I think you'll have greater success finding a copy of,
Hamlet - Mel Gibson
Hamlet - Kenneth Branagh
Hamlet - Ethan Hawk
Hamlet - Laurence Olivier
If you find another version, I would like to know about it before you proceed.
Watch it ONCE, with your parents / guardian (yes, I mean together in the same room, at the same time). Answer these questions:
- What did you think of the adaptation?
- What did your parent / guardian think of the film?
- What was your parent's / guardian's reaction to the character, Hamlet?
- Is their reaction to Hamlet as portrayed in the film similar to your understanding of Hamlet from the actual play?
7 comments:
After watching Hamlet, with Ethan Hawk playing Hamlet himself, I thought that it was perfectly portrayed. Each character, especially Hamlet was shown exactly how I thought they would be. Hamlet was shown as a unique individual, who dressed oddly and stood to the side a lot, Gertrude was rude and annoying and was very intimate with Claudius who looks intelligent but is awkward and shows signs of guilt. Putting Hamlet in modern times, with video cameras, guns and voice recorders is irrelevant because the story is still the same, and all ideas and messages are passed on the exact same.
I watched the video with my mom and her opinion was very similar to mine, “the fact that it is set in modern times is forgotten as you watch this movie because you get caught up in the fact that the language and the values are more similar to the original version of the play.” Asking my mom about Hamlet, she replied: “I think he’s understandably torn, I think he has a good heart and that he loved his father very much and wants to protect his memory. He feels betrayed by his mother and even Ophelia; I think he’s depressed, he has suicidal thoughts.” I was then interested in finding out if my mom thought Hamlet was actually insane or if she had the same opinion that I share with Mr. Liconti, that he is in complete control at all times. My mom replied to my question, “No, because everything he was paranoid about was true, his father is dead; Ophelia and his mom did betray him.” Bringing up a valiant point, my mom is very much correct. An insane person is a person who is paranoid but its unjust paranoia’s, but everything Hamlet is upset about is legitimate.
Since Hamlet is perfectly portrayed in the film as the man I had made him out to be in my mind through reading the play – my mom’s opinion of him is the same as the one I have developed. In previous blogs I have written about Hamlet having great self control and composure, my mom believing he is not insane and that it is legitimate that he is angry proves that her opinion is similar to mine. “The people who have betrayed him the most, he still continues to love.”Since the opinion my mom built from the movie is similar to the one I built from reading the play, shows the film perfectly portrayed Shakespeare’s Hamlet .
Hamlet-Ethan Hawk
1. What did you think of the adaptation?
I, personally, did not like the adaptation of Hamlet. There were many key aspects of the play missing in the movie that I believe were very important to the understanding of Hamlet and the characters throughout. Scenes involving Fortinbras were completely omitted. The only mention of him was at the beginning by Claudius and at the end when he is handed the Denmark Corporation. Fortinbras’ courage and ambition were what made Hamlet realize that he needed to take action against the King. Without Hamlets admiration for Fortinbras, Hamlet is not seen as an intelligent, bright person, but as a lost, depressed being. I did not like the fact that Denmark was seen as a company and not a country because the lineage of Hamlet did not fit well. It was completely omitted that Hamlet indeed wanted to be king, and entirely focused on Hamlet getting revenge on Claudius for only killing King Hamlet. Many characters were not introduced properly such as Polonius, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Polonius has no introduction as to who he is to the family, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are not sent to Hamlet by the King but randomly show up at the bar when Hamlet is. Later on it shows that they are hired by King Claudius, but this does not give you the same insight as it does in the play. In the play, you know what is going to happen before it happens but I did not receive the same insight in the film.
2. What did your parent/guardian think of the film?
I watched this film with my parents and they shared the same opinion as I did about it; that it was poorly done. My father had a very hard time holding his attention to the film. My mother was trying to keep watching the film but said that “it is very hard to understand.” I would have to agree. With the play, we had time to analyze each line to get a deep understanding of the entire play. With a movie, you do not get this. The actors read their lines very fast, and if you are not fluent in English like my parents, you will have a tricky time understanding everything that goes on. They got the gist of the play, but that’s it. My mother also brought up another valid point, “the language and history of the play Hamlet did not mix too well with the modern day setting and characters.” I would also agree. The history was completely mixed around (as mentioned before with the lineage) and did not coincide well with the language. My father kept asking me who the characters were, everytime a new one came on set, which led me to believe that the characters were not properly introduced. You came to know the main characters very well, but everyone else was a blur.
