Hamlet Comparison Essay: Movie vs. Play

In Shakespeare’s, “The Tragedy of Hamlet”, the protagonist, Hamlet, is a highly intelligent and perceptive man. His life turns awry after the death of his father and Hamlet faces his greatest moral dilemma. Likewise, Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” chronicles the life of a young Indian boy stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days with only his faith to keep him going. Both Piscine Patel and Prince Hamlet were deeply religious, however, their outlooks and philosophies on life were vastly different. Hamlet struggled to trust others, having only a true confidant in Horatio. Whilst Pi on the other hand, befriends everyone, even those who have opposing beliefs to him.

When ever a director basis their movie on a book or play they always put their own spin on the original piece. When Kenneth Branagh and Gregory Doran both made films on Hamlet the presentation of the movies were different. All directors have a style to the way they film; Branagh and Doran both have different filming styles that portray Hamlet in a different light.

Many literary works can be compared due to vast amounts of similarities between theme and characters; Hamlet and the Lion King are two literary works in which character and theme are surprisingly similar throughout each work. The Lion King is thought to be just an animated children’s film, however, it is in fact a modern translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The main characters in the Lion King are definite parallels to those in Hamlet. Along with the main characters and plot details, the stories were similar in the representation of the secondary characters. "Here's my little secret, I killed Mufasa.” The theme in Hamlet can be compared to the Walt Disney movie The Lion King. Hamlet and Simba are betrayed by their uncles whom murder their

To play one of Shakespeare’s most complex roles successfully on stage or on screen has been the aspiration of many actors. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been the focus on various accounts throughout the 20th Century, each actor attempting to bring something unique and unmarked to the focal character. Franco Zeffirelli and Kenneth Branagh, both film directors, introduce varying levels of success on the screen through downright differences in ways of translation and original ideas. Zeffirelli’s much shorter interpretation of the film is able to convey the importance of Hamlet as a masterwork by using modern approaches to film but still capturing the traditional work behind Shakespeare’s well-known play.

Over the course of the past fifty years there have been many cinematic productions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, some of which remain true to the text while others take greater liberties with the original format. Director Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 production of Hamlet was true to Shakespeare’s work in that the film’s dialogue was delivered word or word as it is presented in the text. In contrast, Franco Zeffirelli conducted his 1990 production of Hamlet in a much more liberal direction in which lines, scenes and characters were omitted from the film. I argue that from the perspective of an individual with moderate knowledge in Shakespearian literature, that the best film versions of Hamlet are those that take the most liberties from the text. I

Directors Laurence Olivier, Franco Zeffirelli, and Kenneth Branagh all took on the role to create their own film versions of Hamlet. William Shakespeare’s play of Hamlet is interpreted and adapted in various ways, thus all three versions show several similarities and differences between the characters. For example, the portrayal of Hamlet in all three films displays resemblance through their representation of Hamlet’s eccentric behaviour. As portrayed in the original play, the Hamlets display signs of depression and suicidal tendencies. This can be seen through their somber and self-loathing soliloquies, such that they all contemplate suicide during their “to be or not to be” soliloquies, but are too much of a coward to do so. In addition,

The movies Hamlet and The Lion King have many similarities and differences? Hamlet is by William Shakespeare and The Lion King by Walt Disney and Don Hahn. Scar is the murderer of Mufasa and Claudius is the murderer of King Hamlet. Nala is Simba’s lover and Ophelia is Hamlet’s lover. Simba is the main character and Hamlet is the main character in both movies. Hamlet and The Lion King are very similar and are different to each other. Hamlet will take revenge on his uncle Claudius and Simba will help take back the kingdom Pride Rock.

In the movie Lion King it compares and contrast a lot with Hamlet. Such as Scar leading Mufasa to his death,the brothers taking over, and both of the attempts to kill the king’s sons. Claudius and Scar have very similar mentality’s. In both of the movies Claudius and Scar don't want to be seen as the bad ones so they are being mischievous ,lying, and using others for their dirty work.

In the Kenneth Branagh film, the interpretation it conveyed was most appropriate to how Shakespeare wrote in the book. Hamlet's anger and rage was best shown through this version. The setting is in a Victorian age theatre where the performance of the play was appropriate to the time in which Shakespeare wrote. This version was the version which was not shortened. It was most similar to Hamlet in Shakespeare; it was connected best with the original work of Shakespeare.

To be or not to be is the important question. As someone that read Shakespeare's Hamlet and watched both Zeffirelli’s 1990 version of Hamlet and Branagh’s 1996 version of Hamlet, only one movie can take the spot for the best movie that portrays Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Although Zeffirelli’s version of Hamlet may appeal to the audience due to shorter view time, Branagh’s version of Hamlet earns the spot for better portrayal due to its emphasis on a darker tone through the use of color, emphasizing the desire to commit revenge by creating a more frightening ghost confrontation scene, and including significant details missing from Zeffirelli's version of Hamlet. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a revenge and tragedy story set in Middle Age Denmark.

To begin, Claudius killed king Hamlet. When Hamlet met up with the ghost, the ghost told him that Claudius killed him (king Hamlet). In addition to that, when Hamlet sets up the play, Claudius leaves because of the poison scene and how that reminds him of killing King Hamlet. In this quote, "'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, - A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark - Is by a forged process of my death - Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, - The serpent that did sting thy father's life - Now wears his crown" (I.iiiii.35-40). This quote explains how

The director that does the best job presenting act three is Kenneth Branagh. In Branagh’s act threethe tone of the movie is much more positive and the scenes are far more colorful than the other two versions. The colorfulness does a better job of portraying act three since everybody other than Hamlet is having funand not grieving the death of the king. This is where the other two versions aren’t as great. In those two interpretations, the film is darker and depressing which does not encompass what is actually happening in the story.

The position of King is coveted by Claudius and Macbeth. Claudius is the younger brother of Hamlet. He is very envious of his brother’s life because of his position of king and wife. This motivates him to kill Hamlet. Claudius kills the king by poisoning him while he is sleeping. The ghost of Hamlet says, “Sleeping within my orchard, my custom always of the afternoon, upon my secure hour thy uncle stole with juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did he pour.” (I, v, 65-68) This example is explaining how Hamlet did not die from the bite of a snake, but from the hand of his own brother. Claudius ambition is to not only steal the king’s power, but also his wife, Gerturde. Claudius

Many movies are adaptations of literature. Plenty times, many elements of the story change such as the plots, characters, and settings. These changes may either enhance or distort the original text. Depending on these changes the audience may either feel that they like the adapted version better, or the audience may feel that the film has changed to a point that it renders it unrecognizable. In the movie adaptation did have some notable changes that changed to the story. However, though the movie did stray from the original text, I liked the movie adaptation better.

Hamlet directed by Michael Almereyda took a modern approach to the classic Shakespearean play. The modern version is set in the year 2000 in New York City a big stretch from the original play. Denmark is not a country anymore but instead a corporation. The movie still follows the original plot in the play. With the evil uncle now becoming CEO of the company, after his brother's sudden death. He marries his widow wife while his son Hamlet begins to see his father's ghost.