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Presentation
Hamlet
Chelsie Doherty
Stephanie Hsieh
Julia Kingrey
Leslie Kraft
Zachary Parsons
Julia Sears
Casey Walker
Hamlet Adaptions Critiqued
• Hamlet directed by and
starring Laurence Olivier
(1948)
• Hamlet directed by Franco
Zefferelli and starring Mel
Gibson (1990)
• Hamlet directed by
and starring Kenneth
Branagh (1996)
• Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead,
directed by Tom Stoppard
and starring Gary Oldman
and Tim Roth (1990)
• The Adventures of Bob
and Doug McKenzie:
Strange Brew directed by
and starring Rick Moranis
and Dave Thomas (1983)
Hamlet
(1948)
Directed by and starring
Laurence Olivier
How It's Unique
• Fortinbras, Rosencrantz, and
Guildenstern completely
omitted.
• Plays up the Oedipal aspects
of the film.
• Commonly known as the
“film noir” version of
Hamlet.
Film Clip
“To be or not to be”
Hamlet’s Soliloquies
Olivier combines voiceovers with Hamlet’s spoken
words:
Soliloquy #1: Almost all voiceover.
Soliloquy #2: Almost all spoken.
Soliloquy #3 “To be or not to be…”: Mostly spoken
but some voiceover.
Soliloquy #4: Almost all spoken.
Soliloquy #5: Almost all voiceover.
Fate vs. Agency
• Opening of the film
• The narrator then says, “This
quotes some of
is the tragedy of a man who
Hamlet’s lines from Act
could not make up his mind.”
I, Scene IV
Insanity
• In Olivier’s version of Hamlet, the title
character is played as more tormented than
witty or insane.
• He reflects this in violent mood swings
throughout (particularly in the closet scene
and the mousetrap scene).
• Also represented in terms of
cinematography.
Hamlet
(1990)
Directed by
Franco Zefferelli
and starring Mel Gibson
Cast of Franco Zeffirelli’s
1990 Hamlet
Mel Gibson as Prince Hamlet
Glenn Close as Queen Gertrude
Alan Bates as King Claudius
Ian Holm as Polonius
Helena Bonham Carter as Ophelia
Stephen Dillane as Horatio
Nathaniel Parker as Laertes
Treatment of Soliloquies
• Does not incorporate the
voiceover technique
• Hamlet is alone
• Camera at times pulls in
tight on Hamlet as he
speaks, at other times
zooms out to watch him
roam the room he is in
Film Clip
“To be or not to be”
Effects of These Techniques
• Separates Hamlet
from any role of
narrator as he is
talking to himself
• Gives the audience a
feeling of intrusion
upon Hamlet
• Tight shot creates
closeness between
audience and
Hamlet, wide shot
allowed us to see
his aimlessness /
restlessness
Agency Versus Fate/Insanity
Agency is key to this film version. Mel Gibson turns
Hamlet into a sort of action hero rather than a passive or
crazed character.
All shots in the film are kept extremely short and the
script is cut down which highlights his course of action
and keeps the movie at a fast pace.
In this version, Hamlet is passionate and full of action constantly yelling, running, fighting, riding horses,
planning, threatening and killing.
A great deal of time is spent on the King and Queen’s
incestuous relationship which makes it less possible for
the audience to view Hamlet as a lunatic but as rather a
justifiably upset son (clear cause and effect).
With the focus on action, Hamlet then appears to take fate into his own
hands and does not particularly shy away from it.
Hamlet
(1996)
Directed by and starring
Kenneth Branagh
Fate Vs. Agency
• Branagh’s Hamlet is a very
active part of the play’s
outcome.
• He plays Hamlet as violent
and passionate rather than
passive.
• Some of his most emotional
outburst are about being
bogged down with words. He
is a man of action trapped in
inactive circumstances.
Film Clip
“Where is your father?”
Soliloquies
• Speaks to himself, for himself.
