Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet
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The play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, was first performed around 1600. Since then, it has been one of Shakespeare's best known plays in English literature. Hamlet has come to the screen numerous times. The play Hamlet has been adapted many times by directors like Michael Almereyda, Kenneth Branagh, and Franco Zefirelli have directed the play Hamlet. Kenneth Branagh’s movie version of Hamlet was the one I enjoyed watching the most. The director and actor, Kenneth Branagh has created an intricate version the masterpiece Hamlet, by including every word of the text. The technical work is amazing and the cast is outstanding. As a play, Hamlet deals with everything: murder, passion, politics, betrayal, madness, love, and death. One of the things that Branagh brings to his adaptation of the play is an amazing visual sense. This is a stunningly beautiful film filled with vibrant colors and vivid costumes which make the film more energetic and majestic. The camera angles in this particular film allow the viewers to visualize the characters up close and see the contrast between the colors shown in the film. For example, Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle) wears bright red clothing, Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) wears bright white clothing, and Hamlet wears a black clothing. The red color represents royalty or war and black represents anger, sadness, and death. On the other hand, the color white represents marriage. Hamlet is the only one who cares about his father’s death and is angry at his mother for not caring. This film also contains various famous lines, including, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" Hamlet's soliloquy is expressed in a very angry and hostile manner. Branagh tackles this scene with fury and indignation. The other two Hamlet films were not as effective and visual as this film. The other soliloquies did not deliver enough energy and anger for the audience to envision. Branagh burst out in anger and frustration, which made this scene more captivating to me. If you have to watch Hamlet at home instead of on stage, this is the version to check out. This film is very authentic to the actual play.
posted by Valeria C. @ 5:12 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I wasn't a fan of the color scheme provided in the Great Hall in this film. The tragedy is supposed to take on an ominous and somber mood, as it highlights Hamlet's grief and sorrow for the death of his father. The pure white halls with the entire attendance dressed to match just does not work. The multitude of white instead creates the opposite mood of the intended mood of darkness.
Valeria, I do love this version mostly due to Hamlet's performance. I think that his histrionic approach to the text is very appropriate. Although many critics of this version would agree with Nick the Champ; too many bright colors take away from the ominous and portentous tone of the play.
I'm going to have to make it 3 for 3, Valeria. I felt the colour scheme took away from the scene in the Great Hall. I also found the theatrical style somewhat cliche, which is why I was a fan of the Almereyda version. His portrayal of the characters, as well as the way they presented their lines was perfect. It was refreshing twist and an interesting update to a classic.
In my opinion, I would have to agree with them as well. The lighting throughout the Great Hall did not demonstrate the appropriate mood of the play. Also, the actor that played the role of Hamlet seemed fake and basically lacked raw emotion. Hamlet's silioquey seemed cold hearted aswell and it didn't seem like he loved his mother.
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