3. What was your parent’s/ guardian’s reaction to the character, Hamlet?
My parents both explained Hamlet as a “lost teenager trying to find his place.” I agree with this too. Hamlet did not know where he belonged in his family, in the company, and in the world, similar to that of the play. Hamlet was described of as “crazy and kind of weird” by my father. I don’t think the film did a good job of representing who Hamlet really is to someone who has never read the play, like my parents. They did not see Hamlet past the dark clothing and suicidal attitude.
4. Is their reaction to Hamlet as portrayed in the film similar to your understanding of Hamlet from the actual play?
No, their reaction to Hamlet as portrayed in the film is different to my understanding of Hamlet from the actual play. In the play, Hamlet is in control of every situation he is facing but in the film, everything is controlling him. One particular scene sticks out from the film as being different which is in Act 2 Scene 2 where Hamlet and Polonius are talking. In the play, Hamlet seems to be in control of Polonius but in the film, Hamlet just seems crazy when he is talking to him. Hamlet’s wittiness is lost in the film and the things he says do not strike as insulting but just give of the impression that he is gone mad.
[Hamlet – Ethan Hawk]
I thought the movie did not really portrayed Hamlet that well, or at least, it did not portrayed the Hamlet I had picture when reading the play. There were many scenes that were not included in the movie. The part I really missed and was not shown in the movie was in Act III Sc II in which, Hamlet asks Guildenstern to play the flute for him, “Will you play upon this pipe?” (Act III, Sc II 341-342). I love that scene because it just shows how witty Hamlet is, he knows his childhood friends are spying on him and is telling them that the same way they cannot play the flute they cannot play him for a fool, “Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; and yet there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak” (Act III, Sc II, 354 – 363). I just think they should had really put that scene in the movie. Another thing that I did not like about the film was that in it, Hamlet seems to be insane while in the original play, he is able to make a fool out of everyone and seems to be more in control of his actions and emotions. On the positive side what I truly loved about the film was how they portrayed the relationship between Gertrude and Claudius. In the movie they always show them kissing in front of the reporters and the paparazzi, and you always see them kissing or in bed. There was one scene in which they are in a limo kissing and whispering in each other's ear and Hamlet is with them watching them do so, it just made me feel sympathetic towards Hamlet and what he has to witness, it also helps you have a better understanding as to why Hamlet is so angry and disappointed on his mother.
I watched the movie with my mom, who has read the play before in Spanish, and she thought that, “it was weird, Hamlet was all over the place”. When I asked her what she meant by that she said that “the scenes were kind of mixed up, they're not in the same order as the book”. I kind of agree with her at some point, but the order of the scenes is not changed in the movie, only the order of the soliloquys and this is due to the fact that you can hear Hamlet's thoughts or you see him talking in a video or something.
About my mom's reaction to the character of Hamlet, she said, “he looks very tormented, kind of lost and he's very weak”. I completely agree with her on that but when I asked her why she thought Hamlet was like that she answered, “He never does anything. He should just kill his uncle that'd solve all of his problems or he should either forgive him, move on with his life, or if he wants to kill him he should but he should do something”. I understand where her frustration comes from because when I started reading Hamlet that was my exact reaction to the character. Now that I have watched the movie and read the play many times, I think the point Shakespeare is trying to get across by creating a character like Hamlet is not so that we argue on and on about why Hamlet did not do something before things got out of control, but so that we can see how humans react when faced with a problem that is bigger than our own existence. When faced with an issue this big, we usually doubt ourselves and are forced to question all our values and principles before we can make a choice that we know will forever change our lives and the way we look at ourselves as individuals. But this is not an easy thing to do, for we do not like the person we see inside of us. In my opinion, that is why a lot of people like my mom, dislike Hamlet and the way he acts, because we have all question our existence in one way or another and thinking about something that is bigger and far greater than us is something we do not want to think about, for it is overwhelming and makes us realize that we are not all that gangsters after all.
