Essay on Production History of Hamlet

The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast two movies made about Hamlet. I will present and discuss different aspects of the version directed by Kenneth Branagh to that of Franco Zefirelli. During this paper you will be presented with my opinions in reference to determining which version of Hamlet best reflects the original text by Shakespeare. I will end this paper with my belief and explanation of which movie is true to the original play.

First they think that Hamlet is lovesick over Polonius' daughter, Ophelia, but after the king spies on Hamlet and Ophelia in conversation, he comes to the conclusion that Hamlet is mad, a threat to his rule, and must be sent to England to be executed.  This is a sign of the king's uneasiness over the mettle of Hamlet's anger which is directed towards him.  The last thing that Claudius wants is for Hamlet to be unhappy with him, in fear that Hamlet will overthrow him, discover the murder, or possibly kill him.  The king becomes increasingly nervous as time passes, making him a bit paranoid over Hamlet.

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.

The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare brilliantly recounts the tale of feigned and true madness as it delves into themes of betrayal, incest, revenge, moral corruption, and death. The play, set in the kingdom of Denmark, gives an account of how Prince Hamlet seeks exact revenge on his uncle Claudius, for murdering his own brother and Prince Hamlet’s father. After assassinating King Hamlet, Claudius succeeds the throne and becomes joined in holy matrimony to King Hamlet’s widow and Prince Hamlet’s mother, Queen

Hamlet realizes that he is dying and that he now has the excuse to kill Claudius

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

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

Shakespeare’s Hamlet has countlessly been formatted into film depictions of the play. Each film seemed to be on one end of the spectrum of either being closely interpreted or completely remodeled a different idea of what Hamlet is. The film version of Hamlet released in 2000 seems to follow closely to the play in some aspects, yet at the same time having its own unique identity Despite there being many differences with the play Hamlet and the film adaptation of Hamlet (2000) by Michael Almereyda there are three categories that really stand out, those are the character portrayal, interrelationship between the characters, and some of the essential themes differ as well. Although there are many differences, one aspect that remains the same is the dialogue of the characters which stays true to the Shakespearean dialect.

     In this play, the way others interpret Hamlets behavior is that he is insane. With Hamlet acting this way, he is driving everyone else insane because they cant figure out what is wrong with him. The way his mother interprets his behavior, at first, is that he is holding a grudge against her for what he has done. As the play progresses, Polonius tells Gertrude “Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with…” which proves that Hamlet’s condition is worsening in the eyes of everyone. As she speaks to Hamlet, she feels that her life is in danger due to the way that Hamlet is speaking to her. “These words like daggers enter mind ears…” is what Gertrude says to Hamlet because of the utter disrespect and the manner in which he is acting. The way Ophelia views Hamlet is that he turned into a different person. In Act II, scene i, she believes that if he really loved her, he wouldn’t have grabbed her by the wrists, held her hard, stared at her,

Despite being told by the ghost of his father that his uncle was the cause of his father’s death, Hamlet was not hasty with his actions. He even refused to kill Claudius when he was praying, for fear that doing so would grant him immediate access to heaven. While such thorough thinking causes Hamlet to be slow to action, as he was while exacting revenge for his father’s death, it would prove useful in times of war. As opposed to using solely his emotions, Hamlet looked deep into what everyone else around him did to try and prove what he believed. For example, Hamlet used a play to discover if Claudius was responsible for the death of the king as opposed to acting on the emotions that he felt towards Claudius, which may have caused Hamlet to react much more rashly than called for, simply because he was upset that his mother married his uncle so soon. Instead, he waited, proving that he had some sense of

“When did it all start, you ask, this job of ours, how did it come about, where, when? Well, I’d say it really got started around about a thing called the Civil War. Even though our rule-book claims it was founded earlier. The fact is we didn’t get along well until photography came into its own. Then — motion pictures in the early twentieth century. Radio. Television. Things began to have mass.”

The act of revenge never fails to accomplish Shakespeare’s goal of keeping the audience in their seats. Hamlet, William Shakespeare’s most well written play carries the theme of revenge or redemption throughout the play. Redemption is defined to be as the desire to undo an injury or a wrongdoing. Many characters felt that they needed to redeem themselves however in doing so, they ended up facing death. For some characters, revenge had sprouted from their urges to redeem themselves. Revenge is defined as the desire to repay an individual for their injury or wrongdoing. A famous American novelist, John Irving has mentioned in work The World According to Garp, that it is a life-redeeming work in which everybody dies. Hamlet,

William Shakespeare composed the play Hamlet, around 1600-1601. This play, named after his only son, in my opinion is one of Shakespeare’s best works. The play shows the literal as well as the realistic sides of people during this culture as well as those generations to come. During the play, Hamlet’s character went through several different transitions. In the beginning he was shown as a child, by his actions and curiosity, but towards the end of play his manhood begins surface and he begins to be aggressive at getting what he wants.

Hamlet is a play that has distinguishing attributes, but many people have different views on how it plays out. In the film industry, many directors have tried to bring this play alive through how they imagined it would be. This paper will be of Hamlet through the eyes of two different directors from films made in the 90’s and the components that make each one different from each other. I will start off writing about the difference in setting and appearance, then move to difference between each Hamlet from the films, and finally, go on to display differences between a few

Prince Hamlet has been acting strange for a while and characters are beginning to wonder. One day he walks into Ophelia’s room and scares her. Ophelia confides in her father, Polonius, and he believes love caused the prince to go mad. Polonius informs the King and they devise a plan to see if Polonius was