the ghost is screaming.  The lighting in this scene was very dark.  The background music make the scene even more intense because it was loud just like the ghost’s voice.  In both the first and second versions, the setting was set in the same time period that William Shakespeare wrote it.  The only difference is that the second version had flash backs to help the view visualize what happened to Hamlet’s father.

The “third version” directed by Michael Almereyda is a modern version of Hamlet.  The ghost scene is not the same as the first and second version.  Instead of it being dark and gloomy, the room Hamlet and the ghost are in is filled with dim lighting.  One thing that is drastically different in this scene is that the ghost uses a cloth (prop) to help you understand how he died.

Overall, I agree with all the director’s decisions as to how they interpreted Shakespeare’s book, Hamlet.  If I were I director I would make the ghost come across as upset and angry that his brother killed him and that his wife married him in such a short time after his dead.  I want the viewers to understand that the ghost is devastated and that they should always watch their back and make sure that their partner is the one for them.