It is not about killing the evil uncle who is sleeping with your mother, it is about the person you want to become and aspire to be - in Hamlet's case his father - in comparison with the person you would become after you make this choice. But what if you choose wrong?
My mom's reaction to Hamlet as portrayed in the film is different from my understanding of the Hamlet I read about in the play. Watching this movie made me question if my vision of Hamlet is the right one, but after thinking on this for a while I came up with the idea that maybe Hamlet is a different person for everyone, because everyone sees a little – or a lot - of themselves in Hamlet and because we are all different we all see Hamlet in a different way... well, Hamlet makes us realize that we are not all that different because we all have the same question but each and everyone us has a different answer.
Mommy, Meet the Prince of Darkness
After searching through numerous video stores, I finally came across a copy of Hamlet, starring Ethan Hawke. Unsure of what to expect, I popped the DVD in the player and called my mom into the room. The first thing that surprised the two of us was that the movie was set in the year 2000 and the second was that the dialogue was still that of the original play. It is an appealing twist to have the movie set in modern times but it seems as though with a modern setting, it would have been more effective to have modern dialogue. The adaptation is quite interesting but at certain times it becomes very hard to follow the plot. It feels as though much of the original story line is left out of the movie, and if I had not already known the plot, I may have been incredibly lost. In fact, as my mom and I watched the movie I found myself answering several questions regarding exactly was going on. The way the director perceived the way the characters would look, act, and dress, given a modern setting, was very captivating. This take on Hamlet is not exactly what I would have liked to see, but it was defiantly entertaining. I personally would prefer to see the Hamlet done the traditional way, or to see it completely modernized.
I sat down with my mom after the film and asked her what she thought about it. The first thing she told me was that it was “very dark and sad”, which is probably a typical reaction to. She thought that this version of Hamlet was extremely interesting, but like me, she was quite taken back by the dialogue. She found it very hard to concentrate on the story line, “Watching a modern version was helpful but confusing at the same time because you’re seeing a modern day theme and modern day events transpiring, but you’re listening to Shakespearean English so it’s easy to get distracted”. She was very intrigued by the story line, and was fascinated by the characters. In particular, she had a lot to say about the character, Hamlet.
When I asked her about what she thought about him, she said that Hamlet was “a victim of circumstance”. More than anything, she felt a great deal of empathy for him, and recognized that what was happening to him was an extremely horrific sequence of events, “He was not only mourning the death of his father, but he had to deal with his mother’s new marriage – to his uncle nonetheless. I don’t think he was able to come to terms with any of it”. I was interested to know what she had to say about whether Hamlet was insane or not. I asked her and she was exceptionally quick to answer, “I don’t know if he was crazy or if he was just still in shock and wasn’t able to deal with what happened so fast. In today’s time he probably would have been seen as depressed, right? He started out trying to avenge his father’s death and by the end he had spiraled out of control”. She thought that a lot of the reason Hamlet acts the way he does is because he is so completely overcome with revenge, “Revenge is like a cancer that just grows. It feeds off of the anger and the evil and leads to your actions escalating out of control. Once you go down that path it is hard to turn back. Hamlet became obsessed with revenge and it resulted in tragedy”. Like most women do, my mother was concerned with the way Hamlet treats his mother. Although she agreed that much of the Queen’s actions were dreadful, she tried to see the situation through her eyes, “There’s even question as to whether or not the mother actually knew that Claudius was responsible for Hamlet’s fathers death, but then he’s got blood on his hands and she doesn’t understand his motivations. I think that she may have been confused the whole time.”. Overall, my mom saw Hamlet as an incredibly fascinating character but wishes she had the opportunity to learn more about what was truly going on inside his head.
