To Be or Not To Be

Olivier's Hamlet: This version is really old fashioned. It's in black and white, and has a very dated feel to it.I didn't  enjoy it because the actor's emotions didn't match what I thought they would be. I didn't think it was believable. The text is already hard enough to understand, and the way the actor was talking didn't make me want to pay attention to what he was saying. It was hard to stay focused and interested. He was really calm and emotionless. It was just too dull in my opinion. I did like the fact that he was on a mountain top, it makes sense to be somewhere peaceful and to be alone while contemplating serious things.

Zeffirelli's Hamlet: I like this version a lot. It really seems like he's doing SERIOUS thinking and contemplating. His emotions are so much more believable than Olivier's version. I like the fact that he's speaking in the room with dead people in it.The lighting played a big part in this too. I liked when it shone in his face when he referred to God.


Branagh's Hamlet: I really enjoyed Branagh's emotion in this scene. It was creepy and believable. I enjoyed the use of props. The knife and the mirror gave me chills. I really liked the mirror also because it makes it obvious that he's talking to himself. I also liked when he held the knife to himself.


Almeyreda's Hamlet: This scene takes place in a video store. I have such a hard time taking that seriously. I really like Hawke's emotions. I like how sarcastic he is, and the way he's speaking makes it easy to understand what he means. I noticed that the director puts a lot of subliminal messages n this scene and the movie as a whole. Throughout this scene, there is a TV showing images of fire and explosions. Hamlet walks through the action section throughout a lot of his soliloquy. I see that as representing how all these terrible things happen to him, and he hasn't taken action towards them yet.

The First Ghost Scene

   In Zeffirelli's version, there is less dramatic music and the tone is a lot darker. I like Gibson as Hamlet as opposed to Branagh, just because I think Hamlet's personality is a little more likeable,understandable, and humorous. I think the actor that plays old Hamlet has a very different emotion compared to Branagh's version. In Branagh's version, old Hamlet is very angry. In Zeffirelli's,old Hamlet is more sad and heartbroken.

   I really like the flashbacks in Branagh's version. Zeffirelli's version is super colorful while Branagh's version is more dark and gloomy. The lighting, costumes, and music have a lot to do with that.Overall, I love the modern setting of Almeryda's version. I love Ethan Hawke as Hamlet because he looks a lot younger than the other two, and I envisioned Hamlet looking more like him than the other two. Although I love Almereyda's version because it is a lot easier to relate it to the current time, I feel like it is a lot less eventful.
     Old Hamlet seems to have similar emotion to the one in Zeffirelli's version.
If I was to interpret this scene through film, I'd make it very dark and creepy. It's a ghost scene, it's meant to be scary. I would have Old Hamlet displaying emotions like Branagh's version and I would show Hamlet as being very angry and frustrated with the world and his life. I would put it in a modern setting like Almereyda's version, but I would make it suspenseful with flashbacks like from Branagh's version.