Shakespeare is the legend of all world literature and the leader among English Renaissance literature. He was a gifted man of the people who came to the capital and in a few years became the largest literary and theatrical value. He made a new impact in the knowledge of reality, government, bourgeois society. His heroes are still eternal images. Shakespeare belongs to the genius of European and world literature, such a small number of writers who contributes on the development of many national literatures and the entire spiritual culture.
And it is obvious that nowadays people are interested in his famous tragedies, such as “Romeo and Juliet”, “King Lear”, “Macbeth”, “Hamlet” and others.
His tragedy “Hamlet” has been filmed for many times already. And among the latest successful adaptations are such movies as “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1996 and “Hamlet” directed by Michael Almereyda in 2000.
And now I would like to examine these two adaptations in details. Let me start from “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh.
To begin with I would like to say that Kenneth Branagh is one of the most famous and modern filmmakers. And “Hamlet” is considered to be his best work among the latest movies. This film lasts four hours and conveys the full text of the original “Hamlet”. The others directors, who filmed “Hamlet”, could cut some episodes, but Kenneth Branagh did not allow it to himself.
What is more, Branagh’s “Hamlet” is significant, because he has included young Fortinbras and his campaign in his version.
I must admit that Kenneth Branagh has gathered absolutely phenomenal star cast: Gerard Depardieu, Charlton Heston, Robin Williams, Kate Winslet, Derek Jacobi and others. And the role of Hamlet belongs to the director, Kenneth Branagh. His confident mastery raised this incredible tragedy on an unprecedented hitherto height. And knowingly, the film was nominated for an Oscar four times.
A lot of literary critics point out that Branagh is a genius director and thanks to his mastery this film is very popular. The director did not want to turn this film into the so-called soup opera. On the opposite, he inserts a deep meaning in each word of the actors, so that to convey to the public what Shakespeare wanted to announce some centuries ago. Kenneth Branagh tried to keep all Shakespeare’s scenes, tried to give this version much more clarity and resonance. And the way I see it, he managed to do it in his best way.
Further on, Branagh adds to his play images. Branagh repeats the mental images of Hamlet, Ophelia, Claudius.
The movie keeps wonderful and luxurious sets, amazing and colorful costumes, delightful and glorious location at Blenheim Palace. With all his mastery Branagh wanted to make this story pleasing and alluring.
I must admit that Branagh’s “Hamlet” is very entertaining. In the beginning, the playwright tries to attract the audience and only gradually, he informs it. Shakespeare wrote his play many centuries ago, but Kenneth Branagh has a great desire to maintain that Shakespeare’s state and feelings in his “Hamlet” up to now.
The setting of the play is likely to move to those times thanks to the usage of color, clothing and others details.
The story takes place in winter and there are wonderful scenes with the usage of snow, real and artificial. For example: an episode when Ophelia and Laertes are walking in the garden which is covered with snow; when Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are in the train and they are riding through the snow.
To my mind, Branagh presents Hamlet to the auditory in his full image. He played the role of Hamlet quite worthily and with all his mastery tries to convey Hamlet’s feelings, thoughts and intentions to the public.
What is significant in this production is the usage of some flashbacks in order to enhance the story. The director shows us the relationships between Hamlet and Ophelia, and the crime of Claudius in such a way that the audience begins to understand Hamlet’s deeds and feel this tragedy.
Also, famous stars make this film vivid and wonderful. Kate Winslet, who plays the role of Ophelia, makes her work perfectly. That is her playing that awakens the viewers, in spite of the previous roles, such as Helena Bohman Carter in “Hamlet” directed by Zeffirelli in 1990. Derek Jacobi, who has the role of Clauduis, does his best to play this role.
One more striking moment, which I like a lot in this film, is Branagh’s “To be or not to be”. The actor performed this monologue with emotions and his own gleam.
“Hamlet” directed by Michael Almereyda in 2000 differs a lot from “Hamlet’ directed by Kenneth Branagh and from original “Hamlet’ by Shakespeare. It is the modern interpretation of “Hamlet” which has its own peculiarities. “Hamlet” by Almereyda is a film about modern urban life, about power, money, hatred, deception and others modern problems.