My mother’s opinion of Hamlet, the character, is quite similar to mine. We both find ourselves engrossed in who the character is and both find ourselves to be very empathetic toward his situation. However, because the film misses out on so many of his traits, she was not able to recognize a lot of what I enjoy about the character. The film does not put a lot of emphasis on Hamlet’s wit and sense of humor, which are the qualities that I am most partial to. Also, this take on Hamlet does not illustrate his plan to make people believe he is insane, which is a lot of what makes Hamlet the character he is. The film is effective in essentially explaining the plot, but is not as successful in developing the characters.
My mom and I really enjoyed watching the movie together. I liked the opportunity to teach her about the story and she always loves the prospect to learn. We would both like to see a different adaptation some day, but for her, this was enough to provide a basic understanding of the play. We both see the character Hamlet in similar ways and found that we both have something to learn from him. It just goes to show that the story is one that can be appreciated by people of all age. Shakespeare was incredibly successful in doing this and has created a story that can be applied to every person in the past, and for many years to come.
Tonight’s dinner conversation, death and betrayal
Unlike most film adaptations of books or plays I found Hamlet (Ethan Hawke) to be quite enjoyable. I felt it portrayed each character perfectly while at the same time adding in little twists to a character or the plot which help bring it back to modern times. One part that made me laugh was seeing Horatio pick up Hammy at the airport on a motorcycle. Although I never pictured Horatio as the motorcycle-type, I thought it did suit his movie version self quite nicely. Another small scene I liked was hearing the gravedigger singing “All along the watchtower” to himself, a song about change, just before we see Hamlet begin his transformation from the thinker Hamlet to the Hamlet who acts.
My mom was surprised to see all the death in the play and thought that “one event always led to another like a snowball effect”. Although surprised to see the amount of death she did not feel sad about the deaths because she “never felt a close connection with any characters, especially Ophelia”. My mom did believe Ophelia committed suicide when I asked her and she thought it was more from the grief of her father’s death rather than anything to do with Hamlet. The only character my mom did really like was Horatio because “although he played a minor role, he was the only person always there for Hamlet”. She felt he was the only “pure” character in the movie aside from Hamlet’s father.
The reaction to Hamlet that my mom had was mostly one of sympathy but liked the character more near the beginning of the play. She liked how Hamlet “showed loyalty and dedication to his father when he saw his uncle start to fill the role his father had”. She did not mind the fact that Hamlet sought revenge on Claudius but did not like the way he did it thinking “Hamlet should have just done it right away”. My mom also felt strongly about Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship and wished they could have been together. She believes “he only told Ophelia that he didn’t love her so she would go away and not get caught up in what was going to happen”.
Both me and my mom had similar views on Hamlet although I noticed she found interest in parts of the movie I felt were unimportant such as Ophelia’s premonition of herself drowning. I didn’t feel it was an integral part of the plot but she saw it as Ophelia’s “inevitable death”. My mom also noticed Hamlet’s views on death which she felt “finally allowed him to kill Claudius because he had contemplated his own mortality so much”.
Mother: “Well hello Hamlet, it was a pleasure to meet you.”
Hamlet: “Woman! Thy name is frailty!”
Personally, I believe that Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation was very well done and brought a unique twist to the setting of the movie. I felt that Kenneth portrayed Hamlet as a true tragic story, but something lacked that I could not put I finger on. Also, Hamlet’s sarcasm and cunning were well displayed along with the torment he goes through. Also, Claudius and Gertrude were very well played and the actors suited the roles. However, Hamlet acted repulsively during the scene in the forest when the King Hamlet ghost revealed the truth since Hamlet’s shouting was synchronized with the chaos surrounding Horatio, Marcellus and himself. I felt that scene was over done and did not need the accessory of ground separating, trees and branches swaying from side to side, and loud noises. Even though all those signs pointed to the fact that Denmark is no longer same, but rather rotten and that corruption lurks about, I still felt that the scene appeared un-realistic and the emotions were not genuine. Overall, I applaud any producer and director who has the wit and gut to masterfully portray a film based on a Shakespearean play. Thus, I applaud Kenneth Branagh and his daring characteristics in tackling such a great play.
