Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Analysis of the First Ghost Scene

     All three different versions of the play Hamlet provided me with different reactions.  In the first version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, the first ghost scene gave you a dark and gloomy feeling.  In this scene Hamlet, played by Mel Gibson, was way more frightened and scared of the ghost unlike the other two movies. The ghost in this version was extremely emotional and depressed as oppose to him feeling anger. The director focused more on the arrival of the ghost rather than the way he was portrayed during the conversation between Hamlet and Old Hamlet. There was not a lot of background music in this version but the music that was played was eversuspensefull and not as sad as the others.  In my opinion, all of these decisions and choices the director made were very wise because this is my favorite version.  I liked this version the most because I thought the way the characters were portrayed helped me understand the story and the personalities of the characters more.
     The second version, directed by Kenneth Branagh, was way more dramatic and exaggerated then the Zeffirelli and the Almreyda.  The scene overemphasized the way Old Hamlet tried to act "ghostly". The ghost was taken more literal in the second movie which caused it to be slightly corny and not scary in my opinion. The blue contacts, the whispering, and the big helmet was too dramatic unlike the other two versions, they were more subtle in terms of the ghost.  There was fog and smoke on the ground shown in the scene and blood pouring out of the father's ears, these things contributed to making this movie more dramatized.  The flashbacks that the director used helped me understand the nature of what happened that night and get a better idea of how everyone was acting during those events.    
     The third version, directed by Michael Almereyda, was more modern and did not take place in the same Shakespearean time period as the others.  The modernized version helped me relate more and made the movie more interesting.  The lighting in the ghost scene was brighter than the others but the use of props were beneficial to the audience because of what they represented.  If I could have the ideal version of Hamlet it would be the emotion and suspense from Zeffirelli version, the flashbacks from the Branagh version, and the modern setting of the Almereyda.
                                                                                                                                                                                

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