John Caird's Vision for His Production of Hamlet Essay

Hamlet is very private with his grief. His mourning for his father is long and drawn out. He mulls over how he is going to act and defers action until a perfect moment.

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.

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 William Shakespeare’s Hamlet there are many unanswered questions such as if Hamlet is really mad or if it is just an act. There are many film adaptations which use their movie elements in order to hint towards the answer of these questions. In Gregory Doran’s film interpretation Hamlet starring David Tennant, David Tennant truly shows the raw emotions of Hamlet. He shows how Hamlet feels through his movements and facial expressions. These little things allow the viewer to see the true meaning and intention behind Hamlet’s words.

Hamlet (2009), starring David Tennant, is the production I decided to preview. Coming from someone who has never read, or even heard about Hamlet, I found this play to be astonishing. The dialect of this text was difficult to comprehend, but following along with the closed captions made it burdensome. Going into this production, my hopes were set too high and unmistakably, I was a tad disappointed. Most of the scenes were based in the Elsinore castle, containing tall black walls and gleamingly polished black floors. The lustrous darkness created shadows, making it challenging to see the film. I found the wardrobe of Hamlet in “To be, or not to be” (3.1.3-4) to be rather distracting. Watching this scene I found myself puzzled at the fact that a prince, let alone Prince Hamlet would be wearing an orange, muscle man t-shirt, and nothing on his feet.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most produced plays of all time. Written during the height of Shakespeare’s fame—1600—Hamlet has been read, produced, and researched by more individuals now than during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. It is has very few stage directions, because Shakespeare served as the director, even though no such official position existed at the time. Throughout its over 400 years of production history, Hamlet has seen several changes. Several textual cuts have been made, in addition to the liberties taken through each production. In recent years, Hamlet has seen character changes, plot changes, gender role reversals, alternate endings, time period shifts, and thematic alternations, to

Branaugh interpreted Hamlet as a man placed in difficult circumstances, trying to outwit perpetual scheming and sort out what his plan of action should be. He believed that Hamlet’s fatal flaw was his over thinking. The message of his father’s ghost “to avenge his most foul and unnatural murder” (Shakespeare 1.5.25) presses Hamlet’s intellect to its limits. Hamlet wants to do the right thing. The suspense is in trying to decide right from wrong. Hamlet despite wishing to avoid the “morally repulsive action” (Aichinger, par 4) of revenge, he feels the duty to avenge his father’s death. As Foster says, “Hamlet has, after all, been a student of theology at Wittenberg, and his knowledge complicates the situation (Foster, par. 14). Hamlet’s environment is one filled with secrecy and subterfuge and Branaugh uses imagery to convey this sense. The imagery he uses includes black and white tiled floors that create the illusion of a chess board. Chess is a game of strategy and cunning that reflects the deceit and strategy that are so prevalent around Hamlet. There are many two way mirrors and hidden passages, and some doors are even disguised as bookshelves. In the film we see the King

Hamlet is a suspenseful play that introduces the topic of tragedy. Throughout the play, Hamlet displays anger, uncertainty, and obsession with death. Although Hamlet is unaware of it, these emotions cause the mishaps that occur throughout the play. These emotions combined with his unawareness are the leading basis for the tragic hero’s flaws. These flaws lead Hamlet not to be a bad man, but a regular form of imperfection that comes along with being human.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story about a king that was murdered by his brother and the prince has been asked by his father?s ghost to avenge his murder. The original story line has been altered a few times since it has been written. The original Hamlet the play and the altered Hamlet the movie are shown differently in many different ways. Hamlet the movie with Mel Gibson shows different things than the play, but there are three major differences between the two. The three major differences are in the way both of the productions start out, differences in the scene that the players put on a play, and differences in the way the productions end.

murder in a rash mood. It is not seen by Gertrude. It tries to urge

When you think of William Shakespeare, Hamlet is the first thing most people think of, as his work. Hamlet is also a classic example of a tragedy. In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usually dies at the end. All good pieces of literature written way back when, are usually tragedies.

How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to

Often, pieces of literature have been analyzed and made into a motion picture in the hopes of further developing the themes presented in the work. Though the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, has been interpreted and converted into a film numerous times by different directors, Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation particularly captured the essence of Hamlet and helped the audience truly understand the events that transpired in Act Three Scene Two of Hamlet. It is in this act, Hamlet plan to reveal King Claudius’ treachery is played out. Hamlet exposes the king through adding an extra sixteen lines to the play which depicts him killing Hamlet’s father. With the directions Hamlet gave to the actors, Hamlet is able to make the audience recognize the king’s

The tragedy of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most popular and greatest tragedy, presents his genius as a playwright and includes many numbers of themes and literary techniques. In all tragedies, the main character, called a tragic hero, suffers and usually dies at the end. Prince Hamlet is a model example of a Shakespearean tragic hero. Every tragedy must have a tragic hero. A tragic hero must own many good traits, but has a flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. If not for this tragic flaw, the hero would be able to survive at the end of the play. A tragic hero must have free will and also have the characteristics of being brave and noble. In addition, the audience must feel some sympathy for the tragic hero.

Shakespeare has done an absolutely fantastic job with capturing true human characteristics with Hamlet. Hamlet bounces back and forth with his emotions so inconsistently that one never knows what he is about to do next. One moment he is rational, and the next he is not. One moment he wants to plan things out, and then he does things