My mother thought that the film was very well done, but she thought that the conversations lasted for too long and that probably a lot of meaning was lost in mindless babbling of un-important characters. “The characters were very emotional and that also helped the movie because I felt as if I could connect to the emotions being endured such as defiance by own child and feeling lost,” thus the film had a significant affect on my mother. She was also stunned that someone in the 1600’s like Shakespeare could come up with such ideas and things to express, but then I ruined it for her by telling that he has derived his play from far and distant stories that were written way before and in a different language.
My mother felt that Hamlet the character acted chaotically but she felt as if his mother, Gertrude, had plucked out Hamlet’s heart with a fork, “Hamlet seemed as man of joy and grace and then everything fell apart for him, I felt pity and contempt for that man.” Other than that, my mother thought that he was destined for doom since she realized that too many things were out of order and death was going to come for him. My mother also pointed out that, “Most princes usually picture and dream about one day stepping in their father’s shoes and being that big and powerful man, but in this case, Hamlet’s dreams were destroyed as his uncle steals everything, the throne and his mother.”
My mother’s understanding of Hamlet and mine that comes from the play are quite different, since my mother saw the scenes occur in front of her eyes and did not have to consider in depth thoughts about Hamlet and reasons for his actions since they were bluntly shown on the screen. Also, my view of Hamlet is different because I relate to Hamlet due to some of the emotional aspects we have endured though, but I have learned that it is simply life and no other way around it. Nevertheless, some parts of my mother’s understanding and my own are similar because we have witnessed the same story except that I have looked into it for longer than she has, and also my point of view is far more different than her perception, thus we are bound to come out with different understandings but the pathos remained the same.
Remembering Hamlet as a Tragedy (Hamlet Starring Mel Gibson)
I thought the 1990 version of Hamlet starting Mel Gibson was a good adaptation to the play. It still kept the emphasis of the theme of tragedy throughout the film. I notice they took out the whole story line of Fortinbra and Norway in the movie, which did not really make a difference as the film was already heavy and tragic. It did not make a difference for my dad too since he could not remember that part of the play since he read Hamlet “about thirty-five years ago”. I also found the beginning of the movie to be a little bit confusing, as I had to refer to the play what was going on. I also had to explain to my dad that King Hamlet was dead and that Cladius the brother is the king. Still my dad was able to understand the main storyline and plot of Hamlet as he reacted to the ghost scene saying, “King Hamlet was murdered, there is foul play in the movie”.
I felt that the character Hamlet in the movie played by Mel Gibson reinforced the characteristics and descriptions from the play. I was able to understand Hamlet even more with his witty jokes and his wisdom. My dad also agreed that “Hamlet is a smart person because he was educated and in university”. He also found Hamlet as a strong character as he could, “control himself even after being enraged or angry, he can focus on his tasks.” As my interpretation of Hamlet is a revengeful character my dad saw Hamlet as a character who was “seeking justice in the way he was trying to prove that his uncle killed his father”. My dad explained to me “if Hamlet was revengeful he would have already killed Cladius right away instead of waiting”. Hamlet took his time and wanted to prove that Cladius murder his father in a sense to make Cladius in the end feel guilty”. Even with the ending my dad concluded that “Hamlet did not want to kill anyone, things just feel apart as Cladius’ plan back fired” which caused the numerous deaths in the play.
At the end of the movie I found it reinforcing how tragic the story of Hamlet is as everyone is dead. I did not even find signs of hope from the movie as the storyline of Fortinbra was removed which left the movie to be a big tragedy overall. My dad was surprised at the outcome of the movie and understood it as a tragedy. He made an interesting conclusion saying “human ambition and greediness leads to the tragedy” and the downfall in the movie. “It is a family tragedy as the Uncle went against family boundaries” killing his brother “and affecting the throne itself”. As I understood Hamlet to be a story about revenge and taking back the crown my dad saw it as “Hamlet an instrument trying to show evil does not win over good. It was all about justice being served even though it ended up as a disaster and a sad ending”. I was surprised how my dad was able to understand the movie and found that he understood certain elements of the play that I knew or did not know.
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