• The soliloquies are private
moments that the audience
is privy to.
• To be or not to be:
– Internal examination.
– Isn’t aware that anyone is listening.
– Full length mirror.
• How all occasions do inform against
me:
– Slow pan out symbolizing Hamlet’s
growing aesthetic distance.
Insanity
• Hamlet is very intentional about his moments of
insanity
– He is putting on a show either for Rosencrantz
Guildenstern or Polonius
Polonius: My lord I will take my leave of you
Hamlet: You cannot sir take from me anything
I would more willingly part with all…tedious
old fool.
• Insanity is often played as wit
Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead
(1990)
Directed by Tom Stoppard
and starring Gary Oldham
and Tim Roth
Rosencrantz And
Guildenstern Are Dead
• Written in 1966, translated
to film 1990
• Tragicomedy concerned with
fate of two secondary
characters
• Investigates existentialist
problems suggested in
Shakespeare
• Implies overall interpretation
of original play
What About Hamlet?
• Not focused on Hamlet the play,
though it uses the play to make
its points
• Still has a very particular
interpretation of Hamlet the
character
• Interesting inversion of the
theme of “words”
Hamlet’s Soliloquies … or Not
• Hamlet at times seen
talking to himself
• Ironic linkage to
madness
• No complete soliloquy,
most omitted entirely
o Implications of futility
and fatalism
Film Clip
“What a piece of work is man”
Insanity
• Hamlet’s madness is a
performance
• Connected with the
troupe of players, with
acting
• Drops hints that R & G
never really get
• Ophelia is genuinely mad,
though this is glossed
over
Film Clip
Talking to Hamlet
Fatalism versus Agency, and the
Implications Towards Hamlet’s Fate
• Coin flip, luck and fate
o Natural forces
• “Words…are all we have to go on”
• A “strumpet for time”
• Self-referential actor-ship
o Actors as the “opposite of
people”
• “It is written,” says the player
Film Clip
On the boat
Agency (Or Rather, Lack
Thereof) Continued…
• Bradley says tragedy is great
men whose plans go awry
• R & G are caught up in the
narrative of Hamlet’s
tragedy but never realize it
• They die because the
narrative demands that they
need to die
The Adventures of Bob and
Doug McKenzie:
Strange Brew
(1983)
Directed by and starring Rick
Moranis and Dave Thomas
Character Correspondence
• Bob and Doug McKenzie
(Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern)
• Pam Elsinore (Hamlet)
• Jean "Rosie" LaRose
(Ophelia)
• Uncle Claude and
Brewmeister Smith
(Claudius/Fate?)
Film Clip
"Sorry a-boot that nervous breakdown."
What About Hamlet?
Characters and plot elements
are borrowed, with many of
the dark elements
transformed into comedy:
• Rosie’s drowning
• Mr. Elsinore’s ghost
Some other borrowed
elements:
•Frequent reversals
•Pirate references
•Story within a story
The Soliloquies
Minimal, since the action doesn’t center around the Hamlet character. The
first soliloquy (and the only one referenced in Strange Brew) is summed
up in one short scene:
Claude: You know, Pamela, I don't want you to think that your mother and I don't understand how
you feel about losing your father.
Mother: If it had been ME, you'd have been over it by now.
Claude: It's easy to wallow in self pity--the hard thing is to go on living […]
Pam: Don't you think it's a little unusual to get married so soon after the funeral?
[Claude shifts in his chair]
Claude: More bean medley, dear? [gives beans to mother]
[End of scene.]
Fate vs. Agency
In a neat inversion of Hamlet,
Pam is initially an active figure
(“I’m taking over the
brewery!”) but is physically
unable to act as the story
proceeds.
Brewmeister Smith as Fate: His
spiked beer takes away
people’s free will.
Insanity
• Beer beer beer
• Tunnel to the Royal
Canadian Institute for the
Mentally Insane
• Insanity as something
inflicted via beer
Closing
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