Comparison of the Play Hamlet and the Film Hamlet by Zeffirelli - Essay Example

Comparison of the Play Hamlet and the Film Hamlet by Zeffirelli Far and wide, Shakespeare is documented as the best English writer. He has achieved significantly in writing poems and plays. Hamlet is one of his famous plays, done to portray the drama that transpires in the shift of power from one individual to another. Scholars believe that Shakespeare probably wrote the book at the start of the seventeenth century. Hamlet is a tragedy play and carries themes that indicate that society can be full of evil. Franco Zeffirelli directed a movie later, which seeks to interpret Shakespeare’s work. Zeffirelli’s movie carries his own understanding of the tragedy of prince hamlet and depicts the themes in his unique way. Zeffirelli’s version of the play is shorter and has in it new episodes, making it different. Zefirelli produced the movie in 1990. Both pieces of work center on the drama that follows when Claudius poisons his brother the king and inherits the throne and the queen. Hamlet cannot come into terms with all the sudden evils and seeks to avenge the death of his father. It is worth noting that Zeffirelli has produced a shorter and easier version of the play that simplifies the Shakespeare style (Cook 20). Employing creativity, Zeffirelli manages to emphasize the level of decay in Denmark. Through his interpretation, Zeffirelli introduces the Hamlet movie with a new scene that does not exist in the original version of the play. Some of the lines plucked from a later scene include “think of us as of a father…” (1.2.113-117) (Shakespeare and Edwards 114). In emphasizing the decay, which has engulfed the Denmark society, he places a funeral as the first scene of the movie. In the original version, the characters only mention the funeral. By placing a funeral at the start, he introduces the viewer to the villainy that lead to all the other drama (Mazek). The original play starts differently. Zefirelli’s first scene acts as the first event in the chronology of events that follow. Zeffirelli creatively replaces the first scene of the original script of the play. Therefore, he omits the introduction to the main story that Shakespeare provided. It is clear that he seeks to divert the attention of the viewer to focus on a different element of the play. The first scene in Shakespeare’s play introduces all the drama that will transpire in an instance. In this scene, he mentions that the Prince, Fortenbras, has intentions to attack Denmark. In this scene, the ghost appearance of King Hamlet happens for the first time. For purposes of widening the analysis of the play, Zeffirelli skips this scene and introduces his own. The line "Get thee to a nunnery." (3.1.147) shows how Hamlet has let anger override his actions (Macek). Zeffirelli exaggerates the relationship between hamlet and his mother. He creates a scene in the mother’s bedroom that suggests incest between mother and son (Bobik 24). In the original play, hamlet only found the confidence to confront his mother for rushing into marrying Claudius. Considering she did not take adequate to weep her husband’s death, Shakespeare brought out the idea of betrayal to the dead king. However, Zeffirelli paints a different picture. In his movie, he makes Gertrude cry as though she had offended the prince and not the dead king. It is worth noting that the producer of the movie has changed the speeches to suit his interpretation of the story. From Zeffirelli’s interpretation, the morality of Gertrude the queen becomes questionable. The viewer wonders whether she has ever loved the dead king, the current king or hides inside her, sexual feelings for the son. This interpretation emphasizes decay in the society. The Italian producer tells the story from Hamlet’s points of view and paints a different image of Ophelia. Although the words remain unaltered, the acted episode presents Ophelia differently. Gibson, who acts as Hamlet in the movie, proves himself overly too dominating on Ophelia. Ophelia trembles in fear. In his expression of frailty in women, he includes Ophelia. Zeffirelli accords too much power to Hamlet, that Ophelia seems too weak and undeserving. She has to make a difficult choice on who deserves her loyalty. The film creates a high intensity of action and presents Hamlet with many opportunities to confront his mother. In the original play, the ghost required hamlet to leave the queen alone. In acts one of scene one, the ghost said, “…whatever you do, do not harm your mother…” this is proving that he was to refrain from hurting his mother. However, the director of the film allocated importance to this scene. He gives the prince more power to confront his mother. It is lack of respect to confront a mother and judge her and this shows the consequences of letting revenge drive our actions. The quest for revenge in Hamlet portrays the level of another form of decay in society (Shakespeare and Edwards 147). Some lines prove the hostility of Hamlet to Claudius. For instance, the lines “…A little more than kin, and less than Kind” and the line “I am too much in the sun…” (Macek). In writing these words, Shakespeare portrays moral decay in society but he does not exaggerate the level. According to the film, the viewer has nothing good to say about the queen. In the film, the