after watching the presentation of Hamlet by Mel Gibson I noticed that this is a very different description of the play than that I had pictured while reading Hamlet. The play that I read left many details to the imagination and this play I watched had all the details placed into the play but some of them were quite different to what I expected. There are many flaws with this production and the directors views of how the events happened. Hamlet was acted out very well in this production. There are places where I was confused however.
Hamlet seemed like he was actually mad for most of the movie and not acting mad as much. He was genuinely mad whereas in the play he was acting mad. The part where he interrupts into Ophelia’s room and grasps her neck. He was just acting mad in the play we read but in the production I had watched it seemed that he was genuinely mad and there was no indication that he was acting it. He has no mention of acting mad so if the play wasn’t read before I watched the play I would completely believe that Hamlet had gone mad. He doesn’t speak of his madness or using it as a disguise in this play.
He simply becomes mad and it becomes hard to understand how he can go about his tasks to revenge Claudius in his state of mind. The set of this production was a real castle made in the middle ages I think. It was set on a castle over looking the water. The castle is very dark and the set becomes dull and moody as the day becomes night.
The Essay on The play’s Hamlet
In Act II, Scene ii, Hamlet conceives the plan of staging a play called “The Murder of Gonzago” and inviting the king and the queen, besides the courtiers, to see it. His motive in staging this play is to seek a verification of the story of his father’s murder as narrated to him by the Ghost. In the soliloquy with which this scene closes, Hamlet bitterly scolds himself for his delay in executing ...
Only torches light the hallways and the grand hall where they fight. As they duel to the death, the set is very dark and it is under low lights. It is set back in the middle ages where electricity wasn’t invented yet. This isn’t a story of a certain time so the time can be chosen by the director and he chose the middle ages.
Hamlet is basically wearing the same clothes during this film and nothing too exuberant. He doesn’t wear much jewelry if any at all and keeps his wardrobe very simple. The King and Gertrude dress a little more extravagant than Hamlet. They wear their crowns and wear more jewelry. Ophelia doesn’t wear jewelry at all and neither does Laertes. This production isn’t very extravagant at all due to the dull clothes and colors that they wear.
This is a very dull and dark version of Hamlet which adds to the theme of revenge and deceit but makes it much more dull to watch and hard to enjoy. This production wasn’t even close to being a good presentation of Hamlet. It lacked so many features in this film and disturbed others that this didn’t seem to be the Hamlet I read. Hamlet wasn’t acting mad but he really was mad in the movie. The marriage of Claudius and Gertrude is shown and the ghost of Hamlet Sr. wandering around the castle, inside the walls of the castle.
He seems more life-like and not much of a ghost. The scenes and their order are mixed up and do not follow the order of the play. The ghost isn’t the first scene to appear and that is different than the play. The biggest flaw in this version however is that Fortinbras is not included. Order is not restored in this version. The play ends without a divine ruler in the end and the state of Denmark is worse than it was when the play started.
They do not have order restored in this version and this is not a true Shakespearean tragedy because it is worse now than it was before. This version is one of the more poorly done versions of Hamlet that I have seen. Hamlet does not act mad and there isn’t a clue that he is acting or if he is genuinely mad. This version was more dull than I would have thought a production to be.
It is very dark and very poorly illuminated, the set is very basic and the movie overall is just dull and there isn’t much to catch your attention. Fortinbras isn’t even in this version so order is never restored. This version isn’t a tragedy because order isn’t restored. I don’t know what it is but it isn’t the proper production of Hamlet.
The Essay on Hamlet 14 Version Actor First
In Lesson 19 of the videotape 'Literary Visions'; , the actor performs two interpretations of the monologue, 'To be or not to be'; . As said in the video, there are many ways that an actor can choose to interpret that particular speech in Hamlet. Many actors relish the opportunity to perform Hamlet, because of that particular speech. In a play, the actors' interpretation of the character is what ...
