Blog Post #15: Hamlet Blog 3: Mis En Scene

The primary focal point of the Kenneth Branaugh version of Hamlet’s soliloquy is Hamlet’s battle with himself on deciding whether or not to act. The mis en scene of this version of Hamlet does a particularly good job of portraying that aspect of the soliloquy. While speaking, Hamlet is staring at himself in the mirror, which gives the audience a picture of two Hamlets, one possibly representing the Hamlet before he decides take action, with the other representing the Hamlet that desires to take action and justice. He is also alone in the scene, which takes place in a gigantic room of the castle. The room could symbolize Hamlet’s mind and dialogue with himself in the mirror representing the argument going on inside it. There is a small amount of music playing in the background, just loud enough that the audience can hear it, which gives Hamlet’s dialogue a more epic feel, especially when he puts emphasis on certain lines. Overall, the mis en scene gives this particular take on the soliloquy a very authentic feel.

The Laurence Olivier version does not start off very effectively. Perhaps I need to realize that the film is over 60 years old, but by today’s standards, honestly it seems a bit cheesy. The opening starts off with a cliché piece of dramatic music, which in my opinion has much too fast of a tempo, rendering it ineffective.  The quick and chaotic music paired with the rapid shots of the camera “climbing” the staircase are a bit too dramatic. They may have been made to foreshadow the chaotic craziness that Hamlet will soon be going through, but regardless it doesn’t have quite the same interpretation that I got from reading the play. Things are made worse by Hamlet’s awfully overdramatic attempt at slouching over after almost stabbing himself, which looks nothing but comical. The scene ends with slightly “evil” music playing and Hamlet walking off down the staircase. Overall, this scene is just too laughable to take seriously.

The Mel Gibson version begins with Hamlet walking down into a tomb from an unknown, well-lit room. This is immediately seen as symbolic: as this scene is the beginning of Hamlet’s journey into madness, it makes sense that he is literally moving from light into dark. The tomb, being a place where the dead rest, foreshadows the eventual tragedy that is the story’s plot. There is no sound in the background, which adds focus to Hamlet’s dialogue. Without any other background sounds, the audience has nothing interfering with the speech, making this version the most effective in terms of dialogue. Like the other interpretations, Hamlet is alone, which is necessary because it is Hamlet’s internal battle with himself that is the soliloquy’s purpose.

Ethan Hawke plays a modernized version of Hamlet in the 2000 adaptation. This is immediately apparent as Hawke is dressed in modern clothing and is in a Blockbuster movie store, which was modern at the time the film was made. However, the director chose to keep Shakespeare’s words in the film. No attempt at modernizing the speech was made, which contradicts the choice of placing the film in a contemporary setting. Because of this, it was hard for me to take the scene seriously. There is one detail that caught my eye, which is Hamlet walking through the “action” section of the movie rental store, which I thought was a nice touch.

Of the four, I believe Mel Gibson’s portrayal of Hamlet’s soliloquy is most effective. His acting is the most believable, without being overly dramatic, and as I am Hamlet’s closest friend I would say I know him best. The addition of Hamlet being in a tomb is a very nice touch, adding a bit of darkness to the play and foreshadowing the tragedy that is to come. The audience can focus completely on Hamlet because there is no background music that takes away from Gibson’s performance.

There are many things I would do differently than the choices made in the other three films. For the Kenneth Branaugh version, I would’ve chosen to take the music out and also told the actor to have taken his role more seriously. In the Laurence Olivier film, I would’ve scrapped the music, skipped the shot of the staircase, and stopped Olivier from making that awful attempt at falling down. I would not have messed with the Mel Gibson version, as I believe it was done well. In Ethan Hawke’s version, I would have modernized the soliloquy’s diction.