Denmark turns into Corporation and Claudius is his new owner. This film is full of modern technologies. The action takes place in New York in 2000; Hamlet gets to know about the death of his father, the King of Denmark Corporation. What is more, his mother is going to marry to Claudius. And further on, the plot begins to develop.
This film is full of modern technologies. For example: the Ghost of Hamlet’s father disappears in a Pepsi machine and Hamlet’s friend Horatio says to him that the cameras have noticed it; the final struggle between Hamlet and Laertes takes place on the roof of the multistoried building.
The main role of Hamlet belongs to Ethan Hawke. In this film Hamlet is a spoiled child, unusual and unpredictable. He is from dysfunctional family and his profession is a video artist. And a lot of film critics notice the great playing of this role by Ethan Hawke.
The famous monologue “To be or not to be” takes place when Hamlet is walking through a Blockbuster video store; Ophelia goes mad when she is visiting Guggenheim museum.
I must admit that there are some peculiarities in the shooting of the film. Almereyda tries to enhance some feelings of the characters, especially Hamlet’s, through the usage of darkness everywhere. That is why most of the shots are darker and from the low angle. Also, the colors play an important role, in order to show anger, sadness and depravity in the movie.
The director of the film changes “words, words, words” into images. And in his interpretation most of the Hamlet’s monologues have an interior character, except “To be or not to be”.
In this film the appearances of the characters bear base load and meaning. For instance, Hamlet is wearing knit caps like a modern teenager.
The role of Ophelia, which performs Julia Stiles, is very absorbing. The actress plays her role very naturally. She keeps in herself some features of a child, she likes to roam and dream. The most striking moment is when she is diving into the swimming-pool and imagines her death. The scenes, where she acts with Hamlet, suit her well.
As everybody knows, Kyle MacLachlan is famous for his roles in many Shakespeare’s plays, as a result, the role of Claudius was not difficult for him at all. Though his role was cut a lot from the original one, nevertheless, he managed to look and sound very natural, as if the lines from the play were his own.
If we compare “Hamlet” by Branagh and “Hamlet” by Almereyda we can see the main difference. The latter tried to focus his auditory on the acting, not on the decoration and location as Branagh did.
If we compare “Hamlet” by Shakespeare and “Hamlet” by Almereyda we can pay attentions to the dialogues. Though many Shakespeare’s words were changed in this adaptation, they remain all Shakespearian power and verse when the actors perform them. Though the setting and the action have been changed, only the dialogues remained invariable.
And as for me, it was difficult to understand those unchangeable Shakespearian speeches in the background of modern and contemporary life. But the main method in this film, which Michael Almereyda uses with all his mastery, is to transfer all those dialogues through the acting of the stars. And, at once incomprehensible becomes apparent. For example, the scenes when Ophelia is waiting for Hamlet near the fountain. In this episode, instead of the words, the actors use their mastery in acting and everything becomes clear. This is one more difference between “Hamlet” by Michael Almereyda and Shakespeare’s original tragedy.
That is why both films “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1996 and “Hamlet” directed by Michael Almereyda in 2000 differ from the original.
But it is my personal point of view that “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh is more closely to the original masterpiece by Shakespeare. He has used the entire text of the original play; he has not cut Shakespeare’s words. But he has made his own interpretations of the play that is, he has transferred the story into the Victorian location; he has used flashbacks to enhance the story and he has invited to his film fine star cast.
As for “Hamlet” directed by Michael Almereyda, it is also an interesting work. The director of the play has transferred the original Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” into modern urban life. So he used his creativity in a full way. Modern technologies are used everywhere: the Ghost of the father can be noticed through the cameras. The light and the darkness are the main symbols in this work: they display sadness, blood, revenge, crime and the emotional state of the characters. We get to know about the actions of the characters through their images, but not through their speeches and words.
Of course, both films are worthy to see, but I still prefer “Hamlet” directed by Kenneth Branagh in 1996 more then “Hamlet” directed by Michael Almereyda in 2000.