hamlet: film review

hiya guyz....can anyone plz read thru my film review oh Hamlet. any comment's would be appreciated. (its s'posed to be aimed mainly for teenagers -below 17). my apologies for posting such a long essay in first go!

hia it goes:

A little more than kin and less than kind

The curtains are lifted yet again to reveal the mourning Castle of Elsinore. The castle of Elsinore, that hath been revived to tell the tragic tale of prince ‘Hamlet’ in Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘humanly perfect’ (not so perfect but still quite appreciable) version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet’. The film is an extraordinary and marvellous creation with small imperfections, so like human. It’s a human creation after all!



The movie, set in 17^th century, relates the story of a precocious prince of Denmark, Hamlet(Mel Gibson) trapped in circumstances. His father’s (King Hamlet – Paul Scofield) sudden death and mother’s hasty marriage to former King’s brother fill him with grief and shock. The fate stores more for him and he is confronted with the task to avenge his father’s murder. “Murder most foul” by none other then his own uncle, King Claudius(Alan Bates) who seized the throne by marrying queen Gertrude (Glenn Close) – Hamlet’s mother. The movie unfolds the drastic transformation in Hamlet’s life and his intent manic depression as he apprehends the infested evil behind smiling faces. His melancholy deepens as he proceeds with the task imposed on him. Will this story end in the usual “happily ever after”? Or is it the villain that succeeds? Or does fate have something else in store to reveal ???



The movie has some remarkable performances with a few not so overwhelming. Mel Gibson gives a stunning portrayal of Hamlet throughout the movie showing rousing diverse emotions. You could just see those emotions boiling over on Gibson’s face in extreme camera close-ups. His gloomy, moody behaviour & especially his swashbuckling expressions are terrific. The vigour in his tone of soliloquies is very swaying. His devastated expressions at discovering the truth about his father’s murder are very realistic to the chaotic condition of a son. So is his disgust at his mother. I mean, who would want a mother like *that*? Mel Gibson hath made his mark as a splendid Hamlet.



Helena B. Carter, who portrays Ophelia marvellously, gives another outstanding performance. Her expressions, though seem a bit immature, denote true sincerity. Her face clearly reflects love and fear for Hamlet at the same time. Her depiction of insanity in those lunatic scenes is highly convincing. It is so terribly sad that I personally felt sorry for her. Glenn Close however, was not very influential as Gertrude. First of all, she looked too young to be Hamlet’s mother. The movie shows some kind of complex relationship between her n’ Hamlet. The fervent kisses between Gertrude and Hamlet which have to be viewed with eyes shut, should rather be buried in King Hamlet’s grave. At times, she seems more of a lover than a mother to Hamlet, which does get repulsive.



Zeffirelli has done a very good job at dialogues , very good indeed. No soliloquies or speeches have been supplemented and no new prose or words added, meaning no detraction from the actual play. Although, some speeches have been jumbled in different scenes according to the suitability of the film. Juxtaposing of some dialogues have been quite effective in fact. For instance, the starting scene is original to the movie, yet Claudius’s speech is derived from Act 1-Scene 2 in the play. It has been used very efficiently to introduce major characters- Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius- and “the actions they might play”. Some of the lines start glaring too much out of place. Hamlet’s instructing Ophelia “Get thee to nunnery” during the play?!?! I found it absurd. It just wasn't working, not for me at least! It would have been much more effective by maintaining the originality of these verses and placing them where they were in the play - when Ophelia talks to Hamlet as a spy on her father’s orders. Moving these lines too much hath proved not very healthy to the film.



The atmosphere has been strongly emphasised to give a clear insight of the events. Colour of the screen and background music is well used to support the nature of events taking place. Screen turns dark and dreary during dismal,suspensive and treacherous situations as if showing the night’ed colour that hangs’t on Hamlet. Music reflecting sense of mourning, danger and suspense would occupy the background with sound of harshly whirling wind. The screen suddenly turns bright & the music stops during light and humorous occasions as if the danger has passed. The sky is dark blue when the King’s Ghost appears giving a sense of tension and foul play. Daylight conquers the screen when Horatio (Stephen Dillane) and his other friends congregate with Hamlet after the ghost disappears as if everything is back to normal. All is not well as the effects loose their thread in certain scenes. Must I remember, the scene of the dead king’s tomb while Hamlet says his soliloquies about death, the screen gets too bright for the grim environment that is meant to be created. And then, there is the same music harping the speakers, in a series of gloomy events! The effect of the music did not last very long. It soon started sounding a lullaby to me. The same repeated tone became really boring and boring and bori…..



Ay, Franco Zeffirelli is a human and Hamlet is a creation of a human – a little more than kin and less than kind in perfection! Zeffirelli hath not fail’d to impart us with the message Shakespeare concealed in his play, even in the presence of the small defects. Ah! What a piece of work is Hamlet, how so noble in characters, majestic in dialogues and immortal in effects, yet with a quittance of dust, just like a human. It is as good as it could be, with minimal flaws that unnoticed go. Ay, humane disposition…thy name is Hamlet!



thanks heaps guyz

indiansoul!