director employs good tactics to make drama more intensified. Characters can hear what the conspiracy and conversations of others from a distance. According to Zeffirelli’s creation, Hamlet overhears Polonius and Laertes’s advice to Ophelia. This is not the case in the original play. He does this to avoid dragging events in the play and shortening it without skipping ideas. In addition, this opens up the characters more, defining their traits elaborately. The fact that Hamlet overheard what transpired between Ophelia and he family resulted to the change of tone that Zeffirelli portrayed in hamlet’s confrontation with Ophelia. The director of the film rearranges the play altogether. He runs several scenes simultaneously, which is typical of the unfolding of drama. He fixes acts and scenes from the play differently. From his rearrangement, the viewer can understand the plot of the original play clearly and see how one evil act leads to another eventually affecting the entire society. Zeffirelli pushes Hamlet’s monologue to act one scene two and is an example of what the producer utilizes creativity to make his story more intriguing. The film attempts to drive the plot of an ancient story and modifies it to fit a different era (Bobik 22). By use of modern techniques of camera work, the producer manages to make a unique film of its kind. He blends the use of characters, costumes, and lighting to emphasize the themes of the play. Gibson, who plays Hamlet, tries to bring out the meaning and emotions in Hamlet’s words as written by Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s work is a written play while Zeffirelli’s work is a performance of the script. The two pieces of work carry the same message, but the film employs cinematography to add meaning to the original script. He sets dark setting implying the dominant sad mood by regulating lighting. In addition to the cinematography aspects, the producer interprets the play and applies creativity to portray the evils and rottenness in the land of Denmark (Shakespeare and Edwards 15). Both the film and the original play describe that one sin can lead to other evils in a society. The story line shows the effects of vengeance. If a society lets vengeance override their moral values, more damage results. In both cases, Hamlet appears to be an individual who lets anger, pain, and vengeance possess him. He stops to reason a moral being and hurts other people. Due to his concentration on his inner pain, he drifts to a form of madness. In this madness, he cannot embrace the guilt that comes after the evils he commits. Shakespeare described the mindset of hamlet, and the cinematography in Zeffirelli’s film helps to build the character and the misfortunes that find him on the journey to vengeance. The appearance of the dead bodies in the last scene makes the reader analyze whether or not the drama was worth it. The Denmark society is full of rottenness, a strong imagery that Shakespeare used to describe the extremes of evil in society. Decaying of the society starts when Claudius plots to kill his brother to gain power and the queen as well. Hamlet’s realization of what transpired makes him develop an undying urge to revenge (Shakespeare and Edwards 97). This leads to his strange behavior and to him slaying Polonius. The death of Polonius leads to the death of Ophelia. Claudius attempts to kill Hamlet in his revenge mission with Laertes, an event that leads to the death of all of them. In the original script, announces the return of Fortenbras who then takes over the leadership of Denmark (Foakes 156). As things are, all drama of social decay has come to an end and its time for a new start of a clean regime. According to Shakespeare, Fortinbras says “…Let us hear it without delay…..i have some rights to this kingdom…..which I shall now claim… (Shakespeare and Gorman 95). However, to keep the viewer analytical, the producer omits this part. Given he skipped the scene introducing Fortenbras in the first scene; he sub-sequentially skips the last scene. Through tone variation, costumes, shortening of speeches, rearranging scenes and adding new scenes serve to create a unique film. He exaggerates the events of some scenes to create emphasis of the theme of social decay that he deems so important (Greenwood and Coursen 94). He presents the classic of the seventeenth century with aspects of new generation techniques. The Shakespeare play tragedy is one of his pieces that sought to describe the evil that results from the greed for power. Zeffirelli’s reproducing the work in current times is a portrayal of its relevance in modern society. Work Cited Bobik, Melanie. Shakespeares Hamlet in the Movies: The Perception of Hamlets Ghost in Zeffirelli, Kozintsev and Olivier. Frankfurt: GRIN Verlag, 2010. Print. Cook, Patrick. Cinematic Hamlet: The Films of Olivier, Zeffirelli, Branagh, and Almereyda. Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2011. Print. Coursen, H. and Greenwood. Teaching Shakespeare with Film and Television. North Carolina: IAP, 2009.Print. Foakes, R. Hamlet. Versus Lear: Cultural Politics And shakespeare’s Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. Macek, J. Zefirelli’s Hamlet for Today. Web, 02, Mar. 2012. Shakespeare, William and Edwards Philip. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, 